BENGALURU: The Union Labour Ministry has instructed the Karnataka Labour Department to investigate alleged exploitation of young IT graduates by Bengaluru-based Infosys Ltd. The complaint, filed by Harpreet Singh Saluja, President of the Nascent Information Technology Senate (NITES), involves around 2,500 employees offered roles as System Engineers (SE) and Digital Specialist Engineers (DSE) in 2022 but who have yet to be onboarded.
The complaint, received by the Centre on August 28, 2024, led to a directive on September 3, 2024, for Karnataka to address the issue. The letter from the Centre urged the state government to take action under the relevant labour laws and update both the applicant and the central office.
Despite Infosys issuing approximately 2,000 offer letters with a confirmed joining date in October 2024, over 500 candidates are still waiting for onboarding dates. Candidates who were promised jobs in mid-2022 reported delays and received only automated responses to their inquiries. Some have faced issues with unpaid pre-training sessions and assessments, with potential deferment of joining dates if failed.
Infosys declined to comment on the matter when approached by DH. CEO Salil Parekh had previously assured that the company would honor job offers despite some date adjustments.
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