First, it was the Satyam ‘shocker’ (as a major news channel put it). Now Infosys too leads the way. Despite record profits and impressive Q3 results, Infosys has refused to hire workforce in the coming year.
Now how does this affect me and people I know?
In the previous year, Infosys was the biggest reruiter at my college. Over 80% of the students who cleared the written test got through, even despite all those bleak news about the US Economy. We were all thrilled at the feat, all optimistic about further placements. However, the placements henceforth remained lukewarm, to say the least. Hardly 50% of the outgoing batch (2009 passouts) are placed. And with this company clamping down on recruitments, all hell has broken loose.
Come to think of it. Why would a company whose revenues grew by 33% for the quarter (which is the fastest rate in the past six consecutive quarters) and whose profits have attained a record high, well ahead of expectations, do such a thing? Having added 47 new clients (at least that’s what the balance sheet claims) in the quarter such a decision would be the last you’d expect from the company’s prudent CEO Mr Kris Gopalakrishnan. And the Infosys tagline still sits proudly in those ivory towers at GEC: “Powered by Intellect. Driven by Value”. Yeah, right!
All this harbours doubt. Despite all its credos, is Infy going the Satyam way? Are they just taking precautions not to let the cat out of the bag? Lets hope not.
Anyways, all my batchmates are dazed at the news. Most of them joined engineering with the hopes of getting a secure employment. All their hopes dashed, all dreams of getting a good pay-packet and repaying all their education-loans shredded, what are they going to do?
It’s for you to answer!
which college? kerala?
infy and even wipro is gonna suffer in that front..
You cant blame them outright for being conservative. They already have more people than the work coming in over the next quarters from the global slowdown. And more importantly, attrition in the IT industry, or for that matter, any industry, is at an all time low. Nobody is leaving jobs, it’s hard to create vacancies. Besides, there’s a huge talented and trained pool to shop from the Satyam employee basket. Whether or not Infy is covering up for internal malpractices is a long shot to say, but one can understand why they’d hold back on recruitment. What one cant answer is what do us, the graduating batch of 2009, hit by recession and an awful amount of bad luck, needs to do?
@ Chriz:
My college is a top Govt. Engineering College, in Trivandrum, Kerala. You’re right, bro!
@ Phoenix:
Point taken! I agree that all you’ve mentioned are valid issues… The graudating batch of 2009 isn’t really affected, per se. At least, the people who got placed (with SOLID companies like Infy) are secure. But the others… It’s a gone case!
Its sad but true what Phoenix has pointed out.Most companies which gave away offers last year are not actualising their offers cos of the slow down;but Infy is standing tall in that case thanx to the solid financials.But new recruits-those chances r looking bleak.But its the same case for anyone graduating out this year-recruitmnet has surely been hit hard,even for those from elite instis..’When the going gets tough,the tough gets going’..so take heart n work hard !!!
Its better than sending out call letters and not entertaining in the end…recruitment is simply stopped coz there is no business coming the way..:-(
ah. good.
Hi Hari
Ur opinion seems to be very shortsighted in the sense that its very evident that u hv analysed the issue only from a students perspective.. in the current global recession scenario, u can never blame a company 4 being conservative.. and its just because infy is driven by intellect and because of their strong business model that tey are stil honourin the people whom they hv recruited while at the same time generating profits.. the profits in the last quarter as u mentioned is actually nt depictin the real scenario as a major chunk of it is because of the weakenin rupee.. also the impact on the business by clients wud take time to show in the balance sheet and not overnite.. :).. frm a students perspective, indeed, the freezin of recruitment across IT firms has made the situation worse than ever.. but frm a company like infosys, who wants to generate a long term sustainable growth rather tan appease the shortsighted demands of the people and ultimately fail! abt ur accusation of whether infy wud be the next enron.. well.. highly unlikely .. but u can never say!
@ Manoranjini:
You’re right. Infy still is standing tall! That’s still our only hope actually. And, I love that proverb!!
@ Mathew:
From someone who’s been in the industry… yea, that’s true! 🙂
@ Prasanth:
Nice? 😛
@ Dhiraj:
That’s true bro! I agree that I wrote that post in a lopsided angle. But yeah, in my point of view, joblessness is the biggest problem that my batch is going to face. And after the Satyam scandal, it was just too scary. I agree that Infy is really strong and I respect the company for all its values. Perhaps, it’s true that the actions of the company are aimed at greater good rather than temporary recruitment. Still you can’t predict anything. Mind you, Satyam had won the best corporate award many a time before its crash.
It’s true that I went a tad overboard, though. 😀 My mistake, yes.
And thanks a BUNCH for such an erudite comment. 😀 Kudos! 🙂
tag line? you can add in brackets (conditions apply!!) to the tagline..suits right.
my first comment ….. insider reports { my cousin to be precise } suggest that Tech Mahindra AKA Satyam is not only NOT gonna fail it is also gonna have good results this quarter all this talk of satyam crashing is just like the Tendulkar 99 jinx …. if the media guys shut up and let them do their work results are sure to come . And remember that there was one such thing called DOT com bubble where companies had a cumulative investment of close to a trillion bucks that went down the sink … so all of them are apprehensive at present and add to that a sense of adventure by Mr Obama. But having known you and your skills for some time now i dont think you or for that matter any of us should think IT is {pun intended} the end of the road .. There are many options … i have read stories where practical people with logical ideas have suceeded . You should at least try something in your project … take for example up a simple system having a web portal by which guys in TVM can book movie tickets in all theatres ,even in the worst possible recession you will get customers . If guys like you wont try no one ever will .
I studied in GEC Barton Hill, bro! 🙂