COVID-19 blues: US-based Karvy DigiKonnect fires 300 of its Tamil Nadu employees amid lockdown

TIRUCHY: Even as an industry body in Chennai came out with a study saying nearly 50 per cent of small business units in India are struggling to pay rents and salaries, news broke that a BPO in Tiruchy had fired over 300 of its employees. Karvy DigiKonnect, the company in question, ran into trouble after telecom major Airtel snapped ties with it.

On Wednesday, the company staff staged a protest in front of the office demanding an explanation. They also did not know when they would get paid for the month of May, and about their Provident Fund settlements.

“We are the sole breadwinners in our family,” says an employee on condition of anonymity.

“Out of the blue, we were told about the contract termination on Sunday, and that we no more have jobs. Neither have we been issued a termination letter, nor have been told about serving a notice period. How do they expect us to find another job in these uncertain times?”

Some employees claim they saw this coming, ever since the lockdown was extended beyond April. Half the staff were laid-off in the beginning of May.

Those who were retained were asked to report to work on May 6. Those who could not come to work were fired, they alleged.

“Over 300 of us could not report to work in May,” says another staff member.

“How could we, when we live in other districts?” “We are paid around Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000. We don’t have personal vehicles.

As a consequence, we got fired. Now we are standing in the middle of the road. We demand clarity. That’s the least they (the company) can offer us.” The company management claims Airtel cancelling its contract was a bolt out of blue.

“The unit in Tiruchy caters exclusively to the telecom major. Without the contract, nothing happens there.

“The challenge for us is that the CRM platform is owned by Airtel. If they decide to switch off the platform, we can’t do anything. We are trying to do our best for our employees,” says a senior Karvy official based in its Hyderabad office.

This is not an isolated case. Several firms across the State have started laying-off people. Many of these companies have not even shown to courtesy to wait till the stress induced by the pandemic has abated.

A Tiruchy-based security engineer, working with an IT MNC in Madurai says he was fired -- remotely. “All that we got was an online message,” he says.

“Around 80 of us were laidoff by the BPO that was contracted by a US-based firm.

The MNC has apparently ended its contract with our BPO. Overnight, we were rendered jobless. Had the contract been canceled at any other time, we would have been put on the bench until another project becomes available. Now, since the situation is uncertain, we are being fired.”

The employee says people fired from his office are among the lucky few to at least get two-month salary as a severance payment. Most other firms were not even providing that. In fact, employees of Karvy DigiKonnect aren’t sure if they will be paid for the month of May, though they worked from home.

A Tiruchy-based HR agency, which recruits mostly for US-based firms, has also laid-off employees. Many of them are not even sure if it counts as a lay-off.

“I was working remotely from my home in Pudukkottai. Once the lockdown was relaxed, I was sacked,” says an employee of that company.

“I asked them for a settlement. But, my employer said they had lost their US client, and promised to call me back to work if they manage to win the contract again. Given the economical situation currently, I doubt that will happen. As of now, I don’t have a job or a salary to tide me through these tough times.”

The pain is not restricted to the IT and ITES sectors. MSME units have been slashing their staff salaries by almost half. Job cuts are not far away.

“I have 75 sewing machines, and do annual business of Rs 4 crore,” says a garment unit owner from Tirupur.

“Most of my exports are to three buyers in the US. Of them, so far only one has paid up.”