Welcome to the cruel world, India

No longer is India just a cost-cutting haven for back-office and IT functions and call centers. Having grown well beyond its original iteration as the go-to source cheap labor, it looks like India is really starting to get a taste of what it's like to run with the big dogs. Unfortunately, in these days, that just means the country's companies and markets are feeling the sluggish effects of the global recession. You know you've made it when ?

Markets in India are showing a slowdown as investors are starting to worry that the downturn will last longer than expected (and recovery not as swift), with technology and blue-chips hitting a low point today. And the falling stock prices of Indian tech giants Tata, Infosys and Wipro aren't providing any glimmers of hope for the near future. On top of that, it seems that some of those tech biggies are on the brink of some cuts themselves (though they'd probably never admit as such). Tata has put about 1,000 employees on "performance improvement plans," following Infosys' lead, after it put 2,000 of its own on a similar regimen. Apparently, TCS claims it puts employees on a performance improvement plan every year?that may be so, but in tough times, it would certainly be a greater percentage of employees under the lens, or maybe even a tougher gauntlet they're forced to run through to prove themselves.

But India's still doing well, relatively speaking. Although TCS and Infosys are closely monitoring performance, 1,000 and 2,000 employees, respectively, is still a fairly small percentage of the overall company. And, according to a report by Hewitt Associates, 60 percent of companies in India are still hiring and recruiting, while only 12.6 percent of companies are pursuing layoffs (though the study points out that that figure likely will rise). Apparently about 37 percent of companies have undertaken a hiring freeze. Furthermore, while India has certainly risen in the ranks over the past few years, it still remains a lower-cost option for international corporations. So it's not entirely unusual to hear of companies planning to boost their numbers in India in the near future. Capgemini, for instance, has said that it plans to double its staff in the country to 40,000 by 2010.

Another sign that a country has arrived on the global economic stage? Corporate greed and corruption?and Satyam's certainly filled that role well. With every day bringing a bit more drama to the story, India's Economic Times reported yesterday that some Satyam senior execs are trying to sabotage the struggling company (as if it didn't have enough to worry about) by funneling work to rival companies and cutting deals with customers nervous about the firm's future. At this point, two of the executives have been identified, but they did not reveal how many others are involved. Sounds like a job for Jack Bauer.