Infosys denies laying off 5,000 employees

Infosys denied a media report stating that it was laying off 5,000 employees, CNBC TV18 reported. Earlier, Economic Times today reported that these employees are the ones at the bottom of the performance pile.

According to the report, the company has done away with a performance enhancement programme, introduced by founderN R Narayanmurthy,where the under-performing employees were given six months of retraining.

[caption id="attachment_578077" align="alignleft" width="380"] This comes at a time when most international clients are reassessing their budgets in the new financial year. AFP[/caption]

This comes at a time when most international clients are reassessing their budgets in the new financial year.

Indian IT companies have also conceded that 2013 will be yet another challenging year in terms of a demand pick-up. But in a interview with PTI,Infosys' Kris Gopalakrishnan exided confidence that 2013 will be a better year.

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"Uncertainties will continue. What I am saying is that generally 2013 will be better. How it will turn quarter-on- quarter, will depend on the event in that quarter. Unexpected events happen," he was quoted as saying in the report.

Various experts have said that flat IT budgets and uncertain macro environment may continue to challenge the Indian IT-BPO industry, but as technology becomes more central to the everyday lives of consumers and corporates alike, 2013 promises to be a good year for the $100 billion sector.

Post the 2008 global financial crisis, the Indian IT industry, which saw phenomenal growth in the preceding five years on back of a over 25 per cent growth in exports that made companies like Infosys, TCS, and Wipro poster boys for investors, seems to have lost some sheen.

In 2012, the industry was plagued by factors like a weak rupee, high input prices, increased borrowing costs, and uncertain geo-political situation. These along with domestic policy paralysis promptedsoftware services industry body Nasscom to lower growth forecast for 2012-13 for IT-BPO exports to 11-14 percent from previous fiscal's target of 16-18 per cent growth.

However,industry officials say that IT companies seem to be ready for this new "normal" and are now embracing technologies such as social media, cloud, analytics and mobility to optimise and ensure efficiency in business environment, all within flat or lower than usual IT budgets.

Infosys had reported a 24.29 percent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,369 crore for the second quarter ended September 30. The company's revenues were up 21.7 percent to Rs 9,858 crore in the second quarter. Infosys is scheduled to announce its third quarter results on January 11.

With inputs from PTI