It seems that the battle of IT employees union and IT industry has just begun.
A prominent IT employee union has alleged that Cognizant has fired an employee, as he was part of the IT employee union.
On the other hand, Cognizant has clarified that the termination was done on performance issue.
What is the truth here?
Cognizant Fires Employee From IT Employee Union
Elavarasan Raja, holds the position of General Secretary at FITE, which is registered trade Union in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
FITE or The Forum for IT Employees is based out of Chennai, and is part of the tripartite committee, for holding talks with IT firms over layoffs.
As per FITE, Elavarasan Raja has been terminated from Cognizant, because of his association with the employee union.
Elavarasan Raja has 8 years of IT experience, and had joined Cognizant since last 5 months.
He informed that his termination letter was received on Tuesday.
Other employee unions such as New Democratic Labour Front (NDLF) and Union of IT and ITES Employees (UNITE) have also condemned this move by Cognizant.
Cognizant: We Fired This Employee Over Performance Issue
On the other hand, Cognizant has issued a statement, wherein they have informed that Elavarasan Raja was fired over ‘performance issues’.
Client feedback over Raja’s performance was also cited in their statement.
Cognizant said, “Cognizant recently terminated this employee of approximately five months tenure with the company for performance reasons and based on client feedback. Our decision is consistent with the terms of our contracts with all of our employees.”
It seems that Raja was provided with 17 opportunities in the last 5 months, but he couldn’t fit into any role.
In their defense, FITE has said that Raja is an experienced IT professional, and there is no way he couldn’t handle a project out of 17 opportunities. In fact, Raja was open to working on any shift available, and even reskill himself.
FITE and other employee unions have met with Tamil Nadu State Labour Commissioner in Chennai, and talks are on.
Cognizant On Layoff Path?
Earlier, Cognizant had hinted that over 13,000 IT employees from all over the globe can be fired in the coming days, as their profits are diminishing, and costs rising.
IT Employee Unions in India have claimed that the company can fire 6000 Indians, and things are a bit tense, as they asked for Govt. mediation in this whole affair.
Cognizant, on the other hand, has also promised to hire 23,000 freshers from Indian technical colleges.
We will keep you updated, as more details come in.
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