Anand Mahindra to address Satyam employees on Monday

18 April 2009

Anand Mahindra, chairman of Tech Mahindra, is expected to address Satyam employees amid concern that the new management will cut jobs.

Tech Mahindra, Satyam's new majority shareholder, is expected to firm up plans for the future path of the beleaguered company, including decisions on employee retention, at a crucial board meeting of Satyam Computer Services in Hyderabad on Monday.

The senior management of Tech Mahindra will also meet the government-appointed board and key executives of Satyam Computer Services. They are expected to address the media on the same day. Handing over the share allotment documents to Tech Mahindra is also on the agenda of Monday's board meet, according to a Satyam spokesperson.

Four nominees of Tech Mahindra will be inducted into Satyam's board, which now has six government nominees. These are Tech Mahindra vice-chairman, managing director and chief executive officer Vineet Nayyar, president (international operations) C P Gurnani, president (strategic initiatives) Sanjay Kalra, and Ulhas N Yargop, non-executive director on Tech Mahindra board. Nayyar and Gurnani are already in Hyderabad.

To begin with, Tech Mahindra is understood to be working on a 100-day plan for Satyam. Reports say that the current management, including chief executive A S Murty, is unlikely to be changed immediately.

However, a board member at Satyam is reported to have said Tech Mahindra will have the right to retain or sack employees by virtue of being its new owner. Satyam has 48,000 employees on its rolls now.