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Facepalm: Infosys, an Indian tech giant with a market cap of nearly $100 billion, has allegedly been stringing along thousands of recent engineering graduates for years after extending job offers. Disgruntled would-be hires claim the company has subjected them to repeated rounds of unpaid training modules while continually postponing their start dates.
The allegations, filed with the Ministry of Labour and Employment in a letter by the labor group Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), paint an unsavory picture. Written by group president Harpreet Singh Saluja, the complaint states that over 2,000 graduates recruited for engineering roles have been left in hiring limbo for nearly two years, despite receiving offer letters as early as April 2022.
While Infosys CEO Salil Parekh recently pledged to honor all offers, his comments to the press provided little clarity on actual timelines.
"Every offer that we have given, that offer will be someone who will join the company," he told Indian news agency PTI in an obfuscating statement. "We changed some dates but beyond that everyone will join Infosys and there is no change in that approach."
Parekh also did not address the reason behind the delay. Logistical issues are speculated as a possibility, though previous delays due to Covid-19 no longer seem to apply.
Emails reviewed by The Register revealed that the delayed hires have already been compelled to participate in multiple unpaid virtual and in-person training programs. In a slumping job market, applicants have little choice but to attend these sessions, as failure to do so could potentially be grounds for termination.
"Despite successfully completing the pre-training, the promised results were never communicated, leaving the graduates in limbo for over 20 days," wrote Saluja in the complaint. "To their shock, instead of receiving their joining dates, these graduates were informed that they needed to retake the pre-training exam offline, once again without any remuneration."
Saluja suggested that these "questionable practices" amount to the exploitation of India's burgeoning tech talent pool. He added that the tactics have caused immense frustration, anxiety, and uncertainty among the graduates, who have "invested over two years" in anticipation.
The letter also argued that by delaying recruitment, Infosys has harmed India's economy.
"These young engineering graduates are integral to the future of our nation's IT industry. 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," Saluja stated.
While India produces a vast number of engineering graduates annually, the subcontinent's IT industry has paradoxically faced employee shortages in recent years. A possible reason for this is a mismatch between the skills these new graduates possess and the expertise that firms require.
Infosys revealed in its Q1 2024 earnings call last month that it plans to hire 15,000 to 20,000 freshers this year, so there's really no reason to keep recruits in limbo.
Image credit: Sabin Prodan