Identity cards snatched and forced to leave: The IT company woes in Bengaluru are now real

With USA checking upon the immigration rules and the wave of automation already hitting the shores of IT hubs in India, instances of IT employees being handed over pink slips are rampant. While a year back, pink slips were given to employees for under-performance. But not now! Companies are asking employees to take four months’ salary and resign. In worst cases, they are being forced to put down their papers giving two months’ notice.

Not just that, some tech employees in Electronic City Bengaluru are in the fear that those who don’t resign would be terminated by June. Besides, there hasn’t been any increment this year.

Bengaluru has got the glory of IT capital since the 80s. Branded as Indian Silicon Valley, Karnataka hosts around 3,000 IT companies, of which 750 are MNCs. Swanky offices, plush buildings and fat pay checks have made Indian middle class hooked to pursue career in IT soon after graduation.

The city that shaped itself as a job creator is now facing the brunt of reality. Cognizant, which houses 1,50,000 Indian employees in its Bengaluru chapter has reports of 6000-10000 people being downsized. "Being the IT hub with many jobs in software services, Bengaluru will be the most affected in the current round of layoffs,” Alka Dhingra of Team Lease employment solution told The Economic Times.

While spokesperson of various IT companies unanimously site Visa regulations and automation responsible for job loss, employees refuse to buy. An IT company employee told ET that the number of visas being issued is the same as before. Moreover the threat of automation, he said, is for BPO sector and manufacturing units and not as much to the core developers. The inference that can be drawn is the companies are downsizing to increase their profit margins. Besides, they want freshers to do the same type of job than mid-level executives, which would again save these companies thousands of dollars.

A software company employee, in conversation with the ET alleged that the HR department of his company has threatened to snatch his id card if he doesn’t resign in a week. He is now planning to relocate to other cities for jobs.

IT industry is no more a luring sector for freshers who thought landing on a job is easier than they think. “One needs to keep in mind that there may also be a bigger reverse migration from the West, following incidents of racism and terror attacks. Additionally, any crisis management strategy would be hampered by the lack of data. Currently, we don't know how big the crisis is” Narender Pani, professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies told the ET.