Signs of recession? IT companies revoke offer letters of young techies in Hyderabad

Forum for IT professionals (ForIT) has called out tech companies for revoking offer letters issued to young professionals during placement drives.

The companies are also not providing onboarding information to the selected candidates.

"No offer letter once rolled out, should be revoked. Giving vague responses and revoking the offer letters is tantamount to destroying the future of the young engineers," said the Forum for IT professionals.

ForIT is a Hyderabad-based body that strives to organize and unite everyone involved in the Knowledge Economy sector. Their involvement areas include IT, IT&ES, KPO, BPO, Hardware parks, and the services sector.

They advocate for the rights and security of those in the knowledge economy sector through negotiation, collective bargaining, or any other constitutional and legal process to obtain adequate compensation for the services rendered by the workforce to management.

They collaborate with governments, policymakers, government bodies, corporations, companies, academic institutions, and people from all walks of life to effect policy change for the benefit of employees.

Varun (name changed) is one of the candidates whose offer letter was revoked. "I gave the test and interview in August 2021 and got selected in September 2021 for Wipro," he said.

He said he secured a 'velocity' package of Rs 6.5 lakh per annum package. "We were trained from March to July 2022. The training was in Java full stack and AWS. During the training, there were two assessments. Even in those assessments, I have done well, securing a score of 98 and 92 percent, respectively. In July, there was a project where we needed to develop an application, which we then had to deploy into AWS. As a team of four, we completed the project and got approved. Meanwhile, we even uploaded our documents and got them verified. In June/July, we also received the 'green audit' mail, confirming our background check," he said

Varun said he completed training by mid-July and his onboarding was on August 3rd. "Even my location of work was told. Before we could go for the onboarding, we were told there was a delay in onboarding, it was postponed to September last week, and this time it was a virtual onboarding. I got this mail on September 1st week. On September 14th, without warning, they just wrote a regret mail revoking the offer, and they said, 'you have not followed the assessment guidelines.' I was shocked. I had offer letters from TCS, Infosys, and Wipro, but I chose Wipro because I am from a mechanical engineering background, and they were giving me proper training. I felt it would be easier for me to learn," he said.

"I contacted them many times, and then they gave the reason, 'You have switched off the camera during assessment time.' My point is the assessment was done last year. It was a proctored test. Even if my camera had any issue for technical reasons, they would have pointed it out at that point only. I have also mailed them saying they can check my code, and if they find any malpractice or plagiarism, then I can understand. How did I get to the interview round? And also got a good package?" he asked.

"In the subsequent emails, they mention that I got the 'velocity' package because I wrote the code well. In my case, they said they'd check with higher authorities, but I haven't gotten any response yet. If it is just postponement, I can wait, but if it is rejection, then I'm wasting my time. I can try for a job somewhere else." he added.

Asked about the situation with other MNCs, he said they are also posting job openings. "But assessment links are not given. And now, 2023 pass-outs will have their campus placements. They will ask us about the one-year gap if we try to attend. What do we say?" he asked.

"After getting the onboarding date, how can they go back? I have trusted Wipro, and now I feel I have wasted one year. We didn't even get the stipend during the training period. It was unpaid training," he said.

On Thursday, World Bank President David Malpass warned that the global economy is "far too close" to a recession and urged targeted aid for the poor.

"Regarding growth rate, our worldwide growth prediction for 2023 has decreased from 3% to 1.9%. That is perilously near to a global recession, which may occur under specific conditions, "Malpass said

What is the link between the hiring freeze and the recession?

When a corporation ceases hiring new personnel for open jobs, this is referred to as a `hiring freeze'. While a corporation may continue to hire people for vital tasks, it ceases all efforts to fill non-essential roles and prevents the creation of new parts in this circumstance. This occurrence is frequently caused by unforeseen economic insecurity or financial problems.

This mostly happens due to economic recessions or depressions caused by altering market dynamics may be grounds for terminating recruiting. Business executives may help a company survive difficult financial times by identifying methods to cut expenses, save money, and manage resources more effectively.

If hiring and paying new staff is likely to result in overspending, firm management may decide to suspend recruitment.

A hiring freeze is also implemented to avoid layoffs. Layoffs are the dismissal of temporary or permanent employees owing to a lack of employment or funds.

Natural catastrophes or disease outbreaks can have a national or worldwide influence on a company's operating capabilities. At this time, the global pandemic, Covid- 19 has been the leading cause of the recession and subsequent hiring freeze.

"We have received hundreds of calls from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. What we are demanding is that companies should give clarity. Postponement is still okay, but revoking on such vague reasons is very unfair." Says Naveen from the IT forum.