Job cuts and pay cuts have been reported by the sector, workers from the City-based Information Technology (IT) Trade Union and IT-enabled services asserted.
At least 3,500 jobs in small and medium-sized enterprises could have been reduced, claimed by a registered body representing over 1000 sector members, the KarnatakaState IT / ITeS Employees Union.
“Also during the lockdown, some medium-sized and small companies retrenched and we filed concerns not only here (Karnataka) but also with the central labor ministry,” stated by Suraj Nidiyanga, union secretary.
This contradicts the Center and the state regulations which requested companies not to lay off employees during the COVID-19 lockdown, he added.
Developments are taking place at a time when companies from all sectors across the country are cutting jobs due to a sharp decline in business due to the economic unpredictability that followed the lockdown.
Due to the rise of COVID-19 cases in Bengaluru, the lockdown forced IT companies to get their employees work from home and could become permanent.
Nidiyanga has said there are firms like Cognizant and others that retrenched the employees. However, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. has also denied claims that these are not fact-based.
Although Cognizant does not comment on industry gossip and speculation, they would like to clarify that new findings from third parties about a particular amount of job actions are not true, not fact-based, and were not reported by Cognizant, “according to the company who stated this to Mint.