When Anand Mahindra visited Hyderabad last month to commemorate a year of acquiring scam-hit Satyam, what remained unsaid during the high-voltage celebrations was that the company continues to steadily lose senior hands, many of whom had stuck by it even after B Ramalinga Raju's devastating confessions in January 2009.

With overall industry hiring having picked up, attrition levels at Mahindra Satyam are mounting especially at the mid- and senior-levels in the company, say sources. "The important thing is that along with the technical staff even those who were pillars and work horses of the company are leaving,'' said a highly placed Satyam source.

It is not just a better job market out there that is driving attrition rates. Internal factors too are forcing many senior and old-time Satyamites to jump the ship now. Like Sai Krishna, who was heading a key vertical BFSI (banking finance services and insurance) and pre-sales head Pawan Kumar, among others.

"Attrition levels are well over 20% at Mahindra Satyam, which is higher than the industry average of around 15%. This despite the fact that today Mahindra Satyam is much more stable than it was last year," said a senior Satyam associate. Another senior hand adds that mid-management associates at GM and related levels are leaving because they don't see any growth prospects within. "Had the business at Mahindra Satyam been growing they would have stayed to leverage those opportunities. As that is not happening, good talent is becoming flighty," says the associate, who is also scouting for greener pastures.

Another nagging problem is that though the business in general is picking up post-recession, there is not much buzz within Mahindra Satyam corridors. As an industry observer points out: "While other IT firms have gone into a hiring overdrive in the retail vertical, Mahindra Satyam is going slow on it after having lost two major accounts of Coke and Wal-Mart last year. Besides, Mahindras are not keen on pushing this vertical as they are aligning MSat with Tech Mahindra, which is focused on telecom.''

Another major reason is that after Raju's softer reign, many Satyamites are finding it difficult to work with the "conservative and frugal" approach of the Mahindra Satyam top brass.