Showing posts with label Satyam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Satyam. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

It's Official; Tech Mahindra Completes Merger of Satyam

Once a darling of the Indian IT sector and the stock market, the scam-hit erstwhile Satyam has formally ceased to exist as an individual entity by formally merging with Tech Mahindra.

Its journey saw a fraud bringing down the company's valuation by over 95 per cent within weeks, while a subsequent revival brought in an over 10-fold surge from the dumps.

Still, it is the remains of this once scam-hit company on which its saviour Tech Mahindra will bank upon significantly to move up the ladders of the Indian IT sector charts, say industry experts.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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Tech Mahindra appoints Milind Kulkarni as CFO

IT services firm Tech Mahindra today appointed Milind Kulkarni as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) replacing Sonjoy Anand, who decided to pursue opportunities internationally.

The firm also announced the appointment of Manoj Bhat as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer.

Milind Kulkarni has been Senior Vice President, Finance till now and will take charge as the new CFO with immediate effect, the firm said in a BSE filing.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Mahindra Satyam, Tech Mahindra merge to create $2.4-billion company

The erstwhile Satyam Computer Services and Tech Mahindra announced details of their planned merger, saying the whole will be greater than the sum of their parts and positioning themselves as a player with the potential to challenge India's top-tier software companies.

The merger ratio, at 17 shares of Mahindra Satyam for two Tech Mahindra shares, was along expected lines, valuing the former Satyam at $1.8 billion (Rs 9,000 crore). CP Gurnani, the chief executive of Mahindra Satyam who oversaw the difficult transition of a fraud-hit firm to normalcy, will be the head of the combined entity, whose name has not yet been chosen. "It is a marriage made in heaven," Gurnani said on Wednesday about the merger, which becomes effective from April 2011.
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Mahindra Satyam acquires vCustomer BPO for $27 million

Mahindra Satyam, on Friday acquired Delhi based BPO firm vCustomer's International operations for $27 million. This is the first 100% acquisition by Mahindra Satyam since it became part of Mahindra Group.

The acquisition marks the entry of Mahindra Satyam's BPO operations into other verticals such as Retail and Consumer Technology in addition to enhancing its technical support business.

Friday, June 18, 2010

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Pay hikes for all Satyam staff next month

Information technology company Mahindra Satyam [ Get Quote ] (earlier known as Satyam Computer Services Limited) is likely to announce a pay hike for all its employees on July 1.

This, according to a top executive of the company, follows Mahindra Satyam's annual appraisal process 'ASPIRE', which begins in April and ends in June.

"It is progressing as scheduled," the executive said. The exercise applies to the entire 25,000 associates (as Satyam calls its employees) and will be communicated internally to the company's leaders on June 21.

While declining to share the final quantum of the salary revision, he said: "We haven't closed the loop internally, as yet. The pay hike will be announced on July 1.

"The company is also in the process of hiring 1,000-1,500 laterals (or experienced hands) in "sync with its growing business", said the executive.

"Recruitment of 3,000 freshers is now more or less concluded and the next thing we are going after is laterals, which is going as per the schedule.

"We will be having about 1,500 laterals on our rolls this quarter and the next quarter. Given the growth, we may continue to hire more in the coming quarters," said the executive.

Key leadership hiring in different pockets -- a few from other companies -- to beef up the company's sales efforts is currently on, he added.

Wins from new and existing customers continue across various continents from a multi-year contract with an auto major in Japan [ Images ] to government accounts in Singapore, from a global energy drink giant in Australia [ Images ] to a retail chain major in South Africa [ Images ] and from an electricity and water management authority in West Asia to major banking institutions in Europe.

Additional business from large customers in the US is also helping augment Mahindra Satyam's position in the market, he added.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Satyam to offer pay hikes, bonus

Mahindra Satyam is expected to offer pay hikes and bonus from January. The Hyderabad-based IT services provider, which is in the process of reinstating its accounts, had concluded its annual appraisals in December.

Staff in the S and T bands got pay hikes whereas employees of other higher levels like BI and I were offered associate stock option plans and promotions, according to an official who did not wish to be identified.

