After a wait of over two years, IT giant Infosys has finally issued offer letters to all its 2,000 campus recruits, according to the Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES). More than 1,000 recruits received their joining dates on September 1, with another 300 on September 2. The remaining recruits were given their joining dates in June 2024.
“Today, all the remaining campus hires—around 2,000 system engineers—have finally received their joining dates, confirming October 21,” said Harpreet Singh Saluja, president of NITES.
These engineers were initially offered roles at Infosys in 2022 and were required to complete two pre-training sessions in 2024, the most recent of which concluded on August 19.
The virtual pre-training sessions, lasting six weeks, include self-learning modules provided by Infosys, followed by in-person assessments conducted in various cities.
“If you (the candidate) successfully pass the competency assessment, you will be invited to join Infosys for an in-person immersive training program. Failure to pass the assessment will result in a deferment of your joining dates,” the Infosys recruitment team informed the recruits via email.
However, over 200 recruits in 2023 for digital specialist engineer positions are still awaiting their joining dates, the sources said. The salary for a system engineer is Rs 3.6 lakh per annum, while the position of digital specialist engineer offers Rs 6.5 lakh per annum.
“The recent campus recruits who have received offers have undergone pre-training and assessments…However, we remain vigilant…If Infosys fails to honor this commitment and breaches the joining date, we will not hesitate to organise a protest right in front of the Infosys office,” Saluja said.
When contacted in August, an Infosys spokesperson had told FE, “Infosys is honoring all the offers that it has made. Entry-level hiring is a key driver for Infosys to build talent for the future. As onboarding is always aligned with client requirements, we spread the joining dates of various batches to align with changes in project schedules and to ensure employees have access to the right training.”
In June 2024, NITES, the Pune-based union for IT professionals, filed a request with the ministry of labour & employment to investigate Infosys’ repeated delays in onboarding over 2,000 campus recruits. NITES claimed these delays, which have persisted for more than two years, have caused significant hardship for the affected employees.
This issue reflects a broader challenge within the IT sector, where companies frequently adjust onboarding schedules to align with fluctuating project demands and client needs.
Despite these delays, Infosys announced during their post-June quarter earnings press conference that the company plans to hire between 15,000 to 20,000 freshers in FY25. This follows the hiring of 11,900 freshers in FY24, a significant drop from the over 50,000 freshers recruited the previous year.