Karnataka - Bangalore

Job sites flooded with bio-data

BANGALORE: On Tuesday evening, hours before the name Satyam became hopelessly inapt, HR companies noticed a marked rise in the number of resumes being uploaded on their websites.

For instance, Headhunters India, which got 7,800 over December, found the number swelling to nearly 15,000 in just 24 hours.

“Over the next month Satyam, being left with no money in the bank, will either stop paying salaries or axe the ‘non-billable’ ones. Nobody believes the management’s assurances right now,” said Kris Lakshmikanth, CEO-Headhunters.

A similar picture emerges from recruitment agencies and job portals everywhere even as experts estimate that some 25,000 resumes are being floated at this point.

Sumeet Singh, Senior Manager at Siliconindia Jobs and Careers, said thousands of resumes came in on Wednesday. “There may not be mass layoffs in the coming weeks, but people are surely hitting the panic button.”

A manager at Satyam, Bangalore, told The Hindu that over 30 per cent of the employees are “benched” (without project being assigned) and HR reassurances were being taken with a pinch of salt.

Edgy Satyamites were closely monitoring any development and were hooked to the directors’ press conference Thursday evening.

“We are yet to make sense of the situation and are sceptical. If there is an exodus, everybody will want to beat the other to it. They have committed to January’s salary, but what happens after that?” the manager asked.

The SWAT — military acronym for special weapons and tactics — team formed to tackle crisis, according to the interim CEO’s email, failed to impress employees as did the company’s concern for “staff and families”.

Amidst rumours that other IT majors are trying to poach Satyam’s clients, the faith ostensibly reposed by clients comes as a silver lining.

“Several big clients have said they will continue with us and that management-level issues are not affecting project meetings is reassuring. We went for these interactions with apprehension, but they seem confident,” said a project manager working in Bangalore.

Amid all this, the spectre of recession looms large. All the top 10 IT majors have frozen recruitment.

In the event of a layoff, recruitment experts claim that at least 25 per cent stand a chance of being absorbed in other companies but at a “lower price”.

“Salaries will surely dip. The Satyam tag makes them desirable, and IT majors will seize the opportunity to hire them at a cheaper rate,” said a Bangalore-based HR analyst.

However, given the global financial crisis, a substantial portion of those working in the banking and finance sectors will find it impossible to get on to the bandwagon.

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