Infosys under fire for mass layoffs; NITES plans complaint to labour ministry: Report

Software giant Infosys has reportedly laid off 700 freshers who joined the company in October 2024, according to a report by The Economic Times.

Citing the statement of the NGO Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), the English daily said that a formal complaint will be filed with the Labour Ministry on this matter.

Storyboard18 could not independently verify the news.

NITES President Harpreet Singh Saluja said that Infosys forcefully fired around 700 campus recruits this week.

However, Infosys has refuted the allegations, saying that the compnay has a rigorous hiring process where all freshers undergo for the foundational training at its Mysuru campus to clear internal assessments. The IT company said the information on assessment has been mentioned in the contract and has existed for over two decades.

"All freshers get three attempts to clear the assessment, failing which they will not be able to continue with the organization, as is also mentioned in their contract. This process has been in existence for over two decades and ensures a high quality of talent availability for our clients," Infosys told Storyboard18

However, the affected employees claimed that the assessment criteria and syllabus were modified during the process.

Further, the ET report mentioned that the affected employees are from the 2022 engineering batch who went for the training at the Mysuru campus. The recruits waited for two years before being onboarded in October 2023 with annual packages of Rs 3.2- Rs 3.7 lakh for system engineer roles.

NITES alleged that Infosys deployed bouncers, and security personnel to intimidate employees. The NGO argued that such actions violate the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, and called for immediate action to protect IT workers' rights.