In a new development, Tech Mahindra has laid off at least 1,000 employees this month but termed it as part of the annual appraisal process. It is same the way how other IT majors such as Cognizant, Wipro, and Infosys executed in the past few weeks to downsize the people. The new move is due to the increasing automation in various projects and the recent protectionist policies by the Trump government in U.S. Earlier this week, Infosys gave a marching order to many mid- and senior-level employees on a mission to reduce the headcount and increase the profitability.
Tech Mahindra leadership confirmed in an email statement that it was part of the firm’s process of removing the bottom performers on a yearly basis, and the same repeated this year as well. It is reported that many IT companies are struggling to improve the business and profitability considering the transition in the technology and the changed visa regime in the recent years. In a similar way, Cognizant offered a voluntary relieve program for many senior VPs, associate VPs, and Directors by offering an advance salary ranging from six to nine months.
Interestingly, all the employers are trying not to term it as lay off and use voluntary let off due to some of their employees did not meet the performance standards. This year, most of the IT companies have cut short their recruitment numbers from the campuses due to the automation. Infosys did just 5,785 new hiring in FY17 against 17,875 in FY16. This year, most of the IT firms recruited less than one-third of the employees they hired in 2016. Ironically, Infosys declared its plan to hire more than 10,000 employees in its four U.S. campuses, an attempt to comply with the changed regulations post-U.S. Presidential Election.
The IT employees and the students are panicked with the changing environment. In the wake of recent Cognizant layoffs, Forum of IT Employees (FITE) petitioned to both Telangana and Tamil Nadu governments and demanded their intervention in the “illegal termination” of employees. Being one of the largest employing sectors in India with more than 2.5 million direct jobs, any downfall of the IT industry can significantly affect the growth prospects of the country as well.
