Hundreds of IT professionals in Bengaluru gathered at the Freedom Park on Saturday protesting against the mass layoffs and sought intervention from the state government. Some techies who lost their jobs in recent months were also present in the demonstration.

Bangalore Mirror reported that the event turned out to be a low key affair with only a few hundred turning up for the protests while the organisers—Information Technology Employees Union—were expecting close to 2000 participants.

"Several companies have resorted to illegal layoffs. The government must initiate action against such companies and ensure compensation is paid to employees as per the Labour Act. Our reports say that about 40,000 to 50,000 employees have been sent home till date in the last one year," C Kumaraswamy, president of the ITEU told BM.

Another protester was quoted by The New Indian Express as saying, "I may get a call from the HR anytime now asking me to resign."

The protesters also submitted a memorandum to IT Minister Priyank Kharge and Labour Minister Santosh Lad.

"Thousands of professionals working in the IT sector have lost their jobs and around 6,000 more will be terminated soon. Stop forced resignations, illegal and unilateral termination, strictly enforce labour laws in IT and ITES, stop unfair labour practices, and appoint grievance redressal committees,” the memorandum read.

Earlier in June, the IT Minister had said it would consider providing legal aid to the workers.

The IT industry has been plagued with reports of numerous layoffs by major companies such as the Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant and Tech Mahindra among others in recent months across India.

TNM had earlier reported that the Chennai chapter of FITE was the first to file a petition with the state Labour Commission, following which affected employees in Pune and Hyderabad have also approached their respective governments.