Return to office mandate and withdrawn offers in IT services • The Register

The Indian IT service provider Wipro has confirmed this The registry that she expects staff to return to her office for at least three days a week beginning October 10.

an email to The registry which appears to be being sent out this week by Wipro to its India-based staff, states that from October 10 the offices will be open every day of the week except Wednesday to assist in face-to-face contact.

“We recommend that you work from the office at least three of those four days,” the email said.

“Please note that teams working from the office per client requirements will continue to have access to our premises without any change as per their current schedule,” she added.

Wipro cleverly avoided confirming or declining the email sent, but in an email to The registry Company officials confirmed that the policy applies to leadership roles:

No details were given as to who will be able to choose which three days to attend, or what solutions are available for staff who, for various reasons, may find it difficult to get back to the office by next Monday.

Harpreet Sing Saluja, president of the IT labor rights organization Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), described the email as “abrupt” and said a month’s notice would have been more appropriate.

“Many employees work from their hometowns, it is now very difficult for them to relocate on such short notice as they have to find accommodation, organize various household items and school admissions for children,” Saluja said.

Wipro isn’t the only IT services giant in India to quit full-time work from home. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reportedly sent out an internal email in late September urging employees to return to on-site work for at least three days a week, according to a roster mandated by their manager.

“Compliance with rosters is mandatory and will be tracked,” TCS reportedly wrote in the email. “Any non-compliance will be taken seriously and administrative action may be taken.”

TCS has since sent out tweets like the one below to remind employees that the company’s offices are full of fun things to do outside of work.

Come let’s take a tour of TCS Olympus Campus, Mumbai, India. Are you here already? #TogetherWeBelong pic.twitter.com/j4KRJb4kuH

— Tata Consulting Services (@TCS) 09/30/2022

The Indian IT services industry had a big will-they-won’t-they thing with the return to the workplace. After teleworking was implemented to combat COVID-19, much of the general workforce dispersed. With worker bees freed from the commute and out of the direct eye of employers, industry players struggled to control their crowds, leading some to campaigns such as railing against undeclared work.

It should come as no surprise that given the need for more workers in the industry, industry employees would take up side jobs.

Quarterly reports in May and April this year showed that India’s big four outsourcers had an average turnover of 22.7 percent the year before.

TCS CEO Rajesh Gopinathan said the company not only ended FY22 on a strong note, but also with the “highest order backlog ever”, a troubled situation at a time of high employee turnover.

“What we’re seeing is a mismatch between demand and supply in our industry,” Gopinathan said.

“The volume has to be through the freshmen, there’s no other source of volume…if we start pumping in more freshmen, sending them to practice, benching them, and then putting them into production, I think that cycle It takes time, and you’re already seeing the benefits of it — not just for us, but for the industry as well,” Infosys CFO Nilanjan Roy said during his company’s Q4 22 earnings call.

But while executives talk a big game about hiring newbies, corporate actions speak a different language. Reports continue to surface of freshman students accepting job offers but having their entry dates pushed back or offers withdrawn—sometimes very close to the entry date and after prospective employees have made significant investments to prepare for the position.

And it’s not just the India-based employees who are summarily fired or stalled. A Florida native who accepted a position in Raleigh, North Carolina, explained how Infosys postponed her tenure by five months. I’m out of a job, having already spent on plane tickets and temporary housing that was never needed. Attempts to reconcile and find reasonable solutions failed the would-be tech, though Infosys claimed the employee should let them know if they “need anything.”

Those who make it should be forewarned that times aren’t what they used to be, especially when it comes to raises and appraisals. Employees who believed in annual appraisals and raises were instead greeted with congratulations and promises of “next year” after TCS changed its raise policy.

“Effective April 1, 2022, all EP employees with an anniversary date of April 1, 2022 or later will not receive a letter and/or salary increase after the completion of the first year,” said an internal email from TCS Human Resources, which was viewed by The registry. “The first increase occurs in the subsequent annual increase cycle.”

“Your annual compensation will be reviewed during the annual net evaluation process,” reads another release seen by the reg and signed by Milind Lakkad, TCS Chief Human Resources Officer, after congratulating the employee on his one-year anniversary. ®