With rising attrition at top level and business environment getting tough, two of the top domestic IT firms have accused rival Cognizant of unethical poaching tactics.
Following Wipro moving court against its former CFO, Jatin Dalal, joining Cognizant and thus violating the non-compete clause, Infosys has also written to the same firm warning against such unethical moves.
After assuming office in January, Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar, a former Infosys veteran, has hired over twenty executive vice presidents and four senior vice presidents, many of whom are from Wipro and Infosys.
Apart from legally proceeding against Dalal, Wipro has also filed a suit in the US against Mohd Haque, who also joined Cognizant recently.
While Infosys has seen exit of around eight executives in the last twelve months, Wipro lost some 10 of them this calendar year, all of whom went on to join rival IT firms.
“Non-compete clauses are normally not enforceable in courts and thus Infosys sending a missive or Wipro filing a case looks more like deterrence for rival companies,” an industry expert told Fe.
Analysts and HR experts feel that Wipro’s case against Dalal may be more relating to his not adhering to a cool-off period before joining a competitor. Dalal resigned in September and was immediately appointed by Cognizant as its CFO effective this month.
Experts said that normally senior executives have a cooling off period of about 6-12 months before joining any competitor.
Pareekh Jain, founder, Pareekh Consulting, said, “Wipro and Infosys are setting the right precedent in an industry where attrition can reach unmanageable levels when growth comes back. If senior executives do not adhere to and respect their contracts in letter and spirit, what sort of message will go to juniors and freshers,”.