Igate firing buzz sets off protests, campaign

IT union members claim 150 people have lost jobs in the past week, but company denies it.

A month after a series of protests against alleged large scale retrenchment in TCS, buzz about firing in midsized IT firm Igate has sparked off another round of protests, unionising and social media campaign here, although at a smaller scale.

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However, Igate has emphatically denied the rumour.

Members of IT/ITES Employee Centre (ITEC) claimed that 150 people lost jobs in Igate in the past one week, and organised protests.

As local newspaper reports, Facebook posts and pamphleteering emerged, Igate sent out mails to its employees dismissing such allegations.

In a mail addressed to all employees in Bangalore, Srinivas Kandula, chief peoples officer, Igate, said, “Some anti-Igate elements are trying to create panic by spreading rumours about layoffs.”

Kandula said those employees who were rated as NI (need improvement) in the 2014 performance appraisals will be subjected to performance improvement plan (PIP).

“Employees who complete their PIP successfully will be confirmed, and those who are not will be dealt within the framework of the company policy,” he said.

Meanwhile, an employee who was fired alleged that some of the employees were told their skillsets did not match with the upcoming projects and were asked to leave within a day. “I was informed on last Friday and asked to complete exit formalities on Monday,” she said.

“Most of the people who were asked to leave have 1-2 years experience, and the HR told us our ratings were bad even before the final ratings were out,” she said.

ITEC demanded the company should comply with its policy and provide at least three months’ notice.

“It is completely false and we have not asked any employee to leave,” said Igate spokesperson. “We would not have made such a formal communication if we were asking any employee to leave,” she said.

Igate, which reported 10% revenue growth in 2014 at $ 1.26 billion (`7,847 crore), had 33,484 employees as on December 31, 2014.