Karnataka Labour Department writes to HCL seeking explanation on job delays

BANGALORE, March 29, 2013



The State Labour Department has formally written to HCL Technologies seeking an explanation regarding a complaint filed by a section of engineering graduates whose jobs have been deferred for nearly a year after they were recruited on campus by the tech major.



The letter gives the company time till April 5 to respond to the complaint and sought specific written responses on the matter. The letter states: "A complaint filed by software (sic) engineers who have been promised jobs in 2012 states that the company has delayed their recruitments. In this regard, we are seeking a factual report and written explanation from you on the matter." The letter, signed by Deputy Labour Commissioner Sripad S.B., is addressed to the management of HCL Technologies, on Ulsoor Road.



'To look deeper'



Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Sripad said the department has initiated action after going through the detailed complaint by the industry freshers. "I have also asked labour officials to look into the matter in offices under their jurisdiction. The future course of action will be decided upon after we see the explanation. We will have to look deeper into the matter to see what laws could apply to the case. We did this because under current laws a simple petition cannot be used to initiate conciliation procedures."



Hunger strike



Meanwhile, the recruits, who have organised two protests in the city till date, are planning to go on a daylong hunger strike on Saturday. "All our pleas are yet to yield any concrete action from the company. Most of us have education loans to repay and cannot afford to wait any longer for our promised jobs," a recruit told The Hindu . We are hoping that all individuals and organisations that empathise with our situation will join us."



Company response



Responding to The Hindu's queries on the matter, an HCL spokesperson said that the past year has seen "significant uncertainty and constrained growth in the IT services industry exhibiting the lowest growth rates in recent years".



'Industry-wide delay'



The statement added that this reduction in growth as well as the shift in services mix has had an impact on the recruitment of freshers across the industry. "There has been an industry-wide delay in the openings for new [recruits] in the companies. A challenge that freshers face is that higher-end discretionary services will increasingly require experienced and onsite resources."



It reiterated its commitment that it "anticipates further acceleration in onboarding from August 2013", adding that starting March 1 the company has released openings in its infrastructure services business.
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