AWAIT SIGNAL FROM CLIENTS

Staffing cos fear job cuts after lockdown period

D.Govardan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:07.04.2020

Nearly 3.5 million employees who are on the rolls of various staffing companies are on tenterhooks as they wait for reopening of factories and offices with bated breath, hoping there’s no job loss after the lockdown. For now, there is no clarity as the principal employers are yet to given an assurance on salaries or jobs. However, they haven’t said anything to the contrary either.

Quess Corp, among the largest private sector employers with 3.85 lakh staffers on its payroll, and facility management firm UDS, with about 55,000 employees, are yet to get any clear indication from their clients.

“It is a kind of a humanitarian scene. As of now, there is no problem due to the clear directive from the respective state governments and the Centre not to downsize and to ensure payment of salaries. Until the lockdown period, nothing will change. At the same time, no client has given any signal about downsizing or retaining employees,” says Quess Corp COO Guruprasad Srinivasan.

Since closures and lockdowns happened only towards the third week of March, most companies did not face problems paying March salaries. “We are not sure of what will  happen for April, with the lockdown on till April 14. Several of our employees are sitting at home, assuming they are still employed. That is worrying,” says UDS founder MD Raghunandana Tangirala.

“Almost 90% of the workers have got their salaries for the lockdown period in March. As for salaries for the April lockdown period, there is no clarity from the clients who are the principal employers of these temporary staff, even though they are on our rolls,” adds Tangirala.

Guruprasad feels there will not be any problem in terms of salaries for the lockdown period in April too, since the governments have insisted against downsizing. “Even if the lockdown is going to be lifted after April 15, it may not be for all sectors. IT/ITeS may get back to work on the lines of the ‘one by two’ policy adopted by the Singapore government (half the workforce works on alternate days). Until April 30, no major disruptions are expected. But sectors like retail, cinemas and malls may continue to remain shut,” says Guruprasad.

“We are trying to do something called Quess Employment Exchange to redeploy resources from segments that are not yet open to sectors that are operating by mapping the supply and demand,” he adds.