Graduates of engineering colleges across the State, who had been selected in campus recruitments by HCL technologies, but have not yet been taken in to the company, staged a protest at the company’s office on Haddows Road on Tuesday. The protests were part of a coordinated move as similar incidents occurred in Noida, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune.
The graduates, who did not want to be named, said that they wanted to know the reason for both the delay and the change in job profile that was offered to them. A few months ago, HCL offered them an option to join HCL Infrastructure instead of HCL Tech for which they were recruited. “The company asked us to join for an annual salary of Rs 2.75 lakh which is lower than the Rs 3.25 lakh offered during campus recruitment. Also, the jobs were mainly in testing and outsourcing and we are not interested in them. We want the engineering and development jobs we were promised during recruitment in December 2011 – January 2012,” said a protester. The graduates said the letters of intent given by the company in June 2012 had stated that they were recruited as software engineers.
In addition to recruits from Sastra University, VIT University, SNS engineering College, Easwari Engineering College, RMK Engineering College, there were also some protesters from Coimbatore. “We formed online groups and sent many mails to senior officials. It is not fair that we had to wait for over a year. We decided to assemble in front of the Nungambakkam office because senior HR officials work here,” said a student.
College officials however said that graduates should take the options being offered to them, instead of furthering the on-boarding process. “A career in infrastructure services is a good alternative given the situation. The recruits should utilise the opportunity. They can shift later,” said S. Vaidhyasubramaniam, dean, planning and development, SASTRA university.
Chennai was one of the three locations in the country where the recruits were asked to attempt the Front Runner Programme Test, a module introduced by HCL Tech to speed up the on-boarding process. “In March last year, we were informed that our concepts will be tested after we joined. But, in September, they introduced the FRP, and we were asked to take a test,” said a graduate. Only 1,300 of the 6,000 who were asked to take the test by HCL Technologies managed to clear it.
“The company said that a test for the failed candidates would be held in January but that was cancelled. Even those who cleared the FRP have not been called. The company now tells us they will be called in August. But what about those who could not clear the test,” asked another recruit.
Company officials said the option of joining HCL infrastructure was being offered because jobs were available now.
“The recruits will be soon informed about the future,” an official said. While sources said the protesters in Noida shouted slogans and had to be calmed down by police officials, the one in Chennai was more muted. “We were immediately called inside and allowed to speak with senior HR officials. They have assured us that they will get back to us in a week,” a protester said.
