200 jobs go as Satyam finds its feet

June 02, 2009
SATYAM Computer Services has dropped its local headcount by 200 people as a result of the economic crisis.

Satyam yesterday announced the appointments of a new country head and a ``principal adviser'' for its Australian business as outsourcer tries to find its feet after being rocked by fraud allegations at its India headquarters.

Venki Prathivadi will replace Deepak Nangia and take the reins as country manager for Satyam Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), reporting to Asia-Pacific head TR Anand.

Mr Nangia left the business about a month ago to pursue other opportunities.

Last year, Mr Nangia said the outsourcer employed about 1000 staff locally and had another 700 staff in India servicing Australian customers.

This number has dropped, Mr Prathivadi said, with about 800 staff in Australia and about 500 in India servicing local customers.

``They've come down a little bit they're more in the 1200-1300 range,'' according to Mr Prathivadi who has been with Satyam Australia since 2003.

``There's generally been a global downturn and in response to that our numbers have come down a little bit.''

He could not say whether staff numbers would drop further or grow in the future.

``We will have to see how the economy holds up and we will respond accordingly. If the economy improves and there is a business uptake that could very well go up.''

He said there would not be a significant shake-up of the local operations.

``My priorities are to strengthen the relationships with customers in ANZ, build new business and take care of our associates,'' he said.

Satyam has also appointed a principal adviser to the ANZ region, which will be staffed by the company's former-CIO Vijay Prasad.

The local management restructure follows the revelation in January the Indian parent company's founder and chairman, B. Ramalinga Raju over-inflated the value of its cash and bank balances by more than $US1 billion ($1.28 billion).

Since the fraud scandal a number of customers including Telstra and National Australia Bank have either terminated contracts or reduced their involvement with Satyam.