Mysuru layoffs: Infosys denies using force, intimidation tactics; says cooperating with labour dept

New Delhi: IT services company Infosys on Wednesday said it did not use force or intimidation tactics when it laid off trainees at Mysuru campus over performance-related issues, and that it was explaining the circumstances to the labour department authorities.

In an interview to PTI, Shaji Mathew, Chief Human Resources Officer at Infosys, however, conceded that assessment failure percentages this time around have been "slightly higher" than in the past but dismissed charges that the tests had been designed for failure.

On whether the layoffs would severely dent Infosys' brand as the company goes out to campuses for FY26 hiring, he said that plans to hire 20,000 freshers for next fiscal are on track and they should have nothing to worry about as they will get one of the best corporate training.

Responding to allegations that testing parameters, assessment criteria and syllabus were altered and intimidation tactics were resorted leading to the 300 plus terminations at Mysuru campus recently, Mathew said that given that the company invests money and effort to select and put trainees through the training program "it is in the interest of Infosys to see that all these people are successful, and that is when we are able to put them into our projects".

"There is training investment that goes in and we also pay them salary during the training...It is not in the interest of the company to let any of these people go...It is a loss to them of course, it is a loss to us as well," he said adding that the particular batch of trainees had not cleared internal assessments after three attempts.

On the Labour Ministry's direction to Karnataka state labour department to take action, and reports that the Labour Department officials had followed up with visits to Infosys campuses in Bengaluru and Mysuru, Mathew said the Labour Department is in touch with the company and Infosys is cooperating with the authorities.

"Yes, the Labour Department has been in touch with us, they wanted to understand our training process and the assessment etc and we have taken (them) through the entire training process, the assessment, and how this is a critical part of developing the future talent, not just for Infosys, but even for the entire IT industry.

"They have been quite supportive, and I think they understand the entire process that we have been going through in terms of training and assessment, all of that. So we have cooperated with them so far...and there has been no further ask from their side," Mathew said.

Asked if Infosys will consider taking the trainees back and reinstating them, he added "There has been no further ask in terms of taking them back".

Earlier this month, India's second largest IT services company faced a backlash after it laid off over 300 freshers who underwent foundational training at its Mysuru campus but could not clear internal assessments.

The trainees after a two-year wait had been onboarded just a few months ago in October 2024.

IT employee union NITES had sought urgent intervention of Ministry of Labour and Employment urging authorities to take strict action against the company.

Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) had, in fact, alleged that employees were summoned to meeting rooms at Infosys' Mysuru campus, and asked to sign "mutual separation" letters.

Mathew countered allegations claiming that at no point were 'bouncers' brought in, nor were intimidation tactics used.

This is not what Infosys stands for, he emphasised.

"I can't even imagine us thinking about 'bouncers' and so on so forth. These are our trainees, and we don't need to bring in bouncers. So that is absolutely not correct. There was also concern that we did not allow people to stay on the campus. Again, there are people who wanted to stay on the campus, and we allowed them to stay on the campus," he said.

Infosys has now postponed, by a week, internal assessments scheduled for another set of trainees, reportedly 800 of them are slated to take their tests.

The company has, however, asserted that the deferment is aimed at giving them additional time for preparation.

"It is in our interest to see how we can help these set of trainees to get through the training program, and that they come out successful at the end of the training so we can continue with them as employees in the company. We have seen the failure rate, and therefore we wanted to give them an additional opportunity and time to prepare," he said.

The additional time will help them in the doubt-clearing, and subject matter experts will be made available so they can actually work with trainees to prepare them well.

The trainees who faced layoffs were helped with outplacement service, and given one month of severance pay, Mathew said and emphasised that Infosys is doing all it can including making counselling services available for the trainees.

Infosys, he said, has been recruiting freshers from college, training them and making them industry-ready, and this has been a big part of the company's strategy for decades.

"We've been training a very large number of freshers over the last decade, several decades actually, in fact, our training centre in Mysore is probably one of the largest corporate training centres as well, so it is a big part of our strategy and training and enablement.

"It's also important that we get the right talent through this training program. So we've got a training curriculum and an assessment methodology which has evolved over the last several years, and we really make sure that we get the right set of people at the end of the training," he said.

Trainees, he said, are given three assessment chances to clear, and have to exit the organisation if they are unable to clear even after the third assessment.

"This is a process that has existed for over two decades, now. Nothing really has changed," he said.