The increments ranged between 5% and 20% based on performance for the S band of employees where as T band employees were given 6-7% across-the-board hike.
The S band employees belong to the junior level while the T band people has over two years’ experience.

This apart, the company is said to have offered bonus of 20% of salary to staff across all levels of around 20%. The bonus will be paid at the end of this month.

“We strongly feel that hikes should help bridge some of the concerns and expectations and we have launched quite a few non-monetary and career development initiatives to enrich skills and competencies of our associates. The reinstatement of performance related variable pay along with the salary corrections across levels, has given the necessary confidence to our associates,” said Mukund Menon, head of business HR relations worldwide, Mahindra Satyam.

Employees whom ET spoke to across the bands said it’s getting challenging for the company since there were many exits which was affecting existing business.

However, the company, on its part, is engaged in hiring fresh graduates and also calling back employees from the virtual pool, as attrition seems to be a concern.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

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Satyam was a great place to work till the scam broke out

Ramesh D (43) had clocked three satisfying years at Satyam. “Satyam was a great place to be. It did not run like a family enterprise, but like a professionally managed company. And the brand had huge equity across Andhra Pradesh – something like what Infosys enjoys in Karnataka,” he says.

So like everyone else, when Ramesh heard of the Maytas acquisition, he was surprised, but dismissed it. It was only when the scam of Rs 8,000 crore unfolded (latest figures estimate the scam at Rs 14,000 crore), that Ramesh was left spellbound. “It was January 7, it was my wife’s birthday. Over the past one year, I have moved from shock to anger and later to reconciliation and now, hope,” he recalls.

He saw hundreds of employees being asked to leave and others left, as and when they got their hands on other offers. Ramesh too has been waiting for the right opportunity.

While Ramalinga Raju, PwC and the investors of Satyam got maximum attention last year, it was the employees of Satyam who were left in the lurch. Last December, the economic slowdown hit India Inc in full force and pink slips were flying faster than recession. Within minutes of the scam hitting headline, resumes of Satyam employees were flooding the market, but they had nowhere to go.

Vinay A (24), for instance, who had joined Satyam’s Bangalore office straight after engineering, managed an opening in a Kenyan firm. “Office was not running as usual. Our bosses would tell us to calm down and focus, but there was no way it could happen. And when it was all over the media, it became humiliating to even enter the office,” he recalls. “I was lucky to have got a break. There were so many who had nowhere to go and were worried because they had families and personal commitments.”

HR experts believe that it was the recession that saved the day for Satyam. “Had the news broken when the economy was on a boom, the company would’ve gone bust overnight, since everyone would’ve found jobs elsewhere,” says BS Murthy, CEO of Leadership Capital, an executive search firm. “Ever since signs of recovery became visible, the firm has seen 18 to 20 per cent attrition,” he adds.

Ramesh couldn’t agree more: “People in technical roles have already begun leaving. But it’s only in the new fiscal that people from areas like HR, finance, administration and facilities will start moving out.”

(Names of employees have been changed on request.)
Source: mydigitalfc

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Mahindra Satyam agrees to pay $70 mn to UK firm Upaid

Mahindra Satyam has agreed to pay $70 million to UK-based mobile payment services firm Upaid in an out-of-court settlement, ending uncertainty over one of its long-drawn legal liabilities.

In return, Upaid will drop all charges against Mahindra Satyam and also provide a royalty-free licence on its patents on a worldwide and perpetual basis. The amount is a tenth of what Upaid was seeking in damages from the erstwhile Satyam.

Investors cheered the move that will allow Mahindra Satyam to focus more on business and customer issues as sentiment veers towards an economic recovery.

“It (the Upaid case) could have been pretty intractable,” commented one analyst, terming it a positive development. Satyam shares closed 1.3 per cent higher at Rs 102.65 on BSE on Wednesday.
Source: EconomicTimes

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

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Satyam bags Rs 100-cr Airbus deal

Mahindra Satyam has won a Rs 100-crore ($20 million) outsourcing contract from the world’s largest maker of commercial aircraft, Airbus, to manage its internal quality and processes.

Sources said the three-year contract involving technology maintenance, will put Satyam at a vantage point as they can now have an overview of the projects and technology which controls the organisation. “The work outsourced mainly includes quality management,” said a person familiar with the matter.

