In order to address critical issues in the Information Technology sector including ‘forced resignation’ adopted by firms off late, Karnataka Government has planned to come up with a new policy to deal with the situation. The step is being taken in the backdrop of massive layoffs happening in the sector. 

As widely reported by media lately, India’s 150-billion dollar IT industry appears to slow down with several IT giants such as  Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Cognizant and others are planning to lay off around 58,000 engineers this year. 

 To restore the situation back to normal, the Karnataka government has decided to intervene and come out with the remedial step to aid the situation.  As told to PTI, State IT Minister Priyank Kharge said , "We are keen on coming out with a policy addressing various problems including "forced resignation" adopted by IT companies, but not before listening to the problems faced by IT industry leaders and employees."

As asserted in the statement to media, the government will have an open dialogue with senior leaders in IT and employees working in the sector before chalking out a concrete plan. He stressed that all relevant stakeholders will be heard before arriving that any decision as his responsibility is not only to provide jobs but also to safeguard jobs. 

Digging in further to completely understand the matter, Kharge also revealed to media that alleged flawed appraisal process followed by IT companies will be screened carefully as IT employee associations have complained that the process is not transparent. They have highlighted that employees were terminated despite their good performance at the company. 

Kharge also added that government will provide legal aid to affected employees and to the forum for IT employees (FITE) to solve their present problems including major layoffs. FITE has also asked the government to halt ongoing arbitrary layoffs and sought withdrawal of its decision to exempt IT companies from labor law. 

As reported by People Matters earlier, unlike the layoffs in the past, the current development has caused a major setback, so much so that, employees are seeking government intervention to save their jobs.  As per the media report, the Tamil Nadu Government is approached by Forum for IT employees (FITE) who are considering their layoffs as illegal. 

Amid rising concerns over protectionist policies with regard to hiring and job creations within countries like the USA, the UK, and Singapore, in addition to countries like Australia and New Zealand, most of the big IT players in India are looking at ways to improve profit margins. As a result, they are working towards changing their business models and an overhaul which is leading to job cuts in large number.