Mumbai based IT firm Mastek has given 10% of its employees the choice to resign or stay with the company on a nominal salary and receive training.

 

425 employees were not working on projects and were in excess of the regular bench. Most software companies maintain such reserve staff to handle new projects.

 

Chairman Sudhakar Ram said, “We didn’t want to play with our employees and call it non-performance. We are not making this action based on individual performance, we all know it is a downturn,” reported Economic Times.

 

Taking about the reaction of employees who have been given option to quit or stay on with reduced compensation, Ram said, “Employees were satisfied that we have at least given them the option of staying back.” Approximately half of these employees are trainees, who had joined the company in July 2008 or later. 

 

The chairman expects that about 80% of the 425 will opt to stay with the company. The move will help Mastek maintain costs and its profit margins, which otherwise could slip out of control.

 

Ram said, “There will be costs associated with the training but we can absorb them. We owe that much to the employees.” The demand slowdown the industry is facing is unprecedented, he added. 

 

Mastek still maintains a bench which equates to approximately five per cent of its total workforce. X