Economic distress hits performance norms, payouts at Infosys

06 February 2009

With prospects of an early economic recovery receding, Infosys, India's second-largest IT services firm by revenues, seems to have decided to take a harder look at employee performance.

The firm is closely monitoring employee performance and around 2,200 employees, or twice the number last year, have been placed under the scanner for non-performance.

About 1,000 employees of the IT services staff or 1.5 per cent had figured among the bottom performers last year but this year about 3.5 per cent of the IT staff is in the bracket with 600 of them having left the company already. 

Such employees undergo mentoring and their performance is reviewed for a quarter under a performance improvement plan. 

Meanwhile, the company has said that it will honour the 20,000 job offers it has made to college students for 2009-10.

Wage increases could also become a causalty with lower increases or even a wage freeze at the company according to sources. In any case wage increases are likey to be subdued if there is any increase at all according to sources.