Major players in India’s IT sector, including Cognizant, Infosys, and Wipro, are embroiled in a ‘poaching war’, marked by lawsuits and accusations of unethical practices.
In Short
- Tensions rise in India’s IT sector as Cognizant, Infosys, and Wipro engage in a ‘poaching war’.
- The conflict is marked by lawsuits and accusations of unethical practices, with recent legal actions involving Wipro and Infosys.
- The situation underscores the complex web of legal and professional entanglements within the Indian IT landscape.
Tensions within the prominent IT sector in India are reaching a boiling point, as major players engage in what is increasingly being referred to as a “poaching war.” At the epicenter of this conflict is Cognizant, a US-based multinational company specializing in information technology and consulting services. The discord, marked by legal battles and accusations of unethical practices, particularly intensified last week with legal actions involving Wipro and Infosys, two of India’s largest IT firms.
To provide context, the backdrop of this ongoing dispute can be traced back to the mass exodus of senior executives from Wipro and Infosys since 2022. Notable departures include CFO Nilanjan Roy and EVP Rajeev Ranjan from Infosys, and CFO Jatin Dalal and Growth Officer Stephanie Trautman from Wipro, among others. A significant number of these former executives found their way to Cognizant, exacerbating the tensions that have been brewing for several months.
The recent escalation in hostilities was triggered when Wipro filed a lawsuit against two of its former high-ranking employees, ex-CEO Jatin Dalal and Senior Vice President Mohd Haque, after they joined Cognizant. The legal action alleges that Haque breached the non-compete clause in his employment contract by joining Cognizant as Senior Vice President and Business Unit Head for life sciences before the expected expiration of his non-compete agreement on August 1, 2023.
Wipro’s complaint contends that Haque, during his departure, surreptitiously transferred confidential files through his personal Gmail account. The company claims that additional files were uploaded and sent from Wipro to Haque’s personal email account, despite his denial of intentions to join Cognizant. Haque, who had been associated with Wipro for a decade, held various leadership roles, overseeing a team of 21,000 employees and managing responsibilities related to P&L, sales, strategy, delivery, consulting, and account management.
Simultaneously, Infosys entered the fray by sending an official notice to Cognizant, accusing the latter of engaging in unethical poaching practices. Infosys claims that Cognizant recruited over 20 individuals for top management positions using questionable techniques. The notice from Infosys serves as a warning, emphasizing concerns about the poaching of valuable employees. This move by Infosys followed closely on the heels of Cognizant hiring more than 20 senior professionals, including four top executives reportedly from Infosys.
Cognizant’s current CEO, Ravi Kumar, himself a former executive at Infosys, has brought on board several individuals with past affiliations to Infosys and Wipro. As a result, both Infosys and Wipro are now pursuing legal avenues against Cognizant, underscoring the gravity of the situation and the complex web of legal and professional entanglements within the Indian IT landscape.