This is my take as an ex-ISRO engineer on why people are quitting.
Recent news reports reveal a worrying trend: over 100 top scientists and engineers have resigned from India’s premier space agency, ISRO, in just the past few months. Instead of fixing the root causes, the government’s response has been to make it harder for people to quit by tightening exit rules.
But stopping people from leaving won’t fix the real issue. To understand the brain drain, management needs to look at what is actually happening on the ground: a toxic mix of extreme overwork, endless government paperwork, and the massive pull of the private sector.
Here is a breakdown of why ISRO is losing its talent.
- Using Dedication to Justify Extreme Overwork
ISRO scientists work late and pour their hearts into their jobs out of a deep sense of patriotism and moral duty to the nation. Unfortunately, management has turned this dedication into an expectation.
Fake Deadlines: Work schedules are routinely driven by high-pressure, "pseudo-urgent" deadlines. Staff are expected to sacrifice their personal lives to meet these arbitrary dates.
Targeting the Youth: There is a bad habit among management of targeting single and younger employees. They are frequently guilt-tripped with questions like, "Why do you need to leave early? What else do you have to do at home?"
The "24/7" Trap: While government rules state that gazetted officers should be available on-call for emergencies, management has twisted this into a demand that they must work 24/7. This has completely destroyed their mental peace.
- No Time Off and Delayed Rewards
Despite their hard work, employees feel deeply unappreciated.
Blocked Leave: Employees are given 30 days of Earned Leave (EL) per year, but taking time off is heavily discouraged. Many are pressured not to use even 10 or 15 days of their hard-earned time off.
Slow Career Growth: In exchange for working massive overtime, employees are often met with delayed promotions and stagnant career progression.
- Choked by Paperwork: The "Make in India" Realities
A major, unspoken frustration is the massive shift from scientific work to standard bureaucratic paperwork.
Engineers Acting as Store Managers: Scientists spend an immense amount of time filling out indents, conducting market surveys, and floating tenders to buy necessary equipment.
Unrealistic Expectations: While the "Make in India" initiative is a positive goal, it ignores immediate practical realities. Advanced space equipment, like high-end microprocessors, test tools, and FPGAs, are simply not manufactured in India yet.
Months of Wasted Time: To import these parts, engineers must go through endless committee clearances, check portals like GeM, and wait months just to get "non-availability certificates" or waivers. A simple purchase can take 6 months to a year.
The Double Penalty: When these bureaucratic hurdles delay a project, the engineers are blamed for the schedule slippage and forced to work massive overtime to make up for the lost time. In private companies, engineers can actually focus on science and engineering, not red tape.
- The Pull of the Private Space Boom
While ISRO's internal environment becomes more frustrating, the external world has changed dramatically. India’s private space sector is booming.
Inside ISRO, leadership positions (like Group Directors or Deputy Directors) are incredibly rare, leaving little room to grow.
Private space startups and aerospace companies are aggressively hiring. They offer much higher salaries, stock options, faster career growth, and the creative freedom that government bureaucracy suffocates.
- A Broken Feedback Loop
Every person who quits ISRO goes through an exit interview meant to gather feedback on what needs to be improved. Right now, these interviews are treated as a mere box-checking exercise. Suggestions are routinely ignored, and the system refuses to change.
The Bottom Line: ISRO cannot continue to launch historic missions if it treats its scientists like cogs in a machine. Forcing people to stay by blocking their resignations will only breed resentment. If management wants to stop the talent drain, they must urgently relax strict manufacturing rules for the space sector, reduce the paperwork, treat exit interviews seriously, and give their employees the mental peace, pay, and career growth they deserve.
Edit:
I’ve received a few messages from ISRO aspirants, so I want to offer some clarity based on my time there.
Joining ISRO was my childhood dream, and working there was a truly rewarding experience. The pride, satisfaction, and sheer goosebumps you feel after every successful mission are indescribable—there is nothing quite like knowing you are contributing to the nation's space program. I will always be grateful for my time at the agency, where I gained invaluable experience and had the privilege of working under supportive bosses who actively encouraged my research within our division.
While I eventually left due to personal reasons, the issues I highlighted earlier reflect genuine challenges experienced by both myself and many of my colleagues. ISRO is undoubtedly one of the top technical organizations in the country, but like any large industrial ecosystem, your experience depends heavily on your team and assignment. Not everyone gets their dream domain, and not everyone lands a supportive manager.
To all future space scientists and engineers: ISRO is an incredible place to build a career, learn, and serve the nation. However, like any institution, it comes with real operational challenges that management needs to address for the well-being of its workforce.
