Satyam staff display hope, sympathy in signs at HQ

By Sumeet Chatterjee

HYDERABAD, India (Reuters) - Many staff at India's Satyam Computer Services tried to put up a brave front on Friday, hoping things would return to normal soon and their jobs secured even as the outsourcer fights for its survival.

Huge banners with messages from some of Satyam's 53,000 staff and their hand imprints have been put up at the fraud-hit firm's sprawling complex in the southern city of Hyderabad.

Stand-in CEO Ram Mynampati has admitted the company, which is also listed in New York, faces a crisis of unimaginable proportion following chairman and founder Ramalinga Raju's admission of years of accounting fraud.

"There is still enough truth for us to be united," one employee wrote on a banner that has "spirit of Satyam" written in bold at the top.

"Good times will be back again," read another message. "United we stand, divided we fall," said another one.

There was even some sympathy for disgraced chairman Raju, who quit on Wednesday after detailing fictitious assets and saying profits had been inflated over the last several years, revelations which have sent the share price to 11-year lows.

"Raju, we feel sorry for you," wrote one employee.

A Satyam spokeswoman said the initiative was planned by employees to show solidarity with senior management.