But it is not a cliché at Computer Weekly's Best Places to Work in IT, the 2009 iteration of which was staged in London on 21 May.

This time around, we grounded the research and awards process in the testimony of employees themselves. There is never a perfect way of doing this kind of event, but the value of this approach was manifest.

Comments from employees at the eight winning organisations vaunted such things as elements promoting a productive work/life balance, "clear strategy, brilliant communication, strong leadership", and an ethos of "equality, democracy, trust and autonomy". All of which makes clear what IT professionals in good IT departments value.

Most of the research behind the awards took place before the recession really started to bite. The reality of the current economic climate is that even the most caring employer will have to make redundancies.

Indian supplier, Satyam, is adopting one way of proceeding in these circumstances that could be worth emulating. It says it will look after its bench workers by offering them an umbilical connection in the form of a continued retainer while there is no work. If in the meantime they find other work they are free to go.

Unfortunately, when it comes to IT in user organisations there is a strong tendency to make the wrong people redundant, according to some authorities quoted in this issue.

For businesses, say these sources, often sack the wrong people since the decision makers often have an insufficiently clear and detailed understanding of what IT staff do. Specialist skilled workers often get picked up by competitors or companies end up re-hiring redundant IT staff as (more expensive) contractors.

Businesses risk losing key capabilities as a consequence of over hasty and over-extensive redundancy programmes. Because people are the most valuable asset not just as individuals, but as groups who have learned to work in particular teams over significant periods of time. Once you have ripped up a culture, it is next to impossible to repair.

The permanent market is now at its lowest level since 2004, while the contract market is down to its 2003 level.

However, there are some trends afoot that promise a brighter future. One is that investment in innovation is surprisingly robust. Another is that, in a new twist on the globalisation narrative, Indian suppliers are heading west in search of new recruits.

Around 40% of IT directors are bucking the trend of battening down the hatches in the recession by spending more on new IT projects. This savvy minority is aiming to cast technology more than ever as a driver of growth.

Moreover, 17% of 1300 European IT executives polled by Harvey Nash are investing more than 15% of their budget in clever new ways of using IT. Eighty-six per cent of them have been asked by the business to focus on technology innovation that will claw out a position of competitive advantage for the upturn.

So far, so upbeat. More interesting still is a strategic move by Indian IT service providers to increase their number of European and US employees as the advantages of the offshore/onshore model diminishes and as protectionism spikes.

Wipro, for example, says it wants to increase its western workforce. At present only 8% of its workforce is outside India.

Indian suppliers are tiring of a model whereby they fly Indian nationals to western countries for short bursts of time. Clients are demanding a level of continuity to which the model is inimical. Also, more Indian companies are employing locals for account management and relationship management roles. They will find such recruits among the ranks of the recently redundant in IT markets like the UK's.

Ultimately, companies such as Tata Consultancy, Wipro, and HCL may come to be transnational as IBM. It is a complex and evolving picture.