Jaaaab seekers, how's the situation

[bandababu]

 

[andhra_jp]

1 hour ago, bandababu said:

 

IT professionals in Kerala left in the lurch after TCS allegedly delays joining date

Techies who received formal offers from TCS speak of abrupt and indefinite onboarding delays without being given any clear reason

When Ajay (name changed), a 29-year old software engineer based in Kochi, got an offer from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) around three months ago, he did not have to think twice about quitting his existing job. Having gained an experience of over five years in the IT sector in two different companies, he put in his papers at the company after TCS gave him a joining date in early July. However, over the past month, he has been frantically calling the recruiters as his new employer indefinitely postponed his joining without any clear reason.

“I quit my existing job as I expected a major company such as TCS to honour its offer letter. But now I, and quite a few others like me, have been left in the lurch without any clue on when we will be able to join the company. We all have loans and EMIs, which we are unable to pay without a steady pay. In my case, as I am the only earning member, my entire family is dependent on my salary. If the company had told us clearly that there would be a delay when they gave us the offer, we would have planned accordingly. When I contacted the recruiters, they said they are helpless as everything depends on the higher authorities giving a clearance,” Ajay tells The Hindu.

Reeja (name changed), who has been working in a software company in Kochi for the past four-and-a-half years, is facing a similar plight. After she received an offer letter from TCS three months ago, she resigned from her existing job to complete the notice period in time for the TCS joining date. However, the recruiters have been telling her that there would be a delay because the background verification is ongoing.

According to Prathidhwani, a welfare organisation of IT employees in Kerala, several IT professionals from the State who had received official offer letters and confirmed joining dates from TCS have experienced abrupt and indefinite onboarding delays. Many of these professionals who had already resigned from their previous employment, served full notice periods, and planned their careers as per the company’s offer, have been left in the lurch.

Union Ministers’ intervention sought

The employees’ collective has now approached Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union Minister of Labour and Employment Mansukh Mandaviya seeking their intervention in the issue.

As per a letter sent by Prathidhwani State convener Rajeev Krishnan to the Ministers, the software professionals were notified of the postponements, in many cases by two–three months, and in some cases, with no further clarity on the revised schedule, just days before or even on the confirmed joining date. This has left them without jobs, income, or insurance, placing them and their families under immense financial and psychological stress.

The collective has requested the Ministers to issue necessary guidelines to ensure responsible and transparent hiring in the IT industry, especially for lateral hires and experienced professionals as well as mandate accountability mechanisms for companies issuing formal offers with joining dates.

TCS response

When contacted, TCS, in an official statement, said that everyone who has received an offer will be onboarded.

“We can confirm that, as always, TCS is committed to honouring all offers we have made, whether it is to freshers or experienced professionals. Everyone who has received an offer from TCS, will be onboarded. The joining dates are decided as per business demand and, in some cases, these do get adjusted to meet our business needs. We remain in continuous touch with all candidates in these cases and look forward to them joining our company soon,” said the statement.

[andhra_jp]

Double Trouble: IT layoffs & loan slowdown – is there a storm brewing?

Private banks, which have higher exposure to private sector employees, particularly those from IT, have witnessed an 8-12 percent contraction in their FY26 EPS estimates.

The flurry of job cuts in Indian IT, reckoned to comprise a chunk of the retail asset pool of domestic private banks, is bad news for banking. With loan growth remaining weak for the sixth straight quarter, private banks have already witnessed an 8-12 percent contraction in their FY26 EPS expectations following the June quarter results.

While banks indicated optimism in their recent earnings commentaries and suggested a pick-up in demand for loans from September, what is worrisome is the constant news of job losses in the IT industry. For banks, salaried IT employees account for 10–16 percent of their retail customer base. Those in middle-to-senior-management positions comprise the bulk of this.

 

Tough to ignore

Seen in this context, the decision by TCS -- one of India’s largest private sector employers -- to trim the workforce by two percent might set the clock backwards for the banking sector.

Known to be among the top contributors to consumer and discretionary spending, a slowdown in the pace of hiring or job losses in IT could have a ripple effect on three key retail segments for banks – credit cards, home loans, and personal loans.

For one, not only has there been a slowdown in the pace of credit card additions, but delinquencies are also increasing. A recent report by CRIF High Mark, a credit bureau, noted a 26 percent year-on-year (YoY) decline in new card issuances in FY25.

“Longer term delinquencies (PAR 90%+) surged to 15 percent, signaling a build-up of repayment pressure among overdue accounts,” the report noted. PAR 90%+ stands for portfolio at risk, for accounts that are overdue for 90 days or more. What this means is that the ability of credit card holders to repay their dues is weakening.

Interestingly, the waterfall mechanism of delinquencies starts with credit cards and if it percolates to home loans, the stress in retail banking is considered alarming. Luckily, we haven’t reached that stage yet. But can we afford to ignore the alarm bells?

