Infosys denies sacking 500 people, says few asked to leave on disciplinary grounds

Infosys denied that it was laying-off people but said there had been a ‘few separations in response to performance and disciplinary issues’ that take place on an ongoing basis and that this was unrelated to contract losses.

Infosys’ denial came as media reports said that the company had laid off 500 people in the aftermath of the loss of its contract with the Royal Bank of Scotland. The reports said that he employees were asked to leave for failing to meet the company’s requirement of putting in 9.15 hours of work a day.

Infosys said that the 500 number being quoted in media articles was incorrect and that the number of employees who were asked to leave for disciplinary reasons was ‘far below’ that level.

The Bangalore-headquartered firm said it had a progressive policy for instance in which employees do not meet expected standards of performance and that after adequate counseling, those found to consistently miss expectations were asked to ‘to find alternative employment.’

“This applies to employees across levels and is not connected with any business situation that is not in the control of the employee. The numbers are very low and this is no different from what we have done in the past,” Infosys said in a statement.

Since the loss of the RBS contract was announced earlier this month, Infosys has been battling charges that it is laying off employees. The company has previously stated that the 3000 employees that were impacted by the RBS contract ending would be reassigned to other projects.