Ramesh D (43) had clocked three satisfying years at Satyam. “Satyam was a great

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place to be. It did not run like a family enterprise, but like a professionally managed company. And the brand had huge equity across Andhra Pradesh – something like what Infosys enjoys in Karnataka,” he says.

So like everyone else, when Ramesh heard of the Maytas acquisition, he was surprised, but dismissed it. It was only when the scam of Rs 8,000 crore unfolded (latest figures estimate the scam at Rs 14,000 crore), that Ramesh was left spellbound. “It was January 7, it was my wife’s birthday. Over the past one year, I have moved from shock to anger and later to reconciliation and now, hope,” he recalls.

He saw hundreds of employees being asked to leave and others left, as and when they got their hands on other offers. Ramesh too has been waiting for the right opportunity.

While Ramalinga Raju, PwC and the investors of Satyam got maximum attention last year, it was the employees of Satyam who were left in the lurch. Last December, the economic slowdown hit India Inc in full force and pink slips were flying faster than recession. Within minutes of the scam hitting headline, resumes of Satyam employees were flooding the market, but they had nowhere to go.

Vinay A (24), for instance, who had joined Satyam’s Bangalore office straight after engineering, managed an opening in a Kenyan firm. “Office was not running as usual. Our bosses would tell us to calm down and focus, but there was no way it could happen. And when it was all over the media, it became humiliating to even enter the office,” he recalls. “I was lucky to have got a break. There were so many who had nowhere to go and were worried because they had families and personal commitments.”

HR experts believe that it was the recession that saved the day for Satyam. “Had the news broken when the economy was on a boom, the company would’ve gone bust overnight, since everyone would’ve found jobs elsewhere,” says BS Murthy, CEO of Leadership Capital, an executive search firm. “Ever since signs of recovery became visible, the firm has seen 18 to 20 per cent attrition,” he adds.

Ramesh couldn’t agree more: “People in technical roles have already begun leaving. But it’s only in the new fiscal that people from areas like HR, finance, administration and facilities will start moving out.”

(Names of employees have been changed on request.)