Mastek asks 425 staff to resign or get trained with nominal salary

In the first open acknowledgement of the hit the IT industry is taking and the need for companies to downsize, Mumbai-based IT firm Mastek has given 425 employees the option to resign or stay with the company and receive training.

The employees who stay back will also receive a nominal compensation. All these employees are staff who are not on billable projects and in excess of the regular bench (extra staff most software companies maintain in readiness for new projects).

The 425 employees – who are either trainees or junior employees – have been given the option of leaving the mid-sized IT company immediately with a compensation package. As on December 31, 2008, Mastek had 4,243 employees, of whom about 27 per cent were based on-site while the rest were at various offshore locations. Mastek, which follows a July-June calendar, has given guidance of net profit at Rs 32-33 crore for the March quarter.