India / Large-scale layoffs are underway

While fresh hiring has already taken a hit, thanks to the slowing economy, India Inc has for the first time acknowledged that large-scale layoffs are already underway and the job market is likely to get much worse if growth isn’t revived fast.

“Layoffs of contractual staff have already started and this could soon move to permanent employees,” Ficci president Naina Lal Kidwai has said, warning the government of “a grim employment scenario” unless growth is revived urgently.

“With the slowdown becoming more discernible, fresh hiring is already taking a hit. Unless the growth trajectory is reversed, we will be facing a grim employment scenario,” Kidwai said ahead of the meeting of the Prime Minister’s Council of Trade and Industry on Monday evening. Estimates indicate that about 10 million people join the workforce every year; however, there remains a yawning gap between the skills acquired by these new entrants and skill set required by the employer.

An internal note of Ficci reviewed by ET states that the job market is ‘gloomy’ with sectors such as auto, IT and banking seeing thousands of job losses, while most companies have imposed a hiring freeze.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at 

via India Inc presses layoff button; IT jobs take a hit – The Times of India.