Infosys laid off a group of trainees from its Mysore campus on February 7, a move described as "illegal and unethical" by workers' rights bodies. The exact number of fired employees remains unclear. While the IT workers' body Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) estimates the number to be around 700 in its complaint to the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Infosys claims that approximately 300 recruits were let go.
Infosys said that these freshers were given "three attempts" to clear an assessment, failing which they were terminated. While firing freshers for not clearing internal assessments is not new, the scale at which it is happening now is being questioned. According to a Moneycontrol report, earlier termination rates were under 10%, but they have now risen to 30-40%.
What's Behind the Mass Termination?
Current Infosys employees, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Outlook Business that an excess of resources and fewer projects were behind the recent large-scale layoffs at the IT giant.
They explained that every recruit goes through a training process and must clear three assessments based on that training. Employees told us that "even if you failed once or twice," the company used to consider retaining candidates based on "client-side demand." During Covid, Infosys required more people and did not focus heavily on assessments.
However, things changed afterward, as IT giants, including Infosys, handed out too many offer letters during campus recruitment and later had to delay the onboarding of thousands of freshers.
Reports say that the recruits laid off on February 7 were part of the 2022 hiring batch—those who were offered jobs in September 2024 but faced onboarding delays.
"The onboarding of these employees was secured only after persistent efforts from NITES and representations made to the concerned authorities," NITES stated in its complaint to Labour & Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
According to reports, the internal assessment process these recruits had to go through was changed in 2024. The new process involved two phases: generic and technology-specific streams. 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%. The syllabus expanded to 200 hours of study, but trainees were allegedly given only 8 hours of training per day, making it impossible to cover the material. As a result, failure rates have skyrocketed.
Employees told us that today, not only freshers but also many senior employees must clear these assessments.
Since there are fewer projects, some employees are benched for months and later placed on a "Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)," Infosys employees said.
"If you are put on PIP, it's almost certain that you will be terminated," they added.
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. The company's workforce utilisation, including trainees, stood at 83.4%, lower than in the September quarter and Q3 FY24.
"Intimidating" Termination Tactics
In its complaint, NITES outlined what it called the "unethical" process Infosys used to terminate recruits on February 7.
The workers' body claimed that Infosys forced recruits to "sign mutual separation agreements under duress, without their free will or informed consent."
"The affected employees have been confined to meeting rooms at the Mysore campus, where they are being subjected to intimidation tactics, including the presence of bouncers and security personnel, to ensure compliance with the company's unilateral decision," the complaint stated.
NITES warned that Infosys' actions set a dangerous precedent for the IT industry, and if left unaddressed, could embolden other corporations to engage in similar exploitative and unlawful practices.
They urged the Ministry of Labour & Employment to intervene immediately to safeguard the rights of IT employees.