Not really.

Other loans

A report by Transunion Cibil, India’s largest credit scorekeeper, flagged a mere eight percent YoY growth in credit active consumers in FY25, with origination volumes (number of new loan issuances) declining across retail categories, including home loans, personal loans, and credit cards.

CRIF’s report indicated that while delinquencies have remained stable overall , the 90-day+ PAR for home loans less than Rs 5 lakh (classified as affordable housing) has risen to 1.95 percent in FY25 from 1.62 percent in FY24.

Likewise, for personal loans, early-stage delinquencies increased across categories, except for private banks, though growth in the segment has picked up from FY24 levels. “Very selective lending is seen in personal loans across all ticket sizes,” said the retail head of a private bank, adding that it’s too soon to say if this segment is in a comfortable spot as far as growth and asset quality are concerned. “The sentiment is better in higher ticket sizes, but much will depend on job stability in the private sector,” he cautioned.

Growth on tricky terrain

Bankers say they are in a Catch-22 situation as far as retail loans are concerned. “If we don’t grow enough it will reflect on asset quality, but are the conditions for growth conducive? Not really,” said the CEO of a mid-sized private bank.

Senior industry officials add that the banking sector no longer has the upper hand in pricing retail loans, like it did between 2018-2021.

“Banks are keen to pick up high-quality retail loans, but this segment has become a price dictator from being a price acceptor until three years ago,” said the CEO cited earlier. “Mid-to-senior level IT employees is a prime catchment area for retail assets and amid job losses, growth might get trickier,” he added.

The CEO of a large PSU bank, which mostly has exposure to government employees but has recently started scaling up its private sector salaried borrower pool, said the bank will closely monitor incoming data. “We cannot afford growth at any cost,” he affirmed.

He also pointed out that biggies such as Google and Microsoft handing out pink slips is already impacting NRI-dependent businesses. “We have started seeing a slowdown in mid to high-value mortgages,” the banker added. If Indian tech companies are to follow their global peers, the cloud of uncertainty around retail lending is likely to intensify in the coming months.

For now, the question in the banking fraternity is whether Diwali 2025 will be better than the last two years, especially in the urban areas. “That will set the base for retail crystal gazing,'' he added.

[andhra_jp]

Layoff announcement: Allegations of forced resignations put TCS in the eye of the storm

Employees allege massive retrenchment, unions set up helpdesk numbers

After Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) issued an internal circulation announcing plans to cut around 12,000 of its global workforce, employees of the IT major have expressed rage and anguish over the move.

The announcement comes close on the heels of a controversial “bench policy” announced by the company in June, which could translate to job loss for employees on the bench.

The move has drawn strong reactions from several IT and ITeS unions.

Multiple blows in a month

Harpreet Singh Saluja, president at Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), informed that the union has filed a formal complaint with the Ministry of Labour and Employment against the company and termed the layoff “illegal.”

“TCS has planned to terminate thousands of employees without giving them due notice or any prior intimation to the government, all of which are mandatory under existing Indian labour laws,” read the letter addressing Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister for Labour and Employment, Government of India.

This is the third submission by the union against the company in one month, the first being against the “bench policy” and the second highlighting an indefinite delay from the company in onboarding more than 600 lateral hires. 

Allegations of forced resignations

Allegations have also surfaced that TCS has been forcing mid-management employees on the bench to resign and threatening them with drastic measures such as blacklisting and holding back payments if they refused.

“Employees on the bench” refers to staff who are not assigned to a client project for the time being, but would remain on the company’s payroll.

The newly implemented guidelines of TCS restrict the bench duration to 35 days a year. Employees and unions allege that this puts the onus on the workers to find projects.

A mid-level employee at the company who wished to remain anonymous alleged that several hundred employees, primarily those on the bench, have been forced to resign from the Bengaluru office of the company in the last two weeks.

“People are promised a few months’ pay if they are willing to resign. If they refuse, they are threatened with termination without any compensation. People are being scared into resignation by saying that the company will blacklist them and will not provide them with a relieving letter,” the employee said

Employees anxious

According to the employee, the company has also started instructing managers to furnish information about a fixed number of ‘non-critical’ staff from each project.

“So far, the impression was that only those on the bench were in danger. With yesterday’s circular, those working on projects have also become anxious,” said the employee.

Mr. Saluja noted that affected employees from the company’s offices in Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Hyderabad have also approached the union. “If the company terminates them on the basis of the bench policy, it can be challenged in court. But if it is shown that the employees resigned on their own accord, there are no chances for people to fight back,” he said.

Saubhik Bhattacharya of All India IT & ITeS Employees’ Union (AIITEU) alleged that forcing employees to resign would also help the company save severance packages.