HYDERABAD: The first round of conciliation at the State Labour, Employment Training and Factories meeting held between the Verizon Data Services India (VDSI) management representatives and its retrenched techies saw the former ‘request for more time’ to sort out the issue. The MNC has confirmed that 200 employees were handed over pink slips as part of its role rationalisation exercise.
Joint Commissioner of Labour (JCL) of Ranga Reddy zone R Chandra Shekaram said, “the management of VDSI requested time to sort the matter and talk to each employee individually.” He added that as many as 200 employees of VDSI were laid off during its downsizing exercise. Two representatives from the company— an HR and Finance head of VDIS and a legal advisor of the company — were present at the meeting.
The fact that the company failed to give enough time for the techies to update their skills so as to stay relevant is evident when R Chandra Shekaram told Express that the company was asked to come with an amicable solution by January 3 to sort the issue out. The company’s official spokesperson maintained that they would comply with the law. “We are always committed to comply with law and are cooperating with the labour department,” said Sajad Pokkodan, corporate communication head of VDSI.
Earlier last week, after the company’s downsizing move, close to 50 techies had approached the state labour department alleging intimidation by employing ‘bouncers’ by the management.
According to the retrenched techies who attended the meeting, the JCL was surprised at the increasing number of techies who approached the department for justice from VDSI alone.
“The JCL was surprised to see the sudden surge of techies approaching the department,” said Ramkrishna (name changed), a retrenched techie.