After Infosys and Wipro, now TechM could lay off hundreds

After Infosys and Wipro, it’s now IT firm Tech Mahindra that could hand out pink slips to hundreds of employees as it looks to “weed out bottom performers”.

Tech Mahindra —which ranks fifth in the tally of Indian IT firms by revenues — has begun its annual performance appraisal process. “We have a process of weeding out bottom performers every year and this year is no different,” Tech Mahindra said in an emailed response.

The company, however, did not specify the number of employees that could be asked to leave. However, industry sources suggest that the number would run into hundreds. At the end of December 2016, the company had over 1.17 lakh employees.

While Infosys is expected to give pink-slip to hundreds of midand senior-level employees as it carries out its bi-annual performance review, US-based Cognizant has rolled out a voluntary separation programme for directors, associate vice-presidents (VPs) and senior VPs, offering them 6-9 months of salary.

Wipro, too, has reportedly asked around 600 employees to leave, as part of its annual “performance appraisal”, even as speculations run high that the number could be high as 2,000.

Information technology companies have been one of the largest recruiters in the country.

However, they have warned that increasing automation of processes would lead to a reduction in hiring in the coming years.

While the outsourcing model has placed India on the global map, increasing scrutiny and rising protectionist sentiment are also posing challenges for the $140-billion Indian IT industry.