Candidates who have joined Information Technology (IT) services firm Wipro after completing its velocity training progrmme have to undergo training again to remain on board, Pune-based labour union Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) has alleged.
“In March 2022, before starting the unpaid velocity training of Wipro, the company's HR (Human Resources) department assured the employees that if they successfully completed the training, they would not have to undergo training again in the company,” NITES President Harpreet Singh Saluja said.
“However, after joining the company on March 30, 2023, Wipro suddenly changed its stance and said that the employees have to go through training again,” Saluja told Moneycontrol, adding that over 100 employees will be affected by the decision.
In training instruction shared with candidates on March 30, Wipro mentioned that if the employees do not clear the Project Readiness Program (PRP) training with an overall score of at least 60 percent, their jobs will be terminated immediately.
PRP is offered to all campus and off-campus hires referred to as Next Gen Associates (NGA's) to equip them with "necessary knowledge and skills that will enable them to start working on customer projects.”
"At Wipro, we place immense value on seeing our talent grow and succeed. The Project Readiness Program is a part of our routine onboarding process and is designed to ensure that our next gen associates are assigned to the right client projects and have the most up-to-date skillset to make an immediate impact," Wipro said in response to queries sent by Moneycontrol.
Wipro has previosly also terminated the employment of freshers for performing poorly on this assessment.
In January, the company confirmed it let go of 452 freshers it had made offers to but had not onboarded yet after they “performed poorly in assessment repeatedly even after training”. That internal assessment was the same PRP. In a statement at the time, Wipro had said that it expects every entry-level employee to have a certain level of proficiency in their designated area of work.
“This systematic and comprehensive performance evaluation process triggers a series of actions such as mentoring and retraining and in some cases separation of certain employees from the company,” Wipro had said at the time.
NITES' Saluja said this sudden change in Wipro's policy has left many of its fresher employees in a difficult situation, especially since they have already wasted their 1.5 years and are now playing with their future. "The company's threatening approach, which only talks about termination, is causing immense stress and anxiety among the employees,” he added.
In February, Moneycontrol reported that Wipro has written to candidates to whom it previously made an offer of Rs 6.5 lakh per annum (LPA), asking if they would be willing to take up the offer at Rs 3.5 LPA.
To fresh graduates, the company offers two hiring programmes: Elite and Turbo. Elite candidates are offered Rs 3.5 LPA, while Turbo candidates are offered Rs 6.5 LPA. If Elite candidates are to qualify for Turbo, they must go through upskilling through the company's Velocity programme, where they receive training.
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