Kerala IT employees start feeling the pinch of coronavirus lockdown

Kerala IT employees have stared feeling the pinch of COVID-19 as several firms working in the government run IT parks started downsizing, while a major automobile firm has withdrawn the placement offers given to engineering students.

Even as a woman employee of Wipro at Infopark in Kochi recently committed suicide allegedly owing to job loss, the company has totally denied any sort of layoffs.

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Anticipating chances for layoffs, Kerala IT parks management has sent notice to all companies not to layoff any employee owing to financial crunches due to COVID-19 as the government extended reliefs like three-month rent waiver for the companies to face the financial crisis due to lockdown.

Prathidhwani, a forum of IT employees in Kerala, already submitted a representation to the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to ensure that IT companies do not indulge in layoff owing to COVID-19.

Rajeev Krishnan, a leader of Prathidhwani, said that already five employees, including those working with some leading firms have approached a grievance cell of the the forum in Technopark with complaints of job loss. Ashik Sreenivas, secretary of Prathidhwani in government-run Infopark in Kochi, said that around 15 employees of various companies in Kochi approached them seeking assistance for finding fresh jobs.

"All companies are forcing employees to resign and employees fall for it owing to concerns over future prospects. While big companies pay at least two months salary as compensation, small companies even deny it," said Ashik.

P M Sasi, CEO of Kerala IT parks, said that so far no formal complaints have been received from any employees regarding layoffs.

K Sunil Kumar, a placement officer at College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, said that a leading automobile firm that recently started operations in Kerala had indefinitely extended the placement offers given to 18 students. The participation of automobile firms in campus sections was not impressive during this academic year. Meanwhile, major firms like Infosys, TCS and Cognizant, which gave offers to around 100 each, have informed that they would not withdraw the offers.

Meanwhile, a woman employee of Wipro Technologies at Infopark recently committed suicide allegedly owing to job loss. However, the company has totally denied any sorts of layoffs.

A statement from Wipro said, " We are deeply saddened by the tragic news of the passing of our colleague. Our prayers and thoughts are with her family and we will extend all possible support to them in this hour of grief. We will also extend our cooperation to the local investigating authorities. She was a Wipro employee and there is no truth in the rumors that she was laid off. Separately, the speculation related to the workforce is unfounded and has no basis. Wipro categorically denies these rumors. Also, the company wants to reiterate that there are no retrenchment plans. Wipro has well defined policies and people practices in place.”