Verizon layoffs: 14 more employees go to labour department of Telangana

HYDERABAD: Fourteen more retrenched techies of Verizon Data Services India (VDSI) have filed petitions with the Telangana State Labour, Employment Training and Factories Department ahead of the first conciliation meeting to be held on Thursday with the management. In total, thirty-five employees sacked by the firm have approached the labour department, saying they were ‘forcefully made to resign.’ An estimated 250 techies, mostly mid-level staff, were fired by Verizon from its Hyderabad campus earlier this month. 

“We will examine it and do the best we can. As of now, we will hold conciliation meeting with two representatives from the management and fourteen retrenched employees of the company,”  said R Chandrashekar, Joint Commissioner, Ranga Reddy Zone, Department of Labour. 

Verizon had said that it was eliminating job roles that do not have scope for progress in future.  Despite several layoffs being witnessed, awareness on labour laws remains low among IT employees, observed the retrenched staff. “There is only about 10 per cent awareness of labour laws among IT professionals. Even a constable takes us for a ride and demands bribes because we are not aware of our rights,” said one former employee.