The latest whistleblower complaint accusing him of pressuring finance team members to inflate profitability has come right out of the blue. There's another allegation that he made racist remarks against some board colleagues. For a man with a singular focus on the business and clients, all of this must have blindsided him.
Among IT services firm, Cognizant witnessed over 60 per cent of its initial applications rejected, followed by Capgemini, Accenture, Wipro, and Infosys. In 2018, the top six Indian firms got just 16 per cent or 2,145 H1B work permits.
Experts said this would not only reduce Infosys' dependence on the H1B visa, which has seen increased restrictions under the current US administration. It will also help the company in building an employee pyramid for its future operations.
To begin with, there would be the immediate integration of various technology stacks. This would create more business for global consulting and IT services entities such as KPMG, PwC, EY, Accenture and IBM, among others. Indian service providers - Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Wipro, for instance - would also cash in.
Industry experts are of the opinion that the spurt in recruitment happened as IT services firms went aggressive on hiring in anticipation of a strong demand environment.
The assignment was earlier given to global audit firm EY. But it has now been reassigned owing to 'certain conflict of interest', the Bengaluru-based company said.
A complex holding structure and unrelated businesses clubbed under one roof could have been the reasons that prompted investors to shun the stock, experts say. These are likely to impact the company's ability to raise funds, too, they add.
Among other things, the company is considering monetising the Global Village tech park located off Mysore Road in Bengaluru, for which private equity major Blackstone was said to have shown interest.
In his second year at the helm, Infosys CEO & MD Salil Parekh looks optimistic about the company's growth prospects. With stability back in the industry, Parekh, in an interview with Bibhu Ranjan Mishra and Debasis Mohapatra, says turbulence is over and Infosys is on its way to regaining its old glory.
While the leadership change in Mindtree is yet to happen, there's a buzz that the co-founders of the IT firm may float another company.
'There's a lot of continuity in terms of basic values and there's also a lot of new thinking based on the generational shift... it's a combination of continuity and change,' says Wipro Chief Executive Officer Abidali Neemuchwala.
Digital, cloud, engineering services, and cybersecurity will drive Wipro's growth. 'Based on approval from the board, we have decided to step up our investments significantly in these four big bets,' Premji said in his last address as executive chairman.
Though global IT services spending is likely to cross the $1-trillion mark to reach $1.031 trillion, growth rate will slow to 3.8% in 2019, compared to 6.7% last year according to reports
From Accenture to IBM, IT hiring is set to gain pace where most of these openings are for lateral hiring for people with 4-6 years of experience.
In 2015, Infosys, under the leadership of then CEO Vishal Sikka, had bought Israeli automation technology firm Panaya for around $ 200 million and e-commerce service provider Skava for $1 20 million. The buyouts were mired in controversy owing to allegation of over-payment apart from not being an ideal fit.
With this rejig, Mindtree's board will now have 12 board members from eight.
The proposed annual quota for Indian companies could be between 10 and 15 per cent. Currently, there are no country-specific limits on H-1B allotment.
Currently, Deloitte, EY and KPMG with their associates work as statutory auditors of most of the top league domestic IT services firms. Owing to many alleged auditing lapses, the regulators have either imposed restrictions on the audit firms or are seeking to do so.
'His working style differs from his father as he is a quick decision-maker.'