Bonds Dont Bond

I would like to share how these bonds are perceived and treated by people in manufacturing industry, specifically the textile industry. A bond for 1-2 years for Rs. 1 to 1.5 lacs was common in any company that visited campus during my graduation. I believe people then commit themselves to the company for the time stipulated as per the bond. But mostly with a notion of learning as much as possible in this time and getting a better job later.
In cases people are not satisfied with the job or are overburdened they still carry on with the job for some time and later join a better suiting profile. Starting a career when you are not paid well, learning occupies an important role than bargaining for salary. Though I feel and agree with my friends that bonds for 4-5 years are highly restrictive and make no sense unless very expensive and highly technical training is provided.
In case a bond is signed, there are occasions when profile told during recruitment and then the actual profile during working doesn’t match the candidate’s perception, this doesn’t lead to any value addition and is a liability to employees and many think of it as wasted opportunity and break the bond.
Looking at experienced candidates, such candidates are not given any major training and are given more responsibilities when they join the company. Bonds for them are mainly to prevent them from leaving the firm for some time and are not easily justifiable as the investment done by the company is only for recruitment. In case of such employees when they join a new employer, the new employer willingly pays for the bond amount as it is the investment in utilising the experience of that employee.
So in majority of cases bonds are only a financial liability and not rigid enough to hold back employees. Companies cannot take any legal action and as discussed in other dialectic entries, can only hold back the relieving letter and experience certificate, which may be important in certain industries and might not be in others, maybe important for employees with less experience but not so much for the experienced employees. So, this can be used only as an Add-on to the restrictive covenants in the employment contract.