Chennai: Probably for the first time, recruits of a reputed IT firm took to the streets alleging they had been declined job by a company after keeping them on wait for more than a year.
Over seventy to-be professionals from across the state observed a day-long fast on Monday demanding that L&T Infotech revalidate their offer letters and give them six month salary as compensation.
Around 70 students who took part in the fast alleged that L&T HR executives kept reassuring them every now and then about their job offer and also called them for regular meetings and interviews. But the same shock came in March when they were intimated of an unscheduled assessment test which said that candidates would be short-listed based on their performance in the test.
The test, which students claimed would be difficult even for a high-end technical professional, was conducted in April and nearly 1,500 students out of the total 6.500 who were recruited in campus drive were sent mails stating they had failed the exams and would not be part of the company.
L&T Infotech chose these candidates for suitable positions in September 2014 and provided them offer letters with an assurance they would be recruited in batches. These rejected students can still access L&T intranet as ‘Trainee’.
They alleged that over 60 per cent of the recruits during the campus placement in September 2014 were denied jobs after issuing the offer letter. Putting forth their four demands, members said the recruits should be reinstated in the company at the earliest.
“All the 1,500 employees whose jobs were denied should be provided with 18 months of compensation,” said Bharani, member of Knowledge Professionals’ Forum which supported the fasting graduates. The forum also demanded Anna University’s intervention along with labour departments of the state and Centre to regulate campus interviews. Setting up of worker council inside multinational companies was the major demand, as it would facilitate the worker union in policy decisions and curb unethical work system.
Educational activist Prince Gajendra Babu said the government should ensure transparency in interview process. “The current phenomenon proves the nexus between multinational companies and college administrations,” he added.
Activist Saraswathi said gender inequality is prevalent in IT companies and stressed the need for converting this into a mass movement. The students have decided to meet IT minister M. Manikandan tomorrow.