An email query to Mahindra Satyam and Airbus remained unanswered at the time of this report going to press. This is the second important contract Mahindra Satyam has bagged in the last few months.

It won an IT outsourcing contract last month from Swedish defence and aerospace firm, Saab, to develop its operations for the global defence and security market in India in a deal valued at around $300 million.

Friday, December 4, 2009

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Tech Mahindra plans BPO unit in Philippines

Resurrecting Satyam may be dominating mindshare at Tech Mahindra ever since it acquired the firm in April, but the company is silently expanding its global footprint in the BPO space.

Tech Mahindra is mulling a brand new BPO operation in the Philippines, which will be its third offshore contact centre after Northern Ireland and the UK. If Tech Mahindra indeed dials the Philippines, it will be emulating the likes of Wipro and Infosys, who have already established BPOs to cash in on the low-operating costs in that country.

Having tapped into the outsourcing opportunities that exist in the UK and the European Union (EU) by establishing contact centres in Belfast and South Tyneside, Tech Mahindra is now tipped to set up shop in the Philippines to cater to global telecom clients in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) and North American markets.
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Satyam to Hire 1,000 College Graduates by Mid-December

India's Satyam Computer Services Ltd., now operating under the Mahindra Satyam brand, will recruit around 1,000 college graduates by mid-December, a senior company executive said Friday.

"The need to hire some entry-level people is being felt because of attrition and to prepare for the future," Hari T, chief people officer, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Fraud-hit Satyam was acquired by Tech Mahindra Ltd. in April via a government-led auction after Satyam's founder and then chairman confessed in January to cooking the company's books.

These recruits will be among the 7,000 who received offers from Satyam before the scam came to light, Mr. Hari said.

Satyam was doubly hit by the global economic meltdown as clients canceled projects and sought price cuts as they faced pressure on profits.

In a bid to cut costs, Mahindra Satyam also cut salaries and placed staff who were not working on billable projects on forced leave.

However, the company is now recovering from the fraud and the impact of the global meltdown.

Mr. Hari said the company has already recalled about 1,500 people from the original 8,000 placed on forced leave.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

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Satyam scam is of over $2.8 bn: CBI

The accounting scam at Satyam Computer Services is to the tune of Rs.14,000 crore (Rs 140 billion/$2.8 billion)) and not Rs 7,800 crore (Rs 78 billion) as the company's disgraced former chairman B Ramalinga Raju stated earlier this year, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said. ( Watch )

The federal agency Tuesday filed a 200-page charge sheet in the special court for CBI cases here that had details of properties acquired by Raju and other accused and their financial transactions abroad through fictitious firms.

"The quantum of scam and the loss suffered by investors has been quantified. The loss suffered by investors works out to over Rs 14,000 crore," said CBI Deputy Inspector General Lakshminarayana.
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TechM bags 5-year STel deal

New telecom entrant STel Ltd has awarded a five-year IT outsourcing contract to Tech Mahindra, at least two people familiar with the transaction told ET last week.

STel, which plans to compete with incumbent phone firms including Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications, had shortlisted Tech Mahindra and Wipro for outsourcing system integration, managed services. The contract also includes maintenance of the phone firm’s business and operational support systems.

A senior STel executive confirmed the transaction, but a Tech Mahindra spokesman declined to offer any specific comments. “This contract does not include any fixed investments by STel, and is based on ‘pay as you go’ model,” another person added.
Under this model, a service provider offers different services to a customer as and when required, and charges a fee based either on number of users or number of transactions completed. This model helps customers avoid high capital expenditure in setting up their own IT infrastructure.

Chennai-based STel plans to start rolling out GSM services pan-India during the fourth quarter of the current financial year.
The company has unified access services licences and spectrum to operate in six Indian states - Bihar, Orissa, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, North East and Assam. The telecom service providers in India opt to share passive infrastructure such as telecom towers and outsource non-core activities such as network and technology management, to reduce costs and roll out services faster, the second person said.

