Beyond Layoff

Information technology firm Cognizant said around 400 of its senior executives have accepted its voluntary separation package which will help the multi-national corporation save around $60 million dollars annually, PTI reported on Sunday. The company had offered some of its senior staff up to nine months of salary. Wikimedia Commons The international company had pitched the package, which offers up to nine months of salary, to some of its senior executives based in the United States and India in May. The firm has not specified how many of the employees were based in India, which accounts for a sizable number of its 2.56 lakh workforce. “Of the $39 million (approximately Rs 248 crore) of realignment charges, $35 million was for the roughly 400 associates who accepted our voluntary separation package,” Cognizant Chief Financial Officer Karen McLoughlin said at a recent investor call. The CFO said the step will help increase profits. The firm’s staff strength was reduced by aro

I have been observing and wondering about the softer side of the software industry, especially the values and principles that drive the business. Years ago, when I worked for the software services giant Infosys, the corporate tagline was  “ Powered by Intellect, Driven by Values. ” That tagline perhaps symbolized the quintessential Indian middle-class values of service and sharing; values that prompted the founders to share the wealth they created by giving away stock options, grants and ESOPS to hundreds of early employees. That story was the stuff of corporate legends in the nineties through 2000s. Infosys’ slogan is long gone, which implies things are changing fast in the software services sector. On one hand, there is a talk of how the industry has matured and globalized; and on the other hand, there is the reality of the slowdown that leaders and managers are coming to grips with.   Tough times equals layoffs Indian software services companies are under tremendous pres

Experts concede that there is no right way to conduct a layoff or hand-over pink slips to employees. However, some ways are worse than others.  A recent ET article highlights " Anand Mahindra's apology over a techie's sacking brings IT layoffs in spotlight" Anand Mahindra’s apology on social media on Friday following the firing of an employee at Tech MahindraBSE 0.96 % brought to the fore the contentious issue of the way pink slips are handed out in the Indian IT industry as it struggles with a challenging business environment and rising protectionism in the US.  “I want to add my personal apology. Our core value is to preserve the dignity of the individual and we’ll ensure this does not happen in future,” the Mahindra Group Chairman said on Twitter.   CP Gurnani, managing director at Tech Mahindra, tweeted, “I deeply regret the way the HR rep & employee discussion was done. We have taken the right steps to ensure it doesn’t repeat in the future.”   T