BENGALURU: Two months after firing nearly 400 trainees from its Mysuru campus, IT services firm Infosys has again terminated another 240 trainees after they failed to clear internal assessments.
All these trainees were recruited by the company in October last year.
According to sources, a few hundred more trainees might also be fired as the next batch of trainees are awaiting their results sometime next week.
A couple of trainees that this newspaper spoke to and Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), which represents IT professionals, claims the number to be around 370.
"They started calling 20 people (in batches) to a meeting room from Friday morning and it went on till 4 pm. We received our termination letters and Friday was our last day of working. Those who are staying in hostels have been asked to vacate by April 21," said a trainee.
Another trainee, a system engineer, said that they have been expecting this (termination) as all these trainees have waited for at least two years to join the company.
"System engineers have been paid Rs 3 lakh-Rs 3.5 lakh per annum and we are clueless now as we need to search for a job again," a trainee from Maharashtra said.
The email (viewed by The New Indian Express) sent on April 18 to these trainees read, "Further to the announcement of the results of your final assessment attempt, please be informed that, you have not met the qualifying criteria in the Generic foundation training program' despite the additional preparation time, doubt-clearing sessions, several mock assessments and three attempts."
The company will be providing external training to prepare them for potential roles in the BPM industry.
The email further said that one month's pay, outplacement services and 24 weeks' training program on IT fundamentals for IT career pathway apart from transport and accommodation will be provided to employees till the date of their departure.
A day after Q4 earnings announcement
This termination also comes a day after Infosys announced its Q4 earnings.
Infosys CEO Salil Parekh at the earnings conference said that the company has a rigorous way to test individuals and that it has been the same for over 20 years now.
He said that the company has supported them (laid-off trainees) and made sure they have other opportunities, sometimes within Infosys and also outside, to ensure "we do everything to get them ready and be at the standard that Infosys has kept."
Meanwhile, NITES has submitted a second complaint with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship against "illegal and unethical layoffs of around 370 trainees by Infosys."
"Apprenticeship is meant to empower and train young professionals, not to exploit them under temporary contracts and discard them without legal recourse," said Harpreet Singh Saluja, president, NITES.
