Infosys cuts five percent of Australia staff

Top IT firm Infosys Technologies is restructuring its Australian operations. This has created some redundancies, downsizing its workforce at Infosys Australia by around 5 per cent, a source briefed in the matter said.

The subsidiary employs 360 people, a majority of them from Expert Information Services -- the first acquisition Infosys Australia made six years ago.

Infosys board member and director for human resources Mohandas Pai confirmed that there were some separations from Infosys Australia. Responding to a mail, he said, “We have had an organisational restructuring in our Australia subsidiary and as a result, some positions have become redundant. It is the first time after the acquisition that this is being done.”

The tech leader has, however, promised that the laid-off employees would get assistance for outplacement as well as severance pay. A few months ago, Gary Ebeyan, who used to head Infosys Australia, quit the firm citing personal reasons. He was replaced by Jacqueline Korhonen, a former IBM executive. Revenues and profits of Infosys Australia have been slipping in the past three quarters of the fiscal in part due to the impact of the currency movements.

From a first quarter revenue of $34 million and a net income of $3 million, its second quarter revenue slipped to $30.84 million and net income to $2.8 million. In the third quarter, revenue fell further to $26 million and net income to $1.62 million.

“The Australian dollar is weakening significantly,” explained an analyst, who said Infosys could be laying off staff in other regions such as the UK as well. In Australia, Infosys’ largest customer is Telestra, he added.

Agencies