The Union Labour Ministry has asked the Karnataka Labour Department to act immediately and take relevant steps to sort out the matter of mass layoff of 300 freshers at Infosys with some of them being asked to vacate their accommodation immediately.
The Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) maintains that actually 700 freshers have been laid off and not just 300 or 400 as has been reported. The organisation, which works for the rights of employees in the information technology (IT) sector, had submitted a formal complaint to the Ministry of Labour requesting intervention in the matter.
The complaint mentioned how Infosys had chosen to terminate hundreds of freshers who had been recently onboarded after a long wait of two years since they were given offer letters. The reason for their termination was that they failed to score well in an internal assessment.
The terminations have been labeled as unjust and illegal by NITES. These freshers were inducted in October 2024 but were suddenly asked to leave and given letters of ‘mutual separation’.
The company, however, maintains that the internal assessment has been part of the rigorous hiring process that Infosys has been known for; and that it has been in place for over 20 years now. Trainees are allowed to take the test thrice, and if they fail even after three attempts they are asked to discontinue service. As per Infosys, this is mentioned in their service contract too.
What has irked the affected trainees is that the company had deployed security personnel and bouncers outside the room where the employees were informed of the termination, making the whole exercise rather unpleasant and intimidating. Media reports say that some trainees were asked to vacate their accommodations the same day literally leaving them with no time to plan their further stay in the city or return home. Many point out that such a big lot has never been laid off before at Infosys and there is an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear that such terminations could happen in future too.