Pentamedia lays off 107 employees

CHENNAI: Indian animation software company Pentamedia Graphics Ltd. said on

Tuesday it has asked 107 creative professionals to leave for

"underperformance" but that some were protesting against the decision.

"Of the 107 people who were asked to leave because of underperformance

last Friday, about 51 tendered their resignations immediately but another group

of over 45 people are protesting the move," a company spokeswoman told

Reuters.

She said those protesting were demanding a minimum of three to four months as

notice or salary for an equal period as compensation. "Most of these people

are not willing to agree that they have underperformed, which we have proved

using tools like 'Prowatch' which monitor their daily output," she said.

"Also their contracts clearly state that while under probation they are

entitled to only one month's notice and that is all that we are looking at

paying."

Pentamedia said the sacked staff had been working with the company for

periods ranging between seven to eighteen months and were drawn from various

creative divisions such as 2D, 3D and Games. The company had a total of 1,500

creative professionals. But a representative for the sacked employees, who

declined to be named, said over 80 professionals were protesting the

"sudden" sacking. He said they were also demanding compensation for

training fees paid to the company, at the time of joining.

"Most of us paid between Rs 45,000 and 90,000 ($940-$1,880) for the

training, depending on the area of work, when we joined. So now we want

compensation of at least 100,000 rupees as we have not been paid a month's

salary as well."

The Pentamedia spokeswoman acknowledged there had been a cash-flow problem in

recent months, especially with debtor payments, but added that all employees had

been paid their salaries.

"We are experiencing some problems with debtor payments and since we

have future projects tied up with them, sometimes it is quite suffocating. But

we have 1.27 billion rupees of cash as fixed deposits right now, so it cannot be

called a cash crunch.

The company had 2.48 billion rupees in cash as on March 31. She said that the

company was still in talks with the protestors and hoped to reach a settlement

in a couple of days. Pentamedia shares were down almost 12 per cent at Rs 26.10

on Tuesday afternoon, while the broader Bombay index was down 0.55 per cent.

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.