DXC Technology & onboarding delays of freshers: "With no employment, family is under pressure," says aggrieved student

Here's what is happening

Engineering graduates who secured placements in DXC Technology from a Hyderabad-based college in 2022 have been waiting for the on boarding for nearly one and a-half years now.

The Information Technology (IT) giant, based out of the USA, has offices across India, including Madhapur and Hyderabad.

As many as 4,800 campus recruits across the country are said to be facing the situation with 219 alone from the Institute of Aeronautical Engineering (IARE) in Dindigul.

Students share plight

Speaking to The New Indian Express, a few of them said they are worried about the mounting family pressure, including responsibility, as well as the mark of a year's gap on their resumes due to the constant delay in joining the company, which the latter is attributing to a 'difficult market situation.'

A 23-year-old recruit from the Computer Science department, IARE, on the condition of anonymity, narrated the series of events to The New Indian Express. "Me and some of my batchmates received the Letter of Intent (LOI) promising a Rs 4.50 lakh annual package in 2022. Initially, we were informed that they would be onboarded in August or October 2023, but the company kept postponing it while giving us assurances of onboarding surely. But for some of us, they did not even provide domain training before joining. We received the last update from them in February 2024," said the recruit.

In their last communication with him on February 19 this year, shared with The New Indian Express, the DXC hiring team asked the recruits to stay patient and continue working on their skills. However, no particular detail about joining was provided.

Recalling how happy his family was, including his father, who is an autorickshaw driver, he said, "My family is currently going through financial issues. I was supposed to be earning by now and contributing to the home monetarily. Instead, I don't have any employment, so my family is under pressure, so they are constantly asking me to find another job."

Another student of the same college, the aforementioned's batchmate, received online domain training in early 2023.

"Their (DXC) representatives told us that the next training would be in office after joining, but since then, there has been no communication. In the meantime, my other batchmate started his job at Accenture too. It will be almost two years since I am unemployed, so the family pressure is likely to grow."

Both of them pointed out that while applying for other jobs, they are being asked for a year's work experience, which they don't have.

An official of the IRE's placement cell told The New Indian Express, "We are in continuous follow up with them but they are maintaianing the same response that on boarding will begin as per the business."

Meanwhile, on June 28, the Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), one of the bodies representing IT professionals nationwide, wrote to the Union Minister of Labour and Employment, Mansukh Mandaviya, urging him to intervene in the delays by DXC Technology.

Expert take

Rahul Das of the All India IT and ITeS Employees' Union (AIITEU), another body representing IT professionals, claimed that delay in onboarding is becoming common in India, a plight for freshers.

"When MNCs have projects with them in the pipeline, they start recruiting and shortlisting. Then they would issue an offer letter but not an appointment letter. Delays grow from three to six to twelve months, and freshmen who finish college are left waiting. In this time, they waste a year as well," Das told The New Indian Express, adding that in the recent past, renowned companies such as Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant, and HCL, among others, have delayed onboarding.

He was of the view that the reason for the 'difficult market situation' is an excuse for every situation.

"From appraisals to layoffs to anything else, the only reason they (companies) give is a difficult market situation. This is done to increase their profit margin while cutting costs. Would any company show a loss in their annual report? No, so this is done to compensate for that," Das claimed.

He stressed that the companies should pay at least the basic salaries for the delay period as remunerations and added, "Even for the training they conduct, they should pay because they are counted in the labour hours."

Meanwhile, attempts made to reach out to DXC Technology through the phone on their website did not elicit any response.

An email has been sent too, and a response is awaited.