Campus placements not an entry ticket to Infy anymore

All is not well at Infosys Technologies’ Mysore Campus — touted as the world’s largest training services facility — where the company puts thousands of freshers through their paces before moving them to the workplace.

Infy freshers at Mysore are learning the hard way that campus placements do not necessarily guarantee a job after the IT major changed its training policy. Until recently, recruits had six options, including two vivas, to clear the training programme. Those who failed had to undergo training again.

But sources said Infosys changed the policy this year — now trainees get only two chances to clear the training programme. And if they are unable to get through the two exams, then, unlike last year, they are not retained in the company.

One employee recently wrote an email to all Infoscians (about 66,150 people) including the management and board members via the intranet, crying foul over the training policy and complaining that they weren’t informed about the change in the policy until they arrived at the Mysore campus. The policy change has created job insecurity among trainees, who feel they might have to go through the tedious process of job hunting all over again if they don't make the grade.

The employee — ET is in possession of a copy of the e-mail — a member of the July 2006 batch at the Mysore training centre, says in his mail, ``In some colleges, the HR told trainees that the attrition rate is very low and that only 1 or 2 trainees will lose their job. In the same year after recruitment, the company changed the policy...And trainees had no option but to sign the new policy document because they were not allowed to sit for another company recruitment test on campus. Trusting that the company will be truthful to us, many of our trainees sacrificed other jobs offered.’’

According to sources, 40 trainees from the June 2006 batch were asked to leave as they failed to clear the two exams. It is learnt that around 200 out of 600 trainees who were part of the July 2006 batch have not cleared their first exam, which means if they fail in the second test as well they are out of the company, sources add. Mr Mohandas Pai, Director - HR, Infosys Mr Pai declined to comment on the numbers though he added that 40 out of 4,000 trainees amount to about 1% attrition.

Infosys says the trainees were not kept in the dark but were informed at the induction programme at the start of the training that the norms had been changed and a signed declaration taken from the recruits. The company also points out that one swallow doesn’t make for a summer.

Mr Pai told ET, ``There is a cut-off mark for the training. Some trainees don’t study or perform to expected levels. We then try the outplacement route for them.’’ He insisted that the dropout rate from the training programme is still in single digits. Incidentally, Mr Pai had said during the recent Q2 results that involuntary attrition in the company was about 2.7%.

He added, ``We test a large number of students across institutions in India for learnability skills. Some students get through learning by rote or other ways. This small percentage gets into our 16-week training as well.’’ He added, ``Earlier, people who failed got a lot more chances. But some freshers treat the training like a holiday. Training is serious business and we are paying them salaries as well. They have to be more responsible.’’

Trainees say the company should make the entrance exam more stringent to ensure better quality. Says one,``There is no technical round during the entrance test. If the company is so concerned about the brand image, why don’t they make the entrance exam more stringent, thereby making recruitment policy stronger.’’

He added, “What is the difference between an academic environment and a professional one if we are not tested on job after the three months training?” Infosys’ Mysore training centre has a capacity of 4,500 seats and trains about 4,000 people at any given time. This year, about 20,000 people are expected to undergo their training in the facility. The company spends about Rs 2.5 lakh per person for the 14-16 week training.

The issue has come to the fore at a time when Indian IT services industry is hiring in thousands by the quarter as business for the bulge bracket firms continues to gallop at 40/50% plus levels. As the companies widen the network of colleges and institutes they pick the freshers from, there is bound to be an asymmetry in quality.

Original story