Satyam board may meet on June 11

The board of Satyam Computer Services, comprising the six government-appointed board members and recently-inducted four members from Tech Mahindra, is expected to meet on June 11.

A source close to the development pointed out that, with the newly-appointed Minister of Corporate Affairs Salman Khurshid publicly stating that Tech Mahindra would have to deal with the excess employee issue with “sensitivity”, this is one point that will surely be discussed.

Hence, as part of the first phase of its Operation Phoenix (named after the mythical bird which rises from its own ashes every time it dies), at least 6,000 Satyam employees — those who have been on the bench for at least six months — will be given up to 40 per cent of their salary and asked to stay home, while continuing to stay on the rolls.

These employees have around 2-3 years’ experience on an average, and are across verticals that Satyam caters to.

“They need not come to office. If they are needed, they will be drafted back into the workforce. Else, the company will take a call after six months,” said the source.

These employees can also go for retraining or reskilling, for which “...Satyam will even offer interest-free loans”. The employees will have to register with their respective unit HR heads, said the source.

Moreover, Satyam is also looking at “reverse placements” wherein the placement agencies, which provide it with employees, will look at job opportunities for the 6,000-odd employees.

In addition, cross-sharing of employees has already begun between Tech Mahindra and Satyam with nearly 400 employees being placed with Tech Mahindra, according to a source close the development. In fact, Tech Mahindra, the new owner of Satyam, also assisted in giving the final touches to the plan christened ‘Operation Phoenix’, “...to give a humane face to redistribution and redeployment of the excess staff that Satyam has on its rolls”. Most of these employees are non-billable (not working on current projects).

“The reason is that Ramalinga Raju showed high revenue figures and, hence, had to recruit employees to work on non-existent projects. Thus, Satyam is left with a huge pool of non-billable employees,” reasoned the source.

Incidentally, the government-appointed board of Hyderabad-based Satyam Computer Services has decided to continue till the open offer is made. The open offer of Satyam starts on June 12 and closes on July 1, 2009.