Freshers cry foul as LTIMindtree delays joining, stokes fears of elimination

LTIMindtree has asked campus hires to go through fresh training to prove their eligibility.

Campus hires of LTIMindtree who received offer letters in January 2022 are still waiting to be on-boarded, and the IT services firm has asked them to go through a new training programme to prove their eligibility, said the IT-employee union Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES).

Freshers called the training progamme a pretext to get rid of them as their offer letters automatically stand cancelled if they don’t participate in the programme. This is coming at a time when the IT services sector is facing a challenging business environment due to global macro headwinds leading to industry-wide layoffs, hiring slowdowns, and on-boarding delays.

Details regarding the training programme, called IGNITE, were emailed to freshers two days ago. Moneycontrol has seen a copy of this. Freshers have been asked to confirm their participation in the training programme by 6 pm on April 12.

According to multiple sources, about 600-700 freshers awaiting their joining dates will have to go through this new training and screening programme.

“Instead of providing them with an onboarding date, the company has introduced a 6-7 week long learning and training programme. The freshers have been given two options: to undergo this assessment-based training or have their earlier offer automatically cancelled,” Harpreet Singh Saluja, President, NITES, said in a statement.

Saluja told Moneycontrol that these freshers were selected in November 2021 from their campus and received offer letters in January 2022.

The IGNITE programme will grade these freshers following a training programme with 80 percent self-paced learning and 20 percent instructor-led training. In the assignments, about 40 percent weightage will be given to multiple choice questions (MCQ) and 60 percent to coding assignments. Freshers will get two attempts at each assignment and will be deemed eligible only if they score 60 percent or more.

But being eligible alone won't confirm these freshers an immediate joining date. They will be "considered for onboarding in batches based on business demand," the email said.

“I was hired by Mindtree as a software engineer in January 2022. They said they would absorb us once the merger with LTI was completed. Now they are saying we have to go through another assessment programme. This is unfair. I had rejected offers from other companies to join Mindtree knowing their good training and work culture,” one of the freshers told Moneycontrol on condition of anonymity.

The fresher added that the campus hires were offered a 9-11 week internship which was “said to be not mandatory’’ in the middle of their final semester last year. A few of those who took up the internship were absorbed.

The person also said that the freshers who are facing this delay were mainly those who were hired by Mindtree, while those who were hired by LTI have already been absorbed. LTI and Mindtree started operating as a merged entity in November 2022.

Moneycontrol is awaiting a response to detailed queries sent to LTIMindtree.  This article will be updated with the company’s response, if any.

Saluja said, “This behaviour is completely unacceptable and goes against ethical business practices. It may also set a dangerous precedent for future recruitment practices. It is clear that the company is putting these freshers in a state of uncertainty and using this new program as a way to delay their onboarding.

“We urge LTIMindtree to reconsider their decision… We call upon LTI Mindtree to immediately halt this programme and provide these freshers with a clear onboarding date,” he added.

LTIMindtree isn’t the only IT firm resorting such measures. In February, Wipro had mailed candidates to whom it had offered Rs 6.5 lakh per annum  (LPA), asking if they would join at Rs 3.5 LPA.  Tech Mahindra campus hires too have been facing on-boarding delays.