Are the marriages in the IT profession recession-proof? Or is the demand and supply ratio getting its due with the downturn? These are the possible questions that prop parents of suitors. For *Sailaja, whose parents are looking for a perfect suitor, said, ?Kisiko bhi ladki denge par software walon ko nahin!? IT professionals, who used to be ranked as highly-paid a couple of months ago in the suitor category, don?t carry the ?on sight? tag on them anymore, thanks to the slowdown.

The question becomes obvious ? if the blue eyed IT professionals are not the best match, then where is this trend shifting to? Yes you guessed it right! Now people want partners with secured jobs-that means jobs in the government sector, puts a Mumbai-based matchmaker Mehender Sharma, who does match making by word-of-mouth.

In India, where almost 49 million users are logged onto the internet, the current size of the organised online matrimonial business stands at Rs 140 crore and is still emerging as one of the leading internet businesses, according to Shaadi.com, an online portal for marriages. Bhaskar Swain, working with an ITes company, who is going to get his sister married, makes it a point that he is going to be company-specific while looking for a perfect match but not industry-specific (IT/ ITes). ?I am going to be company-specific as I am from the same sector and I do have some knowledge about it, but not industry-specific. After the Satyam fiasco, I am going to be a bit reluctant,? he adds. Will the search for a life partner ever see a slump? Business Head, Shaadi.com, Gourav Rakshit, answers, ?Marriage is a recession-proof business and we have seen a 17% rise in searches in October last year (when the downturn happened) than September. People may be looking at either postponing their wedding celebrations or keeping it at a low key.?

Marriages in recession

During economic upheavals people look for emotional support in a life partner. Rakshit feels that this is the greatest reason that can be attributed to the increase in search numbers on Shaadi.com. ?This is evident by the fact that the number of registrations on Shaadi.com in the month of October has seen an increase of almost 10.5%,? he adds. Recession has impacted various industries on the whole. However, search on Shaadi.com for professionals from volatile industries such as IT and telecom, has on the contrary increased by 10%, which prove that it hasn?t impacted preferences of our members, he further adds. ?In last one year of membership, 8.78% is from the IT professionals,? informs Murugavel Janakiraman, Founder, and CEO, BharatMatrimony.com.

Marriage agencies also have similar views on the overall marriage scenario. Proprietor Hasit Dave, who runs Klassic Match, a marriage bureau in Ahmedabad from over two decades says, ?Marriage is big business in India. Today the IT people are not the sort after ones due to the recession; also girls don?t want to go abroad as they have a feeling that luxury in terms of keeping domestic helps is cheaper in India than abroad.? Also, Dave points out towards an emerging trend that depicts a social change in the last 5 to 6 years, where unmarried girls look at the boy?s salary and profession and they are not interested about the family status. As software professional, *Ankit, who is working in Satyam, now in New York, Manhattan, says that for people who are approaching the marriage age, it?s difficult to strike a balance. As for them both job and marriage are high priorities. They cannot leave the battlefield in job, which has become tougher now.

What?s in store?

IT goes up and down. It?s a cycle. According to market analysts? predictions, 2001-2004 was a bad phase for IT and then 2004-2007 was boom. Thus 2010 is going to be good again, and this is what most of the software engineers are hoping for. So what are these people up to? People who have marriages scheduled are fine. Others have started concentrating more on their job stability-as IT professionals share. But then others try to strike a balance in their personal lives too. ?People like me, who cannot wait for marriages due to age barrier, are in bad shape,? *Ankit adds.

In general people in small towns would shun IT grooms but well-informed people would see a larger picture and see this as a temporary phase. Thus if one is looking for a girl in small towns, an IT groom is badly placed. For instance, *Ankit talks about a friend from Satyam Hyderabad now in New York, who has plans to get married is planning to go back to India, find a nice job in some other company for himself. ?And subsequently, he would keep the search on for his bride. Being a Telugu, the suitor is having tough time to find a bride as per his choice,? *Ankit adds. Corroborating this, Janakiraman says, ?We have noticed that in the past that bridegrooms from engineering, finance and IT background are the most-preferred options. But the pulse of the market seems to be a little unfavourable for IT post the layoffs in the market.?

IT professionals who are on the verge of getting married, feel it would have been better for them if they could have got married before the downturn. Another IT professional, Rohit Chaudhary, who is working with one of the leading software companies, says, ?My would be in-laws came to see me in Delhi recently and they did enquire about if any lay offs are going to happen in my company as well. But you never know what might happen. I do get tensed at times when I think about a secured life on the professional front after marriage,? he adds.

What?s the scene in other matrimonial sites? As per the statistics, people?s preference has not been declined, informs Ankur Warikoo, co-founder, Secondshaadi.com. ?If we track the records, there has been 15% increase in the IT registrations, seeking second marriages.? The number of IT professional was more than 6,000 who are registered on Secondshaadi.com in the year Jan-Dec ?08, out of which 26% of the registered members are females.

However, Shaadi.com data estimates that the online matrimonial industry, with over 48% users into matrimonial searches, is expected to reach 20.8 million registrations by 2010-2011 and will safely stay unfazed by the current turmoil. People, who go for online search to find a life partner in the times of a slowdown get an unbiased result? Warikoo says, ?Even if we have seen a rise of 15% in registrations of members, who are from IT background. The end result will definitely have to go through an off-line analysis. Registering online is the first step, but one does enquire about the background of the suitor and a lot of off-line discussions take place after registrations.?

One would wonder if it is going to affect the marital life of people also who have already left Satyam. An electrical engineer, *Susan, who got married in December, was working with Satyam for two years and has joined TCS recently, feels, ?Whatever has happened with Satyam is almost unbelievable. On the professional front, as I have two years experience from the same company, I?m afraid if this would go blacklisted, it would have definitely an impact on the ratings and we might suffer in the long run.? After all, it?s experience that matters. ?And fear is fear,? she adds.

Whether the scenario will change remains to be seen. But one thing is sure. Once at a high, government sector jobs, will get their lustre back in the downturn and will rule the match-making market till the global economy gives the private sector a fillip again.

(Note: *- Names changed as per request)