Infosys 'Laid-Off' Employees Seek PMO’s Intervention Over Unfair Termination

Infosys employees have now turned to the government to prevent unfair termination by companies in the future. In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister’s Office, nearly 117 students, who were recently fired by the IT services giant, urged the government “to look into the matter and take necessary action” to avoid such layoffs to happen in the future, according to the Economic Times. 

“Various complaints which are received by this office address to PMO are enclosed herewith. The applicants are requesting the intervention of the ministry of labour & employment and to prevent similar unfair dismissals from happening to other employees in the future,” said the labour ministry in a letter cited by the ET.

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The union labour ministry has reportedly passed on the matter to Karnataka’s labour ministry and directed them to inspect the matter of mass termination by Infosys. According to the country’s federal set-up and division of power, the state government is the appropriate authority to take action in the matter, the central ministry stated. Additionally, the notice also marked Harpreet Singh Saluja, president of Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES). NITES is an association formed for the welfare of IT/ITES employees. 

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Infosys Mass Layoffs

Infosys row sparked controversy earlier this month, when NR Narayana Murthy-founded IT services giant terminated nearly 700 trainees abruptly. The fresh graduates were hired nearly two-and-a-half years ago but onboarded last year in October. The company then fired them, citing failure to clear an internal assessment programme as the reason. 

“While we understand the disappointment of individuals who have not been able to clear the assessment. It is important to understand the facts surrounding this situation,” Infosys said post mass layoffs. 

However, the laid-off trainees mentioned that the assessment was unfair, and some said the level of difficulty was higher compared to previous such tests.