Recently, Tech Mahindra also bagged a Rs 2,000-crore deal for end-to-end outsourcing of IT applications and infrastructure from Etisalat DB Telecom, a joint venture between the UAE-based Etisalat and the Dynamix Balwas group. It also won a $500 million outsourcing contract from new telecom entrant Swan Telecom in August this year. STel had earlier applied for licences in all the 22 circles but was eventually granted a licence for only six circles.

Privately held STel is a joint venture between Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco) and the Siva group. Siva Group is a $3-billion group with diversified business interests in verticals such as wind energy, shipping and logistics and hospitality, while Bahrain’s Batelco is a diversified, integrated telecommunications operator with mobile, fixed and wireless broadband, datacom and fixed line services.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Satyam rejects Rs 1,230-cr claims

Mahindra Satyam on Tuesday rejected claims worth Rs 1,230 crore made by 37 companies linked to the company’s former promoter B Ramalinga Raju in a filing to the stock exchange.

The company said the claims were legally untenable. Satyam received letters from these 37 companies reclaiming the money a day after Raju confessed to the Rs 7,000-crore fraud.

Raju, in his confession statement, said he owed Rs 1,230 crore to some of the privately-owned companies of the Raju family who had loaned out money to the IT firm. He said the amount was an understated liability and was not stated in the books of the firm that were dressed for seven years.

A Satyam spokesperson said the companies sent legal notices to Satyam two weeks ago. The notices claim the money back to allegedly repay their creditors, some of whom include Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra.

However, the information pack given to the bidders has listed this only as a claim and not a liability since there are no entries in the company’s books.

After Raju’s disclosure about financial wrongdoings, the Indian government had superseded the company’s board appointing its nominees to monitor the fraud-struck firm’s bidding process. Tech Mahindra emerged as the highest bidder and acquired control of Satyam in April this year.

Satyam, while disclosing the financials for October-December 2008 quarter and the first two months of 2009, had said that the 37 companies had made claims totalling Rs 1,230 crore from it. The company then said it didn’t acknowledge any of these claims as the matter was being investigated.

The fraud is still being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the country’s apex investigation body. Satyam’s shares closed at Rs 104.85 on BSE on Tuesday.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Mahindra Satyam to reposition itself

Moving away from the shadow of Satyam scam, software exporter Mahindra Satyam today said the company would be repositioned as a complete Information and Communications Technology (ICT) firm from just an IT outsourcing player.

Tech Mahindra bought Satyam in April and encouraged by the addition of 35 new clients is focusing on expanding service horizons by investing in building new technologies.

"We plan to position Mahindra Satyam as an ICT firm. The focus is on converting an IT company to ICT company," Mahindra Satyam Chief Executive Officer CP Gurnani told PTI.

The company is focusing on new areas like digital convergence, as it continues to strengthen its five verticals -- manufacturing, financial, health care, retail and consumer product, he said.

"We are looking at overall growth in digital convergence. That is a focus area. We will also be focusing on mobile applications," Gurnani said, adding "I am taking advantage of our presence in connected solutions, in enterprise solution, in mobility and coming up with new paradigm shift."

On new business additions, he said the company is seeing an uptake in demand and has added 35 new clients from May this year.

"The worst is behind us and we are back on the path to recovery... Mahindra satyam is getting traction in the market and getting new clients. We have added 35 new clients since May this year... We are seeing good demand from clients. The overall IT market is also improving."

Gurnani said only a few former Satyam clients, who walked away from the company after it was hit by the scam early this year have returned, although new clients are coming on board.

He said the company was in talks with one of its old clients, the World Bank, to lift the ban imposed on awarding contracts to Satyam after the scam as the company has now been bought by Tech Mahindra and has a new management.

"We are in active dialogue with the World Bank for revoking the eight-year ban imposed by it," Gurnani said.

Till January Satyam had about 500 clients, but the number dwindled to 380 by the time Tech Mahindra won the bid to take it over.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

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Mahindra Satyam sees worst over

Indian IT services firm Mahindra Satyam has added 35 new clients since April 13 and lost just a handful, said the firm's chief executive, adding that the worst was behind it and that spending by key customer groups was improving.

Mahindra Satyam, earlier known as Satyam Computer Services, was acquired by India's Tech Mahindra in April after the firm was hit by India's biggest corporate fraud, which came to light in January.

