It's end of the road for 10,000 Satyam staff

HYDERABAD: It was a pink Friday at Satyam Computer Services, as over 10,000 employees of the beleaguered IT firm were preparing for an unhappy holiday. Over one fourth of Satyam’s workforce was a part of the virtual pool, an exercise implemented by its new owner Tech Mahindra to downsize the excess staff.

The Pune-based IT firm had announced a plan to send the excess staff on a sabbatical to address higher staff costs, which account for more than half of the company’s expenses currently. The pool constitutes of about 14,000 associates, who were on bench for the last three months.

The usual din at the Satyam headquarters was replaced by an unusual silence as anxious employees paced in and out of the campus.

ET spoke to associates from various bands categorised under the virtual pool. In a mail to the employees, the Satyam management asked to them to pursue other interests for the stipulated timeframe. These employees will now have to come to the company with a prior appointment even on a day-to-day basis.

All the associates are classified under bands with the ascending levels being S, T, B and I. “The management is not clear on the criteria for the classification. I was on the bench for the first time since I joined the company three years ago. We are left with no choice, as the job markets continue to remain cold. Not only this, we will not be able to bargain better salaries despite our experience,” said an employee from the T band.

Most of the virtual pool employees are under the S and T band. “It’s just a sugar-coated way of asking us to leave the company. We are now worried about our personal financial obligations. With the reduced salary, we will not be able to meet any of them,” said another employee, who was with the company for six years.

However, when contacted the company spokesperson said the virtual pool programme gives employees an opportunity to come back depending on the business demand. They will continue to be a part of Satyam and have to resource for their skill enhancement programmes from home, he said. Under the virtual pool, an associate can draw about 40% of his current salary, including medical insurance and provident fund for a period of four to six months.

“In spite of drawing a merit rating in the performance assessment, the virtual pool initiative was imposed on me. It comes as a shock,” said a Satyam employee.

Not just them, but associates, who have not yet been given the lighter shade of pink slip, are jittery about their future. “Many employees are currently dismayed as the future is uncertain. I can also be on the hit list in the next couple of months,” said a senior executive.

Few employees also retaliated that a much stronger move in line with the public sector units would have saved the employees. “A public sector unit will never pass on the losses to the staff. Though it’s hard to expect the IT sector to work in these lines, a staff union in place would have helped us,” said an agitated employee.

For most Satyamites, the virtual pool programme means the end of an ambitious and illustrious career at the firm that was India’s fourth largest IT exporter.