Wipro offers freshers lower pay amid delays in onboarding

IT major Wipro has written to candidates it previously made an offer of Rs 6.5 lakh per annum (LPA), asking if they would be willing to take up an offer at Rs 3.5 LPA. This comes amid an uncertain demand environment, margin pressures, and recessionary concerns, which has caused Wipro to delay onboarding for the 2022 batch of graduates for several months.

To fresh graduates, the company offers two hiring programmes: Elite and Turbo. Elite candidates are offered Rs 3.5 LPA, while Turbo candidates are offered Rs 6.5 LPA. If Elite candidates are to qualify for Turbo, they must go through upskilling through the company’s Velocity programme, where they receive training.

Candidates with a package of Rs 6.5 LPA who were waiting to be onboarded (a process they say has been deferred since August) received an email from Wipro on February 16, giving them the option to choose the lower-paying role and to do so by February 20.

An email sent to candidates accessed by Moneycontrol, thanks students for completing the Velocity programme, and says the company continues to assess the situation.

“Like others in our industry, we continue to assess global economies and customer needs, which factor into our hiring plans. We appreciate your commitment and patience as we try to identify joining opportunities for you. Currently, we have certain Project Engineer roles available for recruitment with an annual compensation of INR 3.5 lakhs. We would like to offer all our Velocity graduates in the FY23 batch an opportunity to opt for these roles,” the email read.

If a student accepts this offer, they will be onboarded from March onwards, and all previous offers will be void.

“If you choose to accept this offer, all previous offers will stand void. We encourage you to grab this opportunity as it is time-bound,” the email stated.

If a candidate chooses not to accept the lower offer, they may continue to hold on to their original offer. “However, we cannot commit to a date of joining as our hiring plans are being determined based on prevailing economic environment and evolving customer needs,” the email from the company said.

A candidate who received such an email told Moneycontrol that it was unfair because he and many others had waited for the offer at Rs 6.5 LPA.

“The company has constantly said it will honour all offers. Now there is already a gap, so the student has no option but to take this out. If they had to do this, why couldn’t they do it last year? There were at least jobs in the market at that time. Now, it’s very tough. If you had to pay us Rs 3.5 lakh, why would people wait. Any company would have paid us Rs 3.5 lakh, but we waited because we had offer of Rs 6.5 lakh from Wipro,” he said.

“Wipro has trapped us. If I join, what value do you think I can add to the company? I’ll only look out for myself if this is what they do to us,” he added.

The candidate says he had several options, but chose to wait for Wipro as he received an upgraded offer letter in July which promised higher pay.

Candidates are in a fix as they are concerned about getting a job in the prevailing job market when they have not started working since the time they graduated, and also that a new class of 2023 graduates will also have to be onboarded and will vie for the same jobs.

“In light of the changing macro environment and, as a result, our business needs, we had to adjust our onboarding plans,” Wipro said in response to queries sent by Moneycontrol.

“As we work to honor all outstanding offers made, this current offer creates an immediate opportunity for candidates to start their careers, build their expertise and acquire new skills—both through the interesting and innovative work that we do, as well as our extensive learning and development programs,” the company added.

Wipro’s Chief Human Resources Officer Saurabh Govil told Moneycontrol after the company’s Q3 results that the company has delayed onboarding, and that the company will honour commitments it has made. “Very clearly, when we went to the campuses and made offers in the middle of last year, that time the industry was much more bullish, the demand environment was much more bullish. It is not as bullish right now, but given it’s a large company, will continue to onboard every quarter and take it forward,” he had said.

This comes after the company laid off 452 freshers it had made offers to but hadn’t yet onboarded because they “performed poorly in assessment repeatedly even after training.”

The Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate had written to the labour department over these layoffs, terming them to be unethical.

Meanwhile, Wipro is rolling out 87 percent of the variable pay for the third quarter of FY23 for employees whose variable is linked to company performance. Moneycontrol