Infosys denies using intimidation tactics on Mysuru campus

 The trainees who faced layoffs were helped with outplacement service, and given one month of severance pay, Infosys said
| Photo Credit: Reuters

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 lay-offs would dent Infosys’ brand as the company goes out to campuses for FY26 hiring, he said plans to hire 20,000 freshers for next fiscal are on track and that 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, Mr. Mathew said given the company invests money and effort to select and put trainees through the training programme “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”.

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

Asked if reinstating trainees would be considered he said, “There has been no further ask in terms of taking them back”.

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

The Indian IT sector, long synonymous with large-scale hiring, is recalibrating with multiple headwinds reshaping its trajectory, industry experts said.

V. Balakrishnan, former CFO Infosys and current chairman, Exfinity, a B2B-focused fund said economic headwinds include slowing global demand, shrinking profit margins and rapid AI adoption.

“As the correlation between headcount and revenue weakens, the era of large-scale hiring and maintaining extensive talent benches is becoming obsolete. The new paradigm will be defined by just-in-time hiring, selective recruitment of high-end talent, and aggressive up-skilling of the workforce,” he said.

The lay-offs in the sector had caused a fear psychosis in the hiring market, said Kapil Joshi, CEO, Quess IT Staffing.

(With inputs from Mini Tejaswi in Bengaluru)