Satyam employees caught unawares

CHENNAI: It was bad enough when Rohit, working with Satyam in Chennai, read about Chairman B Ramalinga Raju’s move to acquire his son’s property and infrastructure companies sans shareholder’s approval.It was even worse when a week later he read about World Bank blacklisting Satyam on charges of data theft. But of late things are getting scary with rumours about Raju’s resignation and possible dilution of promoter’s stake. Surrounded by panic and uncertainty, he did the obvious: registering in a slew of online job portals.Like Rohit, thousands of employees across the globe are groping under amplified fear and are likely to relook at their long-term commitment with the company.This, in the wake of the ongoing recession in US and UK markets have made the situation worse.“We were asked not to panic and the rumours about Chairman’s resignation are baseless. All said, Satyam, as a corporate brand, is losing steam and no one with the skill set would like to be associated with it for long,” says Archana Shukla* an entrylevel employee based in Hyderabad.A BT-Mercer-TNS Best Employer Survey in 2006 ranked Satyam as the third best place to work for in India. Similarly, a study conducted by Hewitt Associates in partnership with The Wall Street Journal Asia in 2007 ranked Satyam as one of top three employers in India. “It was one of the top five Indian IT employers but I am not sure if that’s true anymore. Attracting top quality talent across the levels will be difficult in the near future,” said Manish Sabharwal, Chairman, Teamlease Services, a manpower and temping services company in Bangalore.In September 2008, it was named the Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise (MAKE) for the third year in a row by a panel of Asian Fortune Global 500 business executives. But whether it will retain the honour in 2009 remains to be seen. “The recent incidents will impact all the stakeholders including employees, whose services are vital for the company’s growth.The strategic team should gather as much confidence as it can to revive its position,” said Kaustubh Dhavse, Deputy Director- ICT Practice, Frost and Sullivan, South Asia and Middle East.Meanwhile, the company is pulling out all stops to allay fears among associates and other stakeholders. “We are doing all we can, in every possible way to restore confidence. We have gone through many ups and downs and survived them all,” said a senior Vice President, Satyam Computer Services.