Infosys Postpones Internal Assessment Amid Backlash Over Trainee Firings, Says IT Workers' Union

Amid backlash following the termination of hundreds of trainees earlier this month, Infosys has postponed its internal assessment scheduled for today, according to the IT workers’ union Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES). 

The workers’ advocacy group claims that around 800 Infosys employees were set to take the assessment at its Mysore training campus, and the results could have led to further terminations on Friday. 

"However, following NITES’ intervention, government action, and strong media support, Infosys has now postponed the assessment," said Harpreet Singh Saluja, President of NITES. 

“We have not received any requests from the government or external parties to postpone assessments. We are deferring our assessments by a week to provide additional preparation time for our trainees,” Infosys told Outlook Business in an email.

According to a snapshot of an internal email shared by NITES, the assessment scheduled for February 18—the Generic FA2 assessment—has now been postponed to February 24. 

Infosys laid off a group of trainees from its Mysore campus on February 7, a move described as "illegal and unethical" by workers' rights groups. The exact number of terminated employees remains unclear. Infosys stated that these freshers were given "three attempts" to clear an assessment, failing which they were terminated. 

Karnataka Labour Dept Probes Infosys Layoffs

Meanwhile, the Union Labour Ministry has ordered the Karnataka State Labour Department to investigate the recent terminations. The directive, issued on February 13, urges the state to take immediate action to resolve the dispute following a complaint by IT employee advocacy group NITES. 

While firing freshers for failing internal assessments is not new for Infosys and other Indian IT service firms, the scale of layoffs is now under scrutiny. According to a Moneycontrol report, earlier termination rates were under 10%, but they have now risen to 30-40%. 

The assessment process involves two phases: a generic phase and a technology-specific phase. However, both the syllabus and passing criteria changed significantly in 2024. The generic phase now includes two tests—F1 (Java) and FA2 (DBMS)—with increased difficulty and a higher passing threshold of 65%. 

According to Infosys' December quarter earnings report, the company added 5,591 employees. It also acquired 101 new clients in three months, but revenue from clients grew by just 5.9% year-on-year. During the third quarter, Infosys' attrition rate increased to 13.7%, higher than the previous quarter and the same quarter last year.