Catch 22 situation in Infosys

Attrition is a major pro
11 July 2003

The number of Infoscions leaving India's leading blue chip company is "visible" these days like never before. It is despite the fact that the Indian software giant is reshaping the global economy. Why are people quitting Infosys? What exactly is the HR scenario in Infosys, which India is proud of?

There are many factors. The first being, Infoscions are an unhappy lot. Discontent is brewing among them. And their morale is low. Why? It is due to the 'rolling policy' introduced sometime ago by Infosys for its marketing teams, say sources. They are, reportedly, unhappy with the policy, and many do not like it, which, according to them, affects their career growth despite proving their abilities. How?

According to the sources, under the new policy, any employee in the marketing team will get promotion only when there is a vacancy for the post. So, the chances of getting a promotion, even after putting two or three years of service and performance as well, are quite low. It's completely against the earlier system, in which case one use to get promoted based on "performance." It's not performance that alone counts for promotion, but also vacancy, to fill the post, the sources say.

This catch 22 situation, they add, has put Infosians in the marketing team in a quandary. As a result, many employees of Infosys have left the organisation, while some others are on the lookout for greener pastures.

For instance, the sources indicate that two Infosians joined Wipro recently and one joined FutureSoft. Though the attrition rate in Infosys is less than 8 per cent, people quitting the organisation are quite visible today. Echoes of the same can be heard in the job market, too. Today, a number of Infoscion CVs are doing the rounds in the headhunting circles — an unheard of phenomenon till a couple of years ago.