After Cognizant, Infosys Postpones Joining Dates To July; Thousands Of Lateral Hires Stare At Uncertainty
As per the reports, the IT giants like Cognizant, Infosys have deferred the joining dates of lateral hires, and according to hiring executives, more firms will defer the offers for laterals as well given the uncertainty COVID-19 presents.
How Did This Happen?
Consider the case of Anirudh, a techie, quit his job in March to join Cognizant mid- April. However, his joining date has been pushed to July at the back of COVID-19, with the possibility of it extending further.
He further added, “I confirmed with them multiple before quitting my previous job and every time they assured that things would go scheduled despite COVID-19,”.
Now, he is desperate as the single earning member after his father’s sudden death in April.
Also, he has dipped into his savings and had to borrow from friends for expenses in May.
He said, “I don’t know what I will do for another two months,”.
Moreover, this mirrors the story of more than 100 laterals who were recruited by Cognizant and have their starting date deferred due to COVID-19.
Additionally, Financial burdens, uncertainty on when they will be able to join and a lack of job opportunities in the industry have left them in limbo.
Why Would This Happen?
In the view of virus spread, most IT companies have stopped hiring baring for a few essential roles.
IT majors such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech, during the Q4 results, said that they would not be hiring laterals for the rest of the year though offers already given would be honored.
Further, IT firms expect businesses to take a hit in the June quarter, as demand volumes dropping and clients’ cutting down their discretionary spending.
While for Cognizant, the company suffered an additional $50-70 million loss due to recent ransomware attacks.
So, this is expected to affect the company’s second-quarter results.
Prior to this, the company said it would defer on-boarding of freshers till September and freeze lateral hiring.
So, this has created a sense of insecurity among them as their joining dates are postponed while some of them have started looking for new jobs.
What About Finding A New Job?
Currently, there are fewer jobs available compared to February and employers are a lot more cautious.
If somehow, people will be able to land in some of the interviews, still the companies are wary.
Further, companies want to know why they are without jobs for so long as given the circumstances, they considered laid off due to the underperformance.
Which intern affecting the prospects of getting new jobs as well.
According to industry experts, more firms will defer the offers for laterals as well given the uncertainty due to virus spread.
Although, Infosys responded to worried laterals in a tweet yesterday.
Where the company assured that “We are trying to accelerate remote onboarding for all experienced candidates who have been made an offer. We aim to complete onboarding for this quarter between now and July. You will shortly hear from us about your specific date of joining.”
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