Satyam staff get offers but with 50% pay cut

Employees of Satyam Computer Services are in a quandary over looking for jobs outside the company. Some admit that consultants are offering them jobs, but at salaries that are almost half their current cost-to-company (C-to-C) packages. Many others are running into a dead-end given the poor job market.“We are in a tricky situation. If we join another company, we will get a lower salary. If we stick around, we are not sure how long we will be secure,” summed up an associate (that’s what Satyam calls its employees) from Hyderabad on condition of anonymity.“Consultants are extracting details from Satyam-ites on their plans to relocate, their expectations on salaries and other perks, but they are not revealing who these clients are,” said another associate who works at the company’s Bahadurpally campus on the outskirts of Hyderabad. A Bangalore-based company, he added, was throwing out the bait of mass recruitments for 200 positions. “We are, however, adopting a wait-and-watch stance and are deferring the calls,” he claimed.Rajasekhar (name changed) at the Bahadurpally campus said those who have attended interviews at other companies hesitate to take the process forward because there is no major jump in salaries and the job profile offered is not the same. “A job change will mean a lot of updating to fit the new job descripttions,” he said.Another employee, who initially thought of accepting an offer from Bank of America, is now thinking of sticking to Satyam. “There is increased confidence from clients. That is a good sign,” he said, adding that clients like Cisco and General Electric (GE) have communicated their willingness to continue with Satyam.An associate said her colleagues from Delhi and Gurgaon had tapped several sources for new opportunities but had not been successful so far. Her immediate superior, however, held a staff meeting January 23, about two weeks after founder Ramalinga Raju’s January-7 confessions of financial fraud, and assured them that there would be no lay-offs, bringing relief to the 600-odd employees engaged in the vertical.He also reportedly told them that 90 per cent of the amount required to pay January salaries was already in place and it was not a problem to mobilise the remaining 10 per cent. Satyam needs Rs 450-500 crore a month for salaries.