CEO claims recruits will work at Infosys eventually
Following NITES’ letter, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh claimed this week that the graduates would start their jobs but didn’t provide more details about when they would start or why there have been such lengthy delays and repeated training sessions. Speaking to Indian news site Press Trust of India, Parekh said:
Every offer that we have given, that offer will be someone who will join the company. We changed some dates, but beyond that everyone will join Infosys and there is no change in that approach.
Notably, in an earnings call last month [PDF], Infosys CFO Jayesh Sanghrajka said that Infosys is “looking at hiring 15,000 to 20,000” recent graduates this year, “depending on how we see the growth.” It’s unclear if that figure includes the 2,000 people NITES is concerned about.
In March, Infosys reported having 317,240 employees, which represented its first decrease in employee count since 2001. Parekh also recently claimed Infosys isn’t expecting layoffs relating to emerging technologies like AI. In its most recent earnings report, Infosys reported a 5.1 percent year-over-year (YoY) increase in profit and a 2.1 percent YoY increase in revenues.
NITES has previously argued that because of the delays, Infosys should offer “full salary payments for the period during which onboarding has been delayed” or, if onboarding isn’t feasible, that Infosys help the recruited people find alternative jobs elsewhere within Infosys.
Infosys accused of hurting Indian economy
NITES’ letter argues that Infosys has already negatively impacted India’s economic growth, stating:
These young engineering graduates are integral to the future of our nation’s IT industry, which plays a pivotal role in our economy. By delaying their careers and subjecting them to unpaid work and repeated assessments, Infosys is not only wasting their valuable time but also undermining the contributions they could be making to India’s growth.
Infosys hasn’t explained why the onboarding of thousands of recruits has taken longer to begin than expected. One potential challenge is logistics. Infosys also previously delayed onboarding because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit India particularly hard.