The Philox

Prominent Indian IT business Infosys, co-founded by Narayana Murthy, has come under fire for its policies on staff. Workers claim pay below industry norms, and rookie hires at comparable companies receive far less than colleagues. The workplace culture often calls for longer work hours—including weekends—a habit Murthy supports since she favors a 70-hour workweek. Recent mass layoffs where hundreds of workers were let go following failing internal assessments have been seen as more cost-cutting than actual performance reviews. Critics of these rigorous evaluations have pointed out unfair dismissals resulting from them. Murthy’s cost-cutting approach has helped to create an environment which workers handle many people’s tasks for pay less than that of a single job. Under typically under secrecy agreements that keep them from speaking out, economic forces force workers to tolerate these conditions. Allegations claim Infosys functions like a cartel, referencing past methods of exploitation. These elements have lowered employee morale and mental health, which begs questions regarding the wider consequences for the IT industry in India.