700 IBM new recruits asked to leave

As many as 700 freshers at IBM were asked to leave after they failed to measure up to company standards.

Unconfirmed reports said that the freshers were handed out pink slips after aptitude tests proved that they were not up to the IBM mark. The company, incidentally, had set up a specific website to recruit fresh engineers from across the county. The dismissals are seen as a big setback for IBM's aggressive recruitment of Indian technology talent.

IBM employs more than 47,000 people, most of them picked after the company had announced plans to make India a major hub of its international operations.

The decision has cost most of the entry-level trainee programmers, or ELTPs, their jobs.

Today, India is the destination for thousands of jobs in offshoring positions from the United States and Europe. Reasons include lower salaries and cheaper costs of doing business. Offshoring is an especially touchy subject around the Triangle where IBM employs more than 11,000 people - so far its largest employee campus.