Severe attrition engulfs Mahindra Satyam

By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 13 May 2010, 21:44 IST   |    15 Comments
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Severe attrition engulfs Mahindra Satyam
Hyderabad: Attrition levels at Mahindra Satyam are increasing especially at the mid and senior levels in the company, according to sources. Many of the executives, who had stayed by the company even after Ramalinga Raju's shocking confessions in January 2009, are set to find other pastures. According to a report by Srivastava & Swati Bharadwaj Chand of Economic Times, a highly placed Satyam source said "the important thing is that along with the technical staff even those who were pillars and work horses of the company are leaving," It is not just a better job market out there that is driving attrition rates. Internal factors too are forcing many senior and old-time Satyamites to leave their position, like Sai Krishna, who was heading a key vertical BFSI (banking finance services and insurance) and pre-sales head Pawan Kumar, among others. "Attrition levels are well over 20 percent at Mahindra Satyam, which is higher than the industry average of around 15 percent. This despite the fact that today Mahindra Satyam is much more stable than it was last year," a senior Satyam associate said. Another senior hand adds that mid-management associates at General Manager and related levels are leaving because they don't see any growth prospects within the firm. "Had the business at Mahindra Satyam been growing they would have stayed to leverage those opportunities. As it is not happening, good talent is becoming inconsistent," says the associate, who is also searching for greener pastures. Another irritating problem is that though the industry is picking up post-recession, there is not much buzz within Mahindra Satyam. As an industry observer points out: "While other IT firms have gone into a hiring overdrive in the retail vertical, Mahindra Satyam is going slow on it after having lost two major accounts of Coke and Wal-Mart last year. Besides, Mahindras are not keen on pushing this vertical as they are aligning MSat with Tech Mahindra, which is focused on telecom." Another major reason is that after Raju's softer reign, many Satyamites are finding it difficult to work with the "conservative and frugal" approach of the Mahindra Satyam top brass.