Can Infosys say no to Satyam's clients?

By Pradeep Shankar | Monday, 16 February 2009, 22:42 IST | 67 Comments

Bangalore: One of India's business dailies The Economic Times had quoted Mohandas Pai, Director (HR), Infosys as saying, "We have asked our recruitment staff not to poach anybody from Satyam. The company is in the middle of a crisis and people will jump ship." The report further said that Infosys' HR executives would refrain from even hiring domain experts or project managers from Satyam. If it is in the interest of Infosys not to hurt Satyam in the hour of crisis, can the management of Infosys give similar instructions to its sales force not to go after Satyam's clients at this point in time? Supposing an existing client of Satyam approaches Infosys to outsource their work, will Infosys say no to them because it wants to help Satyam in this hour of crisis? If they did so, then the management of Infosys should know they have a fiduciary responsibility towards its investors to maximize profit. If individually hiring someone is being avoided, how about hiring in hundreds when Infosys takes a client away from Satyam and along with it the employees currently working on it? If Infosys says no to incoming business then will they tell the investors: "We will pass this golden opportunity because Satyam's new management is anyway resurrecting the company." There are no emotions in business. In fact it is the right time for Infosys to ask its sales force to knock at the doors of Satyam's impressive clientele. Infosys has to leave no stone unturned to maximize the profits for its shareholders. The big problem with several Indian IT leaders is that they are not being honest and apply double standards. They are happy to be in the state of denial whether it comes to accepting that there is an economic downturn or stating that we will actively talk to Satyam's clients. Not to hire Satyam employees and to tell your sales team to go get Satyam clients are both conflicting. No true businessman would miss such opportunities. So is Infosys trying to take advantage of the situation for some kind of PR? Several working professionals across the industry were shocked to see Infosys, a company considered as beacon light of Indian IT industry, to make an irresponsible statement about not hiring Satyamites. In fact, several of our readers have commented in the news we carried earlier today. Click here to read the news. We won't hire anybody from Satyam - Infosys Siliconindia called a few leaders in the industry to figure out if such a practice was right. Majority of them thought otherwise. One of the senior HR Managers said, "It is like saying I will not give education if you are a child of an AIDS patient." "The role of any business leader is to source talent for his/her business from wherever it is best available. One has to give a fair opportunity to anybody who is eligible to be recruited for a particular post. In times of distress it is normal for people to seek opportunities elsewhere. Excluding prospective candidates just because they are working for a 'tainted company' who are otherwise innocent is not necessary nor helpful," says C Mahalingam, EVP & Chief People Officer, Symphony Services. "We would encourage all companies not to try to poach Satyam employees and create further stress in an already stressed company. However we would certainly not put a stigma on any employee of Satyam - most of them would be fine professionals who should be an asset to any company. Zensar has hired people from Satyam in the past and would not hesitate to do so in future," said Ganesh Natarajan Chairman, NASSCOM and Global CEO, Zensar Technologies. While Tesco's Head of Human Resources Sudheesh Venkatesh did not want to comment on Mr. Pai's statement, he did say, "Satyam has great talent. Employees from Satyam, in the same way as people from other companies, are welcome to apply for the positions open at Tesco." In a recent interview to CNBC, NR Narayana Murthy was heard saying that few financial institutions in the U.S were concerned about their investments in India and hence had called on him [Mr. Murthy] to understand the current situation. He further clarified, "They called me not because I was Chairman of Infosys, but they saw me as an 'industry figure'." The question now many on the street are asking is can the 'industry figure' make sure that his company does not impinge on the opportunity for Satyam employees. Infosys probably does not want to hurt Satyam by luring its employees. But anyone would know if Infosys doesn't hire, the employees will still look for jobs elsewhere. So Infosys is not helping Satyam in anyway. They are only penalizing Satyamites.

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