STG: Pays some salaries due since 2008
By Rahul Kumar

Some heat has dissipated from the trouble brewing at the Gurgaon office of Software Technology Group (STG) where employees had either not been paid, or were being paid half of their salaries for the past 12 months or so.  The angry employees are on the war path with many workers (including programmers) leaving while others have clung on hoping things will improve.

As reported exclusively by Techgoss, the unpaid/underpaid employees of Software Technology Group (STG) at its head quarter in Gurgaon, who had been exploring alternate methods to get their dues cleared, have decided to wait till the Indian festival of Dipawali. Having sensed the mood of the irate employees, the STG management recently cleared the salary backlog of some of the employees till September 2008 and up to November 2008 in some cases as a damage-control exercise. The management tried to instill a feeling that the company was in a revival mode and was expected to get a new project that would turn the financial position of the ailing enterprise most probably by this Dipawali only.   

The ‘stranded’ employees said that they had no other option but to take and swallow the ‘sweet pill’ of the new project the company had been promising for some time. The management tried to shore up confidence that the company was in a revival mode by releasing the over-due amount up to September and November 2008. The employees were also told that some of the senior executives had been touring to finalise the deal on the new project.  Earlier also,  the ‘sweet pill’ tactics included direct interface with the STG chairman Yogesh Vaidya who made it a point to shake hands with every individual.

Two affected employees told techgoss that their enjoyment of the festive season of Dipawali would largely depend on the financial health of the company. The management has, though, indicated that it would bag the new project well before Dipawali and majority of the salary back log would be cleared for all the employees including seniors. The total number of STG employees working at the Gurgaon office comes to little below 50.

(Techgoss had published the following article on Aug 24, 2009)

STG: Handshake and new promise on overdue salary
By Rahul Kumar

Trouble is brewing in the Gurgaon office of Software Technology Group (STG) where employees have either not been paid, or were being paid half of their salaries for the past 10 months or so.  The angry employees are on the war path. A substantial number of employees (including programmers) have left while others have clung on hoping things will improve.

Fed up with glib and false promises made by the company management including from the company chairman himself, the long-unpaid and suffering employees of Software Technology Group (STG) at its head quarter in Gurgaon have started to explore alternate methods, though discreetly, to get their dues. A few have started to take up the matter with the politicians including Member of Parliaments (MPs) while others are in touch with the labour union leaders. A very select few have also thought of moving the court on the issue.  

On August 21, the STG chairman Yogesh Vaidya had a direct interface with the employees and once again assured them that the company would clear their dues at the earliest. This time he requested the employees to hang on for one more week as the company was set to receive a handsome amount from some source. With all options under their belt, the irked employees have decided to wait for another seven days as this time as the promises were made by the company chairman who also made it a point to firmly shake the hand of each individual employee. This personal and warm handshake has given the employees some hope. 

A number of employees including programmers have already moved out from the company while others have preferred to continue with half of the salaries for quite a long time. Now some of them are not being paid even half the salary for the past couple of months.  The number of employees at the STG head quarter in Gurgaon has been reduced to less than 50 as against the earlier number of more than 100. Many of the 50 employees left are on the look out for jobs but since majority of the companies have applied a check on new recruitments, they are forced to continue with STG in the present situation.  The employees told techgoss that the company management knew that the remaining employees were not getting jobs elsewhere and was therefore taking undue advantage of their compulsion.   “We will wait for this weekend to see how true was the promise made by the chairman who tried to pacify the employees by shaking hands with them. Otherwise, many of us have thought of alternate options like using clout of the politicians, MPs, labour union leaders and others to get our dues from the company,” said an employee on the condition of anonymity.

(Techgoss had published the following story on July 29, 2009)

Software Technology Group cannot pay salaries
By Rahul Kumar

Trouble is brewing in the Gurgaon office of Software Technology Group (STG) where employees have either not been paid, or were being paid half of their salaries for the past 10 months or so.  The angry employees are on the war path. A substantial number of employees (including programmers) have left while others have clung on hoping things will improve.

The Software Technology Group was launched in 1992 and at its peak had alliances with IBM and Oracle.  At one point in time, it was among the top 10 training institutes in India. It has also developed numerous computer systems for high profile clients.

How things have changed at Software Technology Group! Now some employees are not being paid even half the salary for the past couple of months.  The situation inside the company has become so precarious during the last one year that few of the unpaid employees were forced to sell their household articles to carry on with their mundane bread and butter needs, while others have withdrawn their children from premium schools to normal ones. These unfortunate employees are the ones who could not find another job or those who do not want to leave Software Technology Group fearing that the company would not pay off their dues later.   

Sensing the mood of the irked employees, the STG chairman Yogesh Vaidya planned a direct interface with them and promised to meet them on July 28 afternoon but could not do so citing his poor health as a reason. Yogesh assured the employees that this meeting will now be held on July 30. The agitated employees who did want to be identified said that many an employee would come to the office on daily basis but they did not have much work to do. The software engineers are not updating even the www.stgglobal.com website which has stopped functioning now.

Some of the employees with clout in political and government circles have already started moving to get their dues cleared from the company. The anger is simmering and not all is well inside the company. It is time for the company to act and the STG chairman seems to have realized it.

In a recent development, the trainees at AEGIS BPO in Gurgaon had stoned its office and injured security guards on the issue of training fee and tenure. The company had to finally pay off the dues to the trainee under duress.