Amid lay-offs, IT workers’ forum FITE to form union

The $155-billion Indian IT industry is all set to get its first union, in the backdrop of widespread lay-offs in the sector.

The Forum for Information Technology Employees (FITE), representing the rights of IT employees, is set to form a union. It is a fundamental right of an Indian citizen (under Article 19) to form associations or unions.

Talking to BusinessLine , FITE Vice-President Vasumathi said that within a month, the forum will register India’s first union for IT employees, which will be located in Chennai. One of the main reasons for this development is the increasing wrong practices followed by many IT companies in the country, especially with regard to engineers who have more than eight years of experience, he said. “We are against unfair removal of employees at a time when companies are posting billion-dollar revenues,” she said.

Companies such as Cognizant, Infosys, Wipro, IBM and others recently resorted to lay-offs, in an effort to show improved profitability as they go through a shift in business model.

Kris Lakshmikanth, CEO of executive search firm Head Hunters India, told BusinessLine that the annual job cuts in the IT sector will be around 2 lakh in the next three years, largely due to under-preparedness of employees in adapting to newer technologies and increased automation.

This has rattled IT employees in places such as Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, who have resorted to joining unions in an effort to challenge HR practices of IT companies. Employees BusinessLine spoke to pointed out several instances of IT companies resorting to “Western” business practices, which do not form the ethos of Indian businesses.

There is a lack of structure when it comes to employee termination, and hazy HR practices follow highly subjective guidelines for employee evaluation. “We do not want to disturb the business and are for employee performance. But in case of a lay-off, they should be suitably compensated,” said Vasumathi.

Industry body Nasscom did not comment.

Labour lawyers welcomed the move. Clifton D Rosario, Karnataka State General-Secretary, All India Central Council of Trade Union (AICCTU), said as more lay-offs happen, the need for unions will arise as a result of unfair labour practices.

IT employees are largely prevented from congregating in numbers if there is an issue to be resolved, according to Syed Muqeemuddin, who works in the IT industry.

A former founding member of an IT employees union, Nidhin, said the number of employees being sacked is much more than those reported by the companies. “What needs to be noted is that there is no major reason for the companies to sack employees. The companies are doing well and in spite of automation kicking in, the attrition need not be at this level,” he said.

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