Wipro sacks 600 techies on 'performance grounds'

Global software major Wipro "sacked" at least 600-700 employees in fiscal 2016-17 for non-performance or not rising to its expectations, said a company source.

According to sources, the speculation was rife that the number could go as high as 2,000.

At the end of December 2016, the Bengaluru-based company had over 1.79 lakh employees.

"Attrition takes place every quarter when employees leave voluntarily for various reasons or involuntarily when asked to go for non-performance or not measuring up to the expectations during appraisal," a Wipro source told to media.

When contacted, Wipro said it undertakes a "rigorous performance appraisal process" on a regular basis to align its workforce with business objectives, strategic priorities of the company, and client requirements.

"The performance appraisal may also lead to the separation of some employees from the company and these numbers vary from year to year," it added.

Asked how many employees left involuntarily in the quarter (Q4) or during the fiscal under review, a Wipro spokesperson said the company made a performance appraisal regularly to align its workforce with its business objectives, strategic priorities and requirements of its global clients.

Wipro said its comprehensive performance evaluation process includes mentoring, re-training and upskilling of employees. The company is scheduled to report its fourth quarter and full-year numbers on April 25.

The development comes at a time when Indian IT companies are facing an uncertain environment given the curbs being proposed on worker visa norms by various countries like the US, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.