Developers in the IT service industry are being forced out of their jobs due to COVID-19 as they have no choice but to work on projects in small spaces provided by their customers. As a result, there has to be institutional support so that customers can be more considerate of developers and developers are required to work from their homes time to time.
As COVID-19 does not show any sign of calming down, there are concerns about health of developers who are sent to their customers.
Developer who sets up systems has to work for months and years at a space designated by his or her customer during the duration of a project. Because many developers work in temporary spaces that are small and closed, they are much vulnerable to infectious diseases such as COVID-19.
One developer from an IT service provider that is working on an IT system for a bank told the Electronic Times that more developers are coming to finish the project and that around 200 people are gathered like bean sprouts and working on the project in a space that is the size of four classrooms.
This developer also revealed that one confirmed case can lead to hundreds of confirmed cases as the space does not have a break room or a meeting room and that everyone is nervous as they are only inches away from other developers.
There are also customers that allow teleworking and rotation. There are cases that require developers to work from their homes out of small and medium-sized projects that are worth between $2.53 million (3 billion KRW) and $3.37 million (4 billion KRW). However, most of projects that are bigger and require more developers are in a similar situation as the bank as it is difficult to allow developers to work from their homes due to various reasons such as security.
Situation is still the same even if a customer is an inner subsidiary.
“We have no choice but to come to work even if our customer is an inner subsidiary as it will not postpone the due date.” said a representative for a different IT service provider. “Although customers allow developers who do not have to come to work to work from their homes, it is always just a recommendation.”
Developers from IT service providers are concerned about potentially catching COVID-19 and they are even more concerned about important projects from being suspended as the result of them.
Some developers who are sent to their customers also have feelings of loss towards other employees who work at their headquarters. Headquarters of a major IT service provider has required its employees to work from their homes due to the spread of COVID-19. However, developers sent to their customers have to follow policies of their customers and have no choice but to feel a sense of loss.
This issue happens because customers want outside workers to work at their buildings due to various reasons such as emotional reason, work efficiency, and security maintenance. In case of the financial industry, it does not allow developers to work from their homes in order to prevent personal information from leaking. It is also impossible to access networks of financial companies from outside as they are closed.
“Man-Month” contract that calculates project cost based on number of workers is another reason why customers hold developers hostage at their buildings. Customers request a certain number of developers who are above specific rank to remain at their buildings. Although head-counting has been prohibited within the public sector since 2018, this prohibition is not effective within the private sector.
The fact that an IT service provider is obligated to compensate in case a project is delayed also forces IT service providers to input as many as developers in a limited space.
The IT service industry requested its customers to reduce concentration of develops through different ways such as partial teleworking.
“We are currently developing a teleworking system for outside developers.” said a representative for Industrial Bank of Korea. “Although we will need help from a supervisory agency, there is need to prepare a technological foundation.” The representative also added that there needs to be a change in perception towards development of remote place and security prior to developing a teleworking system.”
Staff Reporter An, Hocheon | hcan@etnews.com