Date:11/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/11/stories/2009011158100100.htm

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IT majors not to recruit Satyam staff?

M. Rajeev

Rumours abuzz about TCS, Infosys and Wipro having received such an advisory

HYDERABAD: As uncertainty looms large over the fate of Satyam Computer Services employees following arrest of its ex-chairman B. Ramalinga Raju and ex-managing director B. Rama Raju, the IT industry here was taken by surprise following the talk that IT majors like Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and Infosys had been advised not to recruit employees of the company into their ranks.

The Human Resource heads of the companies, it is rumoured, received advisories from the National Association of Software and Services Companies against recruiting the employees as the move would cripple the already beleaguered company. Desertion of the company by the employees working on various projects, particularly the core groups that would be much in demand, would further deepen the financial crisis in Satyam thereby hindering the process of recovery.

The order book of Satyam is presently pegged at around US $ 2.5 billion and en masse quitting of employees would hit a major chunk of revenues accruing to the company from them. NASSCOM president Ganesh Natarajan denied issuing any formal advisory to IT majors, but said it was ‘obviously a good practice’ if the companies followed it.

Continuity

The NASSCOM, he told The Hindu, was against systematic efforts for ‘taking out lots of people’ at this juncture as it would adversely affect the company’s prospects. “It is a good thing that the government has taken some initiatives and efforts should be made to ensure there is continuity in the processes.”