Pai denies ‘turf war' at Infosys

BANGALORE: The news of two Infosys top executives leaving the company due to various reasons, has given air to the rumor that a turf war is brewing in the top echelons of the IT behemoth, however, top brass of the company categorically denied any such thing.

Recently, a citizen journalist website, citing sources claimed that there was a “bitter turf war” within the company which puts Infosys at a risk of “losing some of the most respected executives in India.” “There existed two extremely strong factions within Infosys - Nandan Nilekani and Mohandas Pai…A united face to the world, the continuous tension between the two head honchos was a well kept secret restricted to the inner circle.

Those in Nandan’s faction (read Amitabh Chaudhary) are slowly being edged out of the inner circle after Nandan left the top post.

Latest to hit the bandwagon are Rishi Jain (AVP and Head of Corporate Planning at Infosys BPO) and Purnima Menon (Head - Marketing for Infosys BPO),” the website said.

Infosys HR Head, Mohandas Pai told Express, “There is no such turf war. Joydeep is leaving but he had put in his papers three months ago for personal reasons and we would be finalizing his successor shortly.” “Rishi and purnima have not resigned!” he added.

The resignation of Joydeep, who heads the Knowledge Process Outsourcing business of the company, was reported by news papers on Thursday.

Knowledge services contribute about 10 per cent of Infosys BPO’s annual revenue of over Rs 1,450 crore. Joydeep took over from Ramit Sethi, who quit last year to head the KPO practice at Wipro.

Amitabh Chaudhry, who took over as the Chief Executive of Infosys BPO in March 2006, had reportedly submitted his resignation on Tuesday.

The BPO arm of Infosys employs about 16,000 staff and offers finance and accounting, human resource and legal services outsourcing.

Chaudhry who is tipped to join HDFC Standard Life Insurance to head its business in India as CEO could not be contacted and HDFC Standard Life Insurance spokesperson declined to comment.

250,000 IT jobs up for grabs soon: Infy director

With the global economy gradually bouncing back, the IT job market is also picking up and around 2-2.5-lakh jobs in the sector are likely to be up for grabs, a top Infosys [ Get Quote ] official said on Wednesday.

"The job scenario is improving...this year the market is likely to see around 2-2.5-lakh jobs," Infosys director-human resources Mohandas Pai told reporters.

The IT jobs market will, however, not be the same as it was two years ago but will also not be as bad as it was last year, Pai said, adding the fresher-lateral hiring ratio is likely to be around 65:35 per cent this year.

Two years ago there were around 3-4 lakh jobs available in the IT market, he pointed out. The industry has witnessed a lower growth rate in the last 18-months, Pai said, adding that the market is not so open now.

Infosys has plans to hire around 20,000, Pai said, adding that, however, campus recruitments will be lower this year as compared to the last.

"This year, Infosys will be hiring around 20,000 as against 16,000 that we recruited last year. Campus recruitments, however, will be less," Pai said. However, did not divulge the exact number that he is planning to hire through campus recruitments.

Pai said that Infosys has given a 7-8 per cent hike across the board whereas globally it was two per cent. Attrition stood at 10 per cent at Infosys, he said.