18.9 mn salaried people lost jobs since April, 5 mn in July, says CMIE

The loss of around 5 million jobs in July comes after around 3.9 million jobs were gained in June, as per the data

The number of salaried people losing their jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic has surged to 18.9 million since April, with around 5 million jobs lost last month, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). The loss of around 5 million jobs in July comes after around 3.9 million jobs were gained in June, as per the data. In April, 17.7 million salaried jobs were lost, followed by 100,000 job losses of salaried employees in May. “While salaried jobs are not lost easily, once lost, they are also far more difficult to retrieve. Therefore, their ballooning numbers are a source of worry,” the centre’s CEO Mahesh Vyas said.

ALSO READ: 6.1 million youth may lose jobs in India due to Covid-19: ADB-ILO report

“Salaried jobs were nearly 19 million (190 lakh) short of their average in 2019-20. They were 22 per cent lower than their level in the last fiscal year,” he added. The latest CMIE data also showed that around 6.8 million daily wage earners lost their jobs during this period. However, around 14.9 million people took to farming during this period….Read Full Story

Air India unions reject 'abominable' compulsory leave without pay plan

National carrier has a debt of around Rs 70,000 cr and the government started the process to sell it to a private entity in January

The government should halt Air India’s “abominable” compulsory leave without pay (LWP) offer as it is not voluntary and is “illegal”, six employee unions of the airline wrote to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday. Air India, in an internal order on July 14, asked its departmental heads and regional directors to identify employees, based on various factors like efficiency, health and redundancy, who will be sent on LWP for up to five years.

Moreover, it said employees can voluntarily opt for the LWP scheme too.

“We are deeply ashamed to say that it seems that after praising our Air Indian Corona Warriors at grand functions, respectfully, the government has now turned a blind eye to this management’s ethnic cleansing of Air Indians at the lower levels, through compulsory LWP, redundancies and wage cuts,” the unions said in a joint letter to Puri.

“We once again request you to intervene and halt this abominable compulsory LWP scheme and grant us a meeting with yourself to discuss the way ahead for all of us together,” they said. The aviation sector has been significantly impacted due to the travel restrictions imposed in India and other countries in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. All airlines in India have taken cost-cutting measures such as pay cuts, LWP and firings of employees in order to conserve cash flow.

155 Indian companies create nearly 125,000 jobs in US: CII report

Texas, California, New Jersey, New York and Florida are home to the greatest number of workers in the US directly employed by the reporting Indian companies, the report said

As many as 155 Indian companies have invested $22 billion in the US, thus creating nearly 125,000 jobs in the country, according to a report issued by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) on Monday.

The report, Indian Roots, American Soil 2020, is a state-by-state breakdown of tangible investments made and jobs created by 155 surveyed Indian companies doing business in all 50 states, as well as Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. Texas, California, New Jersey, New York and Florida are home to the greatest number of workers in the US directly employed by the reporting Indian companies, the report said.

Indian-Americans have made so many important cultural, economic and scientific contributions to our country and Texas values your hard work and innovation. So keep up the good work! said Senator John Cornyn, who is also co-chair of the Senate India Caucus. CII said that the surveyed companies disclosed the highest amounts of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Texas, New Jersey, New York, Florida, and Massachusetts…Read More

IT companies may shed up to 40,000 mid-level employees: Mohandas Pai

‘It’s going to happen again and again and again every five years,’ said Pai

India’s information technology services companies may shed 30,000 to 40,000 middle-level employees this year as growth slows down, IT industry veteran T V Mohandas Pai said Monday. The former Chief Financial Officer of IT major Infosys Ltd termed these job losses as once-in-five-years normal phenomenon with maturing of the industry.

“As in all sectors in the West, in India too when a sector matures so many people will be there in the middle level who will not be adding value to the salary they get,”Mohandas Pai PTI. Promotions are okay when companies are growing fast but when it slows down, people getting fat salaries will aggregate at the higher level, prompting companies to periodically reset their pyramids, and shedding people, he said.

“It’s going to happen again and again and again every five years,” said Pai, Chairman of Aarin Capital and Manipal Global Education Services. “Nobody is entitled to a fat salary and high-paying job unless you perform, right? You have to deliver value”. “All across industry, may be 30,000 to 40,000 in a year…,” he said when asked about the number of middle-level staff who would lose their jobs. But Pai said about 80 per cent of those who lose jobs would have employment opportunities in industries in general if they are specialists….