Mahindra Satyam to hire 17,000 in FY12

In an indication of its turnaround process, IT firm Mahindra Satyam today said it will hire nearly 17,000 people this fiscal as business sentiment improves for the country's IT industry.

"We will hire more than 12,000 people this fiscal and another 5,000 will be hired from campuses, either from engineering or management colleges," Mahindra Satyam, Head of recruitment, MV Sridhar told PTI.

Currently, Satyam has a total headcount of around 30,000. This year's hiring would take the company's headcount to about 50,000, about 3,000 less than its pre-crisis staff strength of 53,000.

The company has posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 327 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, on account of exceptional expenditure, including payments made to settle SEC and Upaid lawsuits in the US.

Revenues for the fourth quarter registered a growth of 7.5% vis-a-vis the previous quarter to Rs 1,375.3 crore.

After its founder Ramalinga Raju confessed to a multi-crore accounting fraud, Satyam Computers saw the exodus of many of its employees and mid-level executives. Since then, the company has been acquired by Tech Mahindra and has been rebranded as Mahindra Satyam.

With globally improved business environment, Mahindra Satyam is also betting big on bagging more clients, especially following the restatement of its accounts.

Mahindra Satyam was also battling many legal tussles, most of which have been settled now. The company said it has paid a total of $80 million to settle ongoing disputes with UPaid and US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

In connection with the lawsuit filed by Upaid, the company deposited $70 million (nearly Rs 327.4 crore) during FY10 into an escrow account, pursuant to a settlement agreement with the company.

The company has also agreed to make a payment of $10 million (Rs 46.7 crore) to the SEC.