'This is inhumane': Sacked Infosys trainees share ordeal after mass termination

About 400 trainee employees recently faced harrowing experiences after information technology (IT) giant Infosys terminated them at its Mysuru campus after they failed to clear internal assessments. The terminated employees were asked to leave the campus the same day, reported moneycontrol.com.

A day before that, the fired employees received an email in their inbox. It read: "You are required to maintain confidentiality, hence please do not discuss this or share this calendar invite with anyone."

The termination took place on February 7.

Trainee employees, who were onboarded after 2.5 years of wait, were called in batches of 50 starting from 9:30 am. They were escorted to a room guarded by security and bouncers where they were made to sign a mutual separation letter, according to the moneycontrol.com report.

'THIS IS INHUMANE'

One of the fired trainees, on the condition of anonymity, said that other employees and US clients were also on campus and buses were strategically parked to shield the area so that they are not noticed.

A female trainee from Madhya Pradesh said that she requested to let her stay overnight at the campus owing to transportation issues, but her request was turned down and was asked to vacate the campus premises on the same evening.

Hundreds of other trainees were also struggling to find cabs and rides to their home towns and were anxious about how to explain their sudden return to their families.

"This is inhumane. It’s a big company, but trainees are too afraid to speak up," one of the sacked trainees told the publication.

The IT giant has released a statement wherein it mentioned that the company followed a rigourous hiring process, after which the freshers undergo extensive foundational training at the Mysuru campus and are expected to clear internal assessments.

"At Infosys, we have a rigorous hiring process where all freshers, after undergoing extensive foundational training at our Mysuru campus, are expected to clear internal assessments,” said the company, as reported by PTI.

“All freshers get three attempts to clear the assessment, failing which they will not be able to continue with the organisation, as is also mentioned in their contract. This process has been in existence for over two decades and ensures a high quality of talent availability for our clients," Infosys said in a clarification.

However, trainees claimed that the criteria for the 2024 batch were comparatively made tougher.

"This is unjustified because the tests were very tough and made to fail us. Many trainees have fainted as the future looks bleak now," said one of the terminated employees quoted in the moneycontrol.com report.

This incident has raised concerns about ethical practices in handling large-scale layoffs and the mental wellbeing of the sacked employees. NITES, an organisation working for the rights and welfare of IT and ITES employees, revealed that those terminated are much higher and has urged the government to intervene in the matter.