Following in the footsteps of its rivals Infosys, Wipro and Cognizant, now IT major Tech Mahindra is also planning to lay off nearly 1000-1500 employees.
Employees have started seeking government intervention to save their jobs.
The Forum for IT Employees (FITE) filed a petition with the labour commissioner in Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
“We demand the state and central government intervention to stop the illegal termination of Cognizant employee’s with immediate effect, reinstate all the affected employees, restore the normalcy in work environment affected by illegal terminations,” FITE said.
Tech Mahindra said "We have a process of weeding out bottom performers every year and this year is no different."
The move closely followed similar downsizing by IT majors Wipro and Cognizant, as automation and increased protectionist policies by the US have forced the Indian firms to trim work force. Companies are working towards reducing their dependence on work visas and instead hiring more locals to ensure continuity of work for clients, even though it impacts their margins.
Analysts said that the tightening of the visa regime in many countries would impact IT companies and due to fast shifting towards new digital services, IT companies are struggling with lower growth.
Interestingly, Infosys has said it will hire 10,000 Americans in the next two years and open four centres in the US as it seeks to counter moves by the US to tighten visa norms
Tech Mahindra, Cognizant had denied any layoffs, saying some employees have been let off because they did not meet performance standard. They have warned that increasing automation of processes would lead to reduction in hiring in coming years.
Is this due to US President Donald Trump tightened visa norms or employees performing poorly? What’s really going on?