Labour Ministry directs Karnataka to investigate delay in fresher onboarding at Infosys

Following a complaint by IT union, Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) to the Ministry of Labour and Employment regarding the delayed onboarding of over 2,000 candidates by Infosys, the Labour Ministry has now directed the Karnataka State Labour Commissioner’s Office to take appropriate action under the relevant labour laws.

The Ministry in a letter dated September 3rd, seen by ET, has urged the Karnataka Labour Department and said that since appropriate government for action under respective labour law in this matter is state government, "you are requested to look into this matter and take suitable action".

IT union NITES last month had filed a formal complaint against Infosys to the Ministry of Labour over the delayed onboarding and “ongoing exploitation and unprofessional treatment” of over 2,000 young engineering graduates. These students were selected for system engineer (SE) and digital specialist engineer (DSE) roles during the 2022-23 recruitment drive.


Meanwhile this week Infosys has already started sending joining dates to those impacted engineering graduates who have been awaiting onboarding for the last two years.

The Bengaluru-based IT major had on Monday sent more than 1,000 appointment letters to freshers it had promised to hire in 2022. Even on Tuesday, a substantial number of letters were mailed by Infosys.

People close to the development said to ET that Infosys is seeing a better demand environment and that it would send appointment letters to everyone who is waiting to onboard by December.

With Infosys revising its revenue guidance upward to 3-4% for the full year against its earlier guidance of 1-3%, the company now requires more headcount than earlier, they said.

Harpreet Singh Saluja, president at NITES, said on Tuesday to ET, that most of the 2,000 young engineering graduates who were selected for SE have got their joining date, while around 500 graduates who were selected for DSE roles are yet to get their joining dates. “We will keep a vigilant eye for the rest of them,” he said.