With industry buckling under the impact of global meltdown, Indian IT outsourcing firms are adopting a ‘zero tolerance’ policy on fraudsters who have managed to get IT jobs using fake resumes. Most of the IT firms irrespective of size and revenue are busy in weeding out such ‘unscrupulous elements’ even as they are earnestly trying to increase productivity with higher utilisation, reduction of bench (unused resources) and a cut in training costs.
Most of the IT firms, including TCS, MindTree, Wipro, MphasiS, Infosys and Sonata Software, are supposedly taking a strong stand to keep such candidates at bay by resorting to background verification. The verification is being done in various phases, whether it may be by the internal teams or even by third-party agencies. While this has resulted in layoffs in different companies, many such cases are expected to come out in the coming two quarters, say industry sources.
“I think the message is very clear — tolerance for non-performers is non-existent given the current environment. This is part of the measures by the companies to clean up the system,” opines T V Mohandas Pai, Head of HR, Infosys Technologies.
Mid-tier software services company MindTree, which just completed its integration with Aztecsoft, has completed the second phase background verification of some employees who joined the company almost two years back.
At the end of the process that was completed on Tuesday, the company said close to 70 people have been asked to leave with immediate effect. The company was not even required to serve them the mandatory notice period since all these employees were asked to leave on the ground of ‘integrity’ for showing false information in their resumes at the time of joining.
TCS which had recently fired about 20 people from its Kolkata centre on charges of using fudged resumes to get jobs, is taking stringent measures to stop the incidents of such candidates joining the companies in future.
Wipro Technologies has developed its in-house capability to do the background verification of candidates as a result of which the number of such employees in the company has come down to less than one per cent.
According to Pradeep Bahirwani, VP, Strategic Sourcing, the company has identified over 100 fake academic institutions and universities all across the country who provide fake certificates to candidates seeking jobs in IT firms. Bangalore-based Sonata Software has launched background check of employees using a third-party agency.
