Telecom to lose more jobs; on coruse to cull 90,000 more

Mumbai, Jan 15 (PTI) Faced with uncertainty, theonce-sunshine telecom sector will continue to witness declinein headcounts for the next six-nine months taking the totalnumber of job losses to 80,000-90,000, says a report.The sector, which has been witnessing rough weather interms of profitability due to rising competition and lowermargins, has witnessed large scale lay-offs making jobscenario uncertain, said a CIEL HR Services in a report today.The report is based on a survey among around 100senior and mid-level employees of 65 telco and software andhardware service providers to telecom companies.According to the report, since last year the sectorhas already lost around 40,000 people and the trend is likelyto continue for the next six-nine months and may see theculling touching 80,000-90,000."The attrition rate is like to remain high at leastfor the next two-three quarters and the sector is likely toreduce around 80,000-90,000 people," the Bengaluru-basedcompany's chief executive Aditya Narayan Mishra told PTI.He said, employees worried over the uncertaintiesabout their career with their present employer and theincreased levels of anxieties are contributing to speculation.High cost of loan servicing, aggressive competitionfor market share, uncertainty of mergers among others havebeen hindering further investment by telcos resulting inlayoffs, the report said.Further, the report said, salary hikes have been mutedcompared to other sectors and about 69 per cent got annualsalary hike of 7 per cent, while almost one-third of themreceived less than 5 per cent hike, it added.The report also revealed that most people leavingtheir telecom jobs are seeking opportunities utside thesector. "This trend highlights the fact that the sector is notrecruiting unless it is a critical need that has to be filledby external talent," it added."The telecom industry has lost its lustre and thisnegative sentiment is failing to attract any talent into thesector. The vacant seats continue to remain vacant with nofresh applications," Mishra said.The report estimates that 25 per cent of people leaveor lose their jobs in the telecom sector without havinganother at hand. However, 69 per cent feel that them can findemployment in other sectors.This points to the fact that skilled employees arequick to find jobs in other sectors, hence, the sector has toput additional measures to retain their top talent.Going forward, Mishra said, the sector will begin torecruit, which will be mostly be freshers from campuses."Except for a few critical positions, we expect telcos to hire freshers. However, there is likely to be 25 per cent reverse movement mostly comprising those who had gone into consulting or not with any employment," he added.

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