"I do believe that we are now stable from a customer, or a delivery perspective," C P Gurnani said.

"I am very, very clear that the bottom is behind us and we are back on a path to recovery," he added in the interview on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum event in New Delhi.

He said the company, which lost 25 to 30 percent of its customers between January and Tech Mahindra's agreement to take over the firm on April 13, had since then added 35 new customers and, to his knowledge, lost just three.

"These 35 logo accounts have come from emerging markets, the Middle East and Africa, and we have also added some clients in the US and Europe," Gurnani said.

The firm had about 380 customers when Tech Mahindra won an auction to take it over, said Gurnani, who was president of international operations at Tech Mahindra before taking over at Mahindra Satyam.

Tech Mahindra, a unit of tractor and utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra, owns about 43 percent of Mahindra Satyam.

By comparison, rival Wipro said it added 37 clients in the July-September quarter.

Satyam's founder and then-chairman Ramalinga Raju shocked investors in January by saying profits had been overstated for years, which at the time had put in doubt the survival of a Hyderabad-based company once ranked as India's No. 4 software services exporter.

"I am very happy with the progress that we made, considering that this company had a situation where the focus on new sales had practically become zero," said Gurnani.

He said growth for the IT outsourcing industry would come from clients including the financial services sector.

"They went through a fair amount of slowdown in spending. And now with some of the, at least the American firms you've seen, the kind of numbers they are returning with, I do believe that they will accelerate their spending," he said.

Bigger rivals Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services have said demand from financial services clients was stabilising, but manufacturing and telecoms remained weak spots.

"Similarly healthcare, education, government, public sector -- I mean these are the areas where the spending velocity will be higher than last year," Gurnani said.

"The momentum is good, the uptake has improved, and I hope that it translates to better numbers not only for us but for the Indian IT industry," he said.

Gurnani also said the restatement of company results for recent years would be made on or before June 30, 2010.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

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Mahindra Satyam bags Saab deal

Mahindra Satyam on Tuesday said that it won an IT outsourcing contract from Swedish defence and aerospace firm, Saab, to develop its operations for the global defence and security market in India in a deal valued at around $300 million.

The contract, which spread over a period of five years encompasses engineering services and technology maintenance, will enable both the companies jointly address the Battlefield Management System (BMS) for the Indian Army, according to a release.

Mahindra Satyam said that it has already initiated the setting up of a centre of excellence for network centric warfare (CoE – NCW) which will offer comprehensive skills and a repository of tools, systems, middleware, integration platforms and system showcases in the field of NCW.

The company through the CoE hopes to tap the high potential market for nationwide security, for which the Indian government has large investment plans. “This relationship will jumpstart our foray in mission critical areas of defense. Our commitment in the domestic market will be reaffirmed by this collaboration and also set the stage to enter uncharted territories in the global arena,” said C P Gurnani, CEO, Mahindra Satyam.

The centre, which will be accessible to both the partners, is for mission critical applications and Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence solutions for global opportunities. The capabilities of the centre will also span areas of homeland security to provide end to end security solutions.

“We view this relationship with Mahindra Satyam as a strategic meeting of two highly skilled teams believing in technical and engineering excellence,” said Åke Svensson, President and CEO for Saab.

Mahindra Satyam, which counts Citigroup, GE, GlaxoSmithKline, Cisco Systems Inc and Nissan among its top five clients, has over 430 clients now. Over the last four months, the company, erstwhile Satyam Computers gained over 32 new customers including some large clients.

Satyam was acquired by Pune based IT services firm Tech Mahindra in April, after the firm’s defamed founder B Ramalinga Raju confessed to perpetrating India’s biggest corporate fraud. Customer confidence took a knock after Raju’s confession.

The company is attempting to regain contracts and enter into new strategic alliances to turn-around, even as its accounts are in the process of being re-stated.

Monday, October 26, 2009

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No pay for Satyam's Virtual Pool benchers from Dec 18

Close on the heels of the news that Mahindra Satyam will hire some 130 people, comes the announcement that it will not pay salaries to employees in the virtual pool after December 18. The employees under this virtual pool program (VPP) will, however, have the option to stay on the company’s rolls without pay till March 2010.

