Moneycontrol PRO
HomeNewsBusinessWipro repatriates 500 employees facing visa expiry: Report

Wipro repatriates 500 employees facing visa expiry: Report

Wipro President Saurabh Govil said the company is also working with Vande Bharat mission to bring back some of its employees

July 16, 2020 / 13:21 IST
Representational image

Indian information technology (IT) major Wipro has brought home on chartered flights more than 500 employees whose visas have expired or are near expiry, from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

The first such special flight carrying over 100 employees from New York landed in Bengaluru on July 15, Wipro President and Chief Human Resources (HR) officer Saurabh Govil told The Times of India.

“We are also chartering flights to bring back our employees from London and Germany,” Govil said, adding that the company is also working along with the Centre’s Vande Bharat mission for some flights.

Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic here

He added that they bring back employees every quarter, but the process had been “backlogged” as flights were not operational due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

View more
How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

View more
Show

Besides Wipro, other IT majors have also brought back employees facing similar concerns – most from the US.

Also Read | International flights on July 16: Daily updates on arrivals, departures under Vande Bharat Mission

Tata Consultancy Services Global HR Head Milind Lakkad said as many as 900 employees have been repatriated – close of 500 of these from the US alone. Infosys also brought back 200 employees from the US, while Tech Mahindra repatriated 210 employees via a special chartered flight from Dallas, Texas to Hyderabad – which landed on July 14.

But Govil denied that temporary suspension of H-1B visas is the cause. Stating: “We have over 70 percent localisation in the US and do not see big disruption or an impact right now. The company will hire from campuses this year in a staggered manner.” He said that last year’s offers have been honoured but declined to give a figure for this year, as per the report.

The company in January had said it will hire 12,000 posts via campus placements in India, but the process seems shaky given the current coronavirus situation.

Follow our full COVID-19 coverage here

Moneycontrol News
first published: Jul 16, 2020 01:21 pm

Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!

Subscribe to Tech Newsletters

  • On Saturdays

    Find the best of Al News in one place, specially curated for you every weekend.

  • Daily-Weekdays

    Stay on top of the latest tech trends and biggest startup news.

Advisory Alert: It has come to our attention that certain individuals are representing themselves as affiliates of Moneycontrol and soliciting funds on the false promise of assured returns on their investments. We wish to reiterate that Moneycontrol does not solicit funds from investors and neither does it promise any assured returns. In case you are approached by anyone making such claims, please write to us at grievanceofficer@nw18.com or call on 02268882347