The communication giant Verizon has allegedly threatened and forced employees to resign and leave the company without giving prior notice or warning, according to workers who have been laid off recently from the company.
On December 12, an employee alleged as he walked into his cubicle at the Verizon Data Services campus in Hyderabad, a member of the Human Resource (HR) team came to his cubicle and asked him to clear his desk, resign and leave the company immediately, The News Minute reported.
"A member of the HR team summoned me to his office and told me to clear my desk and take everything along," said the employee. "The reason for the summons became clear immediately and I left with the intention to clarify matters," he added.
However, when he headed for the meeting, he found that there was no room for any discussions or negotiations. He also alleged that not just the HR personnel but even security guards were present to intimidate him.
"They simply said that they were going to fire me. So, I had to either sign documents saying that I resign or they will forcefully terminate me," he alleged.
The employee also said that he was not even given the time to read the entire document before signing it. Responding to this, he refused to sign and asked for some time to think over the matter. Saying this he decided to leave the meeting room.
When he tried leaving the room, the security guards came in, he added.
After the security guards entered the room, he was allegedly made to sit down forcefully and sign the documents, despite protesting against the violation of his rights.
"The bouncers pushed me back into my chair and held me by my shoulders till I signed the document. It was an awful experience and I can't begin to tell how demeaning it was," he said.
"It was not like I was on the bench, I was performing and they treated me in this terrible manner," he added.
The employee was working with the company from the past six years.
Like this employee, there were other thousands of employees who were laid off by Verizon Data Services across India, earlier this week. However, the hardest blow came to the employees who were placed in Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru offices.
According to the IT Union (Information Technology), Forum for IT Professionals (ForIT), the laying off process initially started in the Bengaluru Verizon office on November 15, after which more than 500 workers were asked to leave from the Chennai office and over 200 from the Hyderabad campus.
"It is such a nasty situation and it is not just about people being retrenched, it is also about how it is being done," Kiran Chandra, founder member of ForIT in Hyderabad, told the website.
"They are antagonising people with bouncers and counsellors. We are planning to even complain to the medical council regarding this issue," added Chandra.
Earlier this week, Verizon Data Services India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American company Verizon Communications, has reportedly laid off over 1,000 employees as the company started rationalising its staff at its India units in Chennai and Hyderabad.
Soon after which, the IT union had also urged labour commissioner to intervene in the matter. Verizon also confirmed the layoffs.
"As Verizon consolidates its strategy so we can scale, compete and continue to be successful, Verizon's IT, including Verizon Data Services India, is transforming into an engineering-centric, technology organisation. The transformation entails rationalisation of roles which has an impact on headcount," the company said in a statement.
ForIT claims that they are receiving many calls from Verizon employees from across India for help.