On June 11, the company announced the creation of the virtual pool, placing nearly 8,000 associates on the bench. "The surplus employees will be put in the VPP and paid basic salary, PF and medical insurance," Vineet Nayyar, CEO, Tech Mahindra, had said even as he ruled out any retrenchment.

In a recent email to the associates, the Satyam management stated, “We continue to recall, based on need and project requirements. However, it does appear that we may have constraints to reinstate all of those who are on VPP. Under the circumstances, we have informed our associates on VPP that we are constrained by this reality and have extended the option for them to continue on our rolls, albeit without any pay (should they choose to do so) for a further period of three months — that is, from December 18, 2009 to March 18, 2010.”

According to the news report, the VPP staff, during this period, will continue to have access to VPP services, including virtual learning and outplacement services. The official mail also said that the 'loss of pay' status would also be considered for the employees' service period.

A Mahindra Satyam spokesperson claimed that the company had absorbed about 1,500 associates from the virtual pool. The spokesperson also denied that the company was "laying off" people, even as the mail speaks of "separation of employment".

Incidentally, in the mail dated October 19, the company said, "In our earlier communication dated June 11, 2009, you were placed on VPP for a period of six months and accordingly, your Virtual Pool Leave is due to end on December 18, 2009. It is rather unfortunate that due to the continued economic constraints and business outlook, we do not anticipate that we will have the ability to recall many of our valued associates within the VPP period."

The company has a total of 34,000 associates globally.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

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TechM, Aegis, Conflux bag Rs 750-crore Etisalat deal

Etisalat DB Telecom, a new entrant in the Indian telecom space yet to launch services, has awarded an end-to-end outsourcing contract to three BPO service providers — Tech Mahindra, Aegis and Conflux, the company said on Tuesday.

The deal, spanning over five years, is valued at over Rs 750 crore. Etisalat is a JV between the UAE’s Etisalat Group and India’s Dynamix Balwas Group with Etisalat holding 45% in the JV.

Tech Mahindra will be responsible for managing Etisalat DB’s customer care operations in the north and the south, while Aegis BPO would manage the west and the central region. Conflux will be responsible for servicing customers in Bihar. Etisalat DB earlier awarded a $400-million IT outsourcing contract to Tech Mahindra.

The three BPO’s multi-site centers will provide both inbound and outbound services in the respective regional languages, besides English and Hindi. The three BPO vendors would provide customer management services to the operator, including billing, collections, customer service and customer retention. The centres will also be responsible for the complete management of back office processes. Customers will also have access to the contact center via e-mail, chat and SMS.

“We are confident that these associations will enable us to manage the customer lifecycle efficiently and provide a higher level of customer experience,” said the company in a statement.

The operator has telecom licence in 15 circles, including New Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The operator plans to start telecom services by the year-end.
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Mahindra Satyam may axe 5,000 benchers

The axe is haunting Mahindra Satyam staff, months after they were assured that there would not be any layoffs. On Monday afternoon, many Satyam's employees on the Virtual Pool Program (VPP) of the company were sent a formal notice of two months by e-mail.

The mail dated October 19, a copy of which is with The Times of India, reads, "In our earlier communication dated June 11, 2009, you were placed on VPP for a period of six months and accordingly, your Virtual Pool Leave is due to end on December 18, 2009. It is rather unfortunate that due to the continued economic constraints and business outlook, we do not anticipate that we will have the ability to recall many of our valued associates within the VPP period."

On June 11, the company announced the creation of the virtual pool, placing nearly 8,000 associates on the bench. "The surplus employees will be put in the VPP and paid basic salary, PF and medical insurance," Vineet Nayyar, CEO, Tech Mahindra, had said even as he ruled out any retrenchment.

However, with the six-month period of the VPP set to lapse in December, the company has served a two-month notice, as required by the employment contract, reportedly on over 5,000 employees. Sources told that the company did not have enough projects on hand and was not able to recall many associates.

A Mahindra Satyam spokesperson told that the company had absorbed about 1,500 associates from the virtual pool. The spokesperson also denied that the company was "laying off" people, even as the mail speaks of "separation of employment".

"We have given these employees an option of availing outplacement services. We will try to help them to the best of our abilities," he said.