Work affected in most IT companies

Work affected in most IT companies

The Hindu

# Staff to compensate by working on Saturday
# ITES companies manage to keep it going

BANGALORE: The bandh called by Kannada organisations affected the functioning of the information technology (IT) companies in Bangalore though most information technology-enabled services (ITES) managed to keep their operations going by rescheduling the timings or shifting the operations to centres located in other cities.

Most IT companies in Bangalore had declared a holiday and the employees asked to compensate for the loss by working on subsequent Saturdays.

The bandh call given in advance also helped the business process outsourcing (BPO) companies plan their logistics, and most had made arrangements to have enough staff to manage the operations well before dawn.

Though incidents of several cabs being stopped en route in the early hours were reported, the operations in most BPO companies continued.

In an unsavoury incident, the office of a leading BPO firm on Miller's Road in Vasanthanagar was mobbed by the activists of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike who forced it to close as early as 7 a.m.

Instances of Kannada activists stopping the cabs and deflating the tyres were reported from several parts of the city, and many employees had to return home.

Sources in the industry said they did not insist on employees coming to work after they were stopped en route.

Nandita Gurjar, vice-president and head (HR) of Progeon, the BPO arm of Infosys Technologies, told The Hindu that the company managed with skeletal staff.

She said: "We had made arrangements to pick up staff early and those who had worked overnight stayed back on the campus."

BPOs were better prepared to manage the operations as the bandh call was given well in advance, and that they had even apprised their clients in the U.S. and the U.K. of it.

However, Ms. Gurjar said, their business had been affected last Wednesday when employees left office fearing violence following the tribunal's verdict.

To ensure functioning of critical operations, several companies that provide back-up support to offices in other countries managed to ensure 24/7 support for their operations.