FITE petitions Labour Commissioner over Tech Mahindra layoff

Pune: FITE has requested the Maharashtra Labour Commissioner to order Tech Mahindra to stop illegal removals of IT employees immediately, and establish conciliation between the management and staff.

"On behalf of Forum for IT employees (FITE), we request you (Labour Commissioner) to intervene and order Tech Mahindra authority to stop such illegal removals forthwith...," Elavarasan Raja of FITE of Pune Chapter said in a petition written to the Labour Commissioner.

However, Tech Mahindra has denied the claims of layoffs saying, "We continue to implement strategies to meet the changing demands of business in the current global economic environment. As a performance driven organisation, we assess employee performance on a regular basis and take necessary actions wherever necessary".

Raja said the restructuring activity has not been done on performance basis, and thousands of employees who are being terminated are actually good performers as they were rated good in appraisals earlier and also were appreciated and awarded for their work from both the client and the company.

Bell-curve-evaluation appraisal process is not transparent and it is irrespective of the performance of the employees, Raja said.

IT companies have been one of the largest recruiters in the country. However, they have warned that increasing automation of processes would lead to reduction in hiring in coming years.