Activists use social media, hashtags to take on CTS

As the company prepares to rationalise its workforce, given the strategic shift in focus to digitisation, a wave of activism against the proposed layoffs has taken social media by storm. 

An official of Cognizant, on condition of anonymity said this is the first-time CTS is being seen using social media to discuss the impending rationalisation, which is essentially an outcome of the annual appraisal. 

CTS has been maintaining that the layoffs would be around 6,000, whereas multiple sources and those who have taken to social media have been pegging the figure to cross the five-digit mark. Before the news spread, CTS, in an official communiqué, had stated that “as part of our workforce management strategy, we conduct regular performance reviews to ensure we have the right employee skill sets necessary to meet client needs and achieve our business goals. This process results in changes, including some employees transitioning out of the company.”  

Sathiesh Mohana Krishnan, Joint Secretary, Forum for IT Employees, a Facebook group, which has now come out with the hashtag #StopCTSLayoff, says “This kind of blood letting or workforce rearrangement or rationalisation has to stop.” Large IT companies have been “silently, periodically and in a passive” way going about easing people from the organisations ignoring the anxiety caused to employees, especially among those who have completed as many as seven years or so. 

“Not only do they get thrown off track after having a steady career, their productivity and personal life take a hit as well,” says Sathiesh, who highlights the lack of transparency in the appraisal process. Companies are known to make humongous profits without sharing the spoils with the employees. However, when it comes  to laying off people, they bring up the prevalent business scenario. 

“All we seek is the law of the land should prevail. Under the 1947 Industrial Disputes Act, even IT employees are classified as workmen and they should get the same treatment. When a company goes for layoffs, it must intimate the relevant authorities and follow the ‘last in first out’ method,” he said. Typically, 10 pc of the team in every project gets axed in such times, where the firm feels its bulge ratio is on the rise. 

Parimala Panchatcharam, a fulltime activist with the Forum for IT Employees says the group would continue its fight against social issues such as the present CTS workforce rationalisation. “We are awaiting the official communication though we got the wind of it in the first week of March itself. Towards the end of the appraisal the count will be known,” she said, pointing to the TCS campaign that was launched after the appraisal process was over. “We have even filed a few cases in the high court relating to non-payment of salaries,” she said. 

Sankaran P Raghunathan, a veteran IT analyst, who founded The National Management School, says during the last six months, there has been considerable pressure exerted by shareholder groups to generate more revenues. 

“Newer members have been brought on Board. So far it has been having only insiders but that has not bred creativity. That is why there has been emphasis on hiring people externally at the senior levels,” he said. 

With shareholders in the “needy” frame of mind, the need to cut flab, tighten payables and evaluate all other methods to cash conservation and increased dividends are the focus points. Nearly 50 per cent of the cost is manpower. The squeeze on the H1B visa pipeline and Trump’s ascension is also lending muscle to local hiring in the US, where the cost of hiring is going to be high. So CTS has to embark on large-scale workforce rationalisation, he pointed out. 

Big Data, VR, AI and the Internet of Things (IoT) seem to be the revolution in the making even as large-sized IT companies grapple with the multiple challenges including HR, de-risking their business, exploring new markets and keeping the shareholders happy. 

Vinod Surana, spearheading the TN chapter of Assocham, says “Low-end work, not only in IT but across industries will continue to vanish. Massive rationalisation of workforce, unemployment and other global economic challenges will be a long-term problem for every country but more so for populous nations such as India. Automation is a reality.” 

Citing the example of Adidas, which has been using low-cost manufacturing destinations such as Vietnam and China, but has set up a unit in Germany, he said the availability of an automated process is what drives such moves.  South East Asia, which has been the textile hub for decades is witnessing the impact of automation. 

“Right from cutting, stitching to ironing and packing, everything is automated. We have lost one lakh jobs due to automation and AI,” Surana said, adding the socio economic problem of enormous proportions could be handled only if skill development activities are ramped up.