‘‘ Setting up offices in nations such as China and Malaysia required the company to ensure 80 per cent of the employees were local. There was probably some fudge happening there,” said a former HR manager of Satyam. He added: ‘‘ Few years ago Satyam was planning to set up offices in various other nations such as Mexico, Sweden, Brazil and was hiring students from those countries. All these added to the headcount confusion.’’ He said HR data collection and updation weren’t exactly a Satyam strength.
Besides, another source familiar with the company’s HR said that while the company has development centres in various locations such as Malaysia, South Africa and Egypt, the headcounts there are not very clear, particularly in the case of interns.
‘‘ The salaries for training of interns in centres such as Malaysia are paid by the local government there and not Satyam but they reflect in the company’s payrolls ,’’ says the source. Explaining this Malaysian government-Satyam arrangement, the source said, ‘‘ It was an HR initiative to develop skilled manpower in association with the local governments.’’
