Mass Illegal Terminations! Time to intervene and stop!

Mass Illegal Terminations! Time to intervene and stop!

The recent media news about Indian IT Industry is very alarming. The rising number of complaints to Forum for IT Employees (FITE) is proving that the media news is real one. Infosys Ltd, Wipro Ltd, Tech Mahindra Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, US-based Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. and DXC Technology Co., and France-based Cap Gemini SA, the major 7 companies plan to reduce 5% of their workforce which roughly comes around 56,000 employees.

On the other side the companies are reporting declined revenue forecast between 8-9%. NASSCOM has reported that in the next 3 years, there will be 20-25% job cut in Indian IT industry due to automation and technology advancement. There are around 40 lakhs people working in the Indian IT industry. So, at least 10 lakhs employees are going to lose their job in the next few years. Adding to this woe, countries like the US,AUSTRALIA, SINGAPORE, NEW ZEALAND, and the UK have announced restriction on temporary visa permission to Indian tech workers. Recent news report that Infosys has started recruiting local people in the US.

This raises the question “What is the alternative plan for the Indian tech workers in US? “

Though our constitution upholds the right of unionization, IT employees fear that joining a union will permanently throw them out of the Industry. In this context, i.e. In the absence of any strong union and the continuous disregard for proper implementation of labour laws by the IT companies, the current situation of IT Employees looks very scary and have pushed the employees to a panic state. Our employees are running from pillar to post.

The companies are giving a general statement as usual that “As part of their annual performance evaluation process, they let go of 1-2 % of the employees to ensure that only right skilled employees are retained to meet their business objectives/needs” hiding all the above said facts. In reality it is nothing related to individuals performance but employees are made a scapegoat of the problems that the IT industry is facing now.

Corporates use Appraisal system as a tool to do illegal mass job cut in a legal way. The illegal terminations of employment is happening in a well-planned manner. Companies decide the number of workers to be cut off every year. According to that number, companies work out the plan to make the illegal forced terminations into legal voluntary resignations.

What is happening now?

CTS, WIPRO, INFOSYS and other companies as part of their annual appraisal process year 2016, they have given low rating or meeting below expectation rating to employees in large numbers, moved all the employees to bench, passed instructions to higher authorities to stop allocating the employees in to other projects even if they are qualified, call the employees and threaten them to accept 2-3 months compensation and smoothly leave the organisation saying that their skills are irrelevant to the business needs all of a sudden. The resisting employees are threatened and humiliated in several ways by the companies until they resign. This scenario shows the big level of lack of social responsibility from the corporates.

By considering the current situation, FITE fears that there is a huge human rights violation awaiting inside the glass doors. This will create mental distress among workers, create problems in their personal life, some may even resort to extreme step fearing their future life. This ongoing mass job cut is not only the issue of IT employees, it will affect entire economic activities happening around IT industrial corridor.

Considering this alarming situation, the ASSOCHAM Secretary General Mr D S Rawat has cautioned, “the chances of layoffs are real,” while impressing upon the IT industry apex bodies and the government to work out a joint strategy to deal with the unfolding situation.

Forum for IT Employees (FITE) demand to all concerned state governments and central government

1. To Intervene immediately and stop the ongoing mass illegal terminations

2. Setup a Commission of Inquiry comprising Retired Judges, Trade Unionists, Human Rights Activists, IT Industry Experts.

  • To conduct thorough inquiry on the ongoing mass illegal terminations and provide recommendations to safeguard employees from mass job cuts
  • To provide recommendations on policy level changes, and required amendments to labour laws to protect the IT workers’ rights.

FORUM FOR IT EMPLOYEES (F.I.T.E)
42/21, Mettu Street, Velachery, Chennai – 600042. Cell : 09840713315, 09962941439
E-mail: fiteorganization@gmail.com

 

https://www.change.org/p/mass-illegal-terminations-time-to-intervene-and-stop