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Techies raise alarm over rising layoffs
Even as the number of petitions from employees against IT companies is growing by the day, retrenchment of employees continues unabated. In the July-September quarter, a total of 5,000 employees were removed from service in the twin cities alone, according to official data.
Hyderabad: Even as the number of petitions from employees against IT companies is growing by the day, retrenchment of employees continues unabated. In the July-September quarter, a total of 5,000 employees were removed from service in the twin cities alone, according to official data.
While employees wait for the High Court hearing on the second writ petition on November 9, 2017, news of IT employees losing their jobs comes as a rude shock for all those concerned. This year, more than 20,000 employees lost their jobs in the last three months and over 5,000 employees working in several IT majors such as Cognizant, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and others were issued pink slips.
Companies are on a wage restructuring mode and have been replacing employees with high salaries with newcomers. Y Kiran Chandra, founder member, Forum for IT Professionals, said, “The net head count reduced in several companies due to wage structuring. This is at a time when the employees are harbouring hopes of being taken back.”
It may be noted that a conciliation meeting between employees and Wipro is slated on November 10. Dharmavarapu Ravi, a retrenched employee of Tech Mahindra, said, “Looking at the way wage restructuring is happening, employees are living in complete stress.”
In the July-September quarter, 6,289 employees were recruited by Tech Mahindra, but the net head count was reduced by 6,816. Kiran Chandra says, “While many were taken in for low salaries, almost the same number of highly paid and experienced employees was removed from services.” The net head count in the last quarter at Cognizant was 5,100, Infosys 1,924 and Wipro 1,722. The net head count increased only in TCS which is an exception and was 2,000, according to sources.
Raghava Reddy, a former Tech Mahindra employee, said he received several calls every day from former colleagues and friends working in the IT sector and most of them said they did not know if they would have their jobs the next morning. Suraj, an employee said, “I have three major loans and if I lose my job now, there is no way I can repay the loans.
The chances of getting another job too are weak considering the present state of the industry.” When asked, an HR department person, on condition of anonymity said, IT companies had always been volatile and employees who underperformed had always been removed.
