CHENNAI: The creators of ‘We are against TCS layoff’ Facebook page have upped the ante by declaring, on Monday, that they have now formed a body to champion the cause and welfare of all IT/ITES employees - The Forum for IT Employees (FITE). However, the immediate priority of the forum, numbering over 350, would be to handle TCS’ restructuring plan.
The Young Tamil Nadu Movement, formed by a few IT professionals, a few years back, have been making news for the last few days by highlighting what they allege is an ongoing process of an ‘unethical, unfair and illegal’ laying off of mid-level employees (ranging from senior consultants to vice presidents) by IT giant TCS. The group, which claims that the laying off is a very real process, went on to create a Facebook page for people who were affected by the “ongoing slew of terminations”. The page currently has more than 5000 ‘likes.’
“The IT sector which had several lakhs of employees, do not have a network or a body to safeguard their interests and consequently the rights they hold as employees. As a first step to this crisis, a network among IT Employees need to be formed. And that is what we have done. Any IT employee who is presently working in India or abroad and who has Indian citizenship can join,” said P Parimala, coordinator of FITE. While FITE’s larger objectives will be oriented towards the entire industry, for the moment, it will launch an e-petition campaign demanding the intervention of the government to stop “illegal termination” of employees. FITE will also facilitate, those terminated in cities across the country, to pursue legal remedies.
The nascent union is demanding that TCS reveal the method by which the said restructuring is taking place and how employees, who are being laid off, are selected. “Termination notices, so far, given have said that the person’s job in the company is no longer “warranted”. We want TCS to make transparent how they selected these people,” said T Senthil, another coordinator of FITE.
TCS had earlier responded to the forum’s allegations that it was not an unusual occurrence and that as a performance driven company workforce optimisation was a continuous process.