Satyam Crisis[Update]: Promoters stake falls to 3.6%; No pink slips; 120 resigned

Promoters stake in Satyam falls to 3.6%:
The promoter holding in Satyam Computer Services today fell to 3.6 per cent after institutional lenders sold 24.52 million shares, the company said in a stock exchange filing.

Satyam's woes deepen, 120 employees resign:
Sources told that at least 120 of Satyam's employees from the lower and middle rung management have resigned after the Satyam-Maytas fiasco broke out and as many as 100 more, including the senior level management, are waiting to take a decision after the board meeting expected to take place on January 10.

The biggest uncertainty is apparently amongst the software development and BPO divisions.
However, when contacted Satyam said that 100’s a number, which is very diminutive and that such things happens very often, so aren’t indicative of recent events.

For a company with over 50,000 employees, such a number of more than 120 employees leaving may not sound very big.

But the job consulting firms say that in a bad market this number could be significant and that too because HR firms have received job enquiries from as many as 150-200 employees of Satyam, including some calls being made from the top management.

Evaluations over, no pink slips:
Satyam Satyam Computer Services has stopped issuing pink slips to its employees in a bid not to add to its problems following the aborted December 16 deal to acquire Maytas companies and the negative fallout.
“It seems the company has stopped this process for a while because of the current crisis,” a Satyam employee, on condition of anonymity, said.The company had reportedly continued to give pink slips to its associates, following what it called Performance Improvement Plan, during the first two weeks of December 2008.

When asked for comments, a Satyam spokesperson said there has been a freeze on the process. “But this is not because of the crisis the company is facing. The evaluation exercise for the year has been completed and hence the freeze. It is not related to the present situation,” she said.

Asked about the claim of some employees that the process was still on, she said the company gives the employees an opportunity to re-train under the PIP plan. “However, if they do not show adequateimprovement, they are moved out. This process can take between three and four months. What you have heard is probably related to this,” she said. The evaluation exercise generally happens in July-September every year.

Replying to a question on how many freshers had been given the appointment letters this year, she said the information would be known in the third quarter results.