News from Economic times - 6 Aug 2008
Tata Sky cuts 5% jobs
Most Of Those Sacked Belong To Installation & Sales-Service Team; Firm Says Rejig The Reason
Meenakshi Verma Ambwani NEW DELHI
IN WHAT could be the fallout of intense competition and price wars in the DTH space, Tata Sky has cut down its work force as part of a restructuring process. While the company said that less than 5% of its work force would be impacted, sources in the know of things say a significant number of employees have been axed.
In an e-mail reply to ET, Tata Sky managing director and CEO Vikram Kaushik said, “Tata Sky has recently reorganised the company by consolidating operations across India in an effort to maximise the quality and maintain consistency in operations. In respect to the overall objective, the company has initiated reorganising of some functions to bring in efficiencies across all levels. These changes will help streamline operations and optimise performance level, taking advantage of the present DTH industry. Tata Sky respects and operates in accordance with the local law and ensures utmost transparency in its actions at all levels. As part of the reorganising exercise less than 5% of the staff were impacted. However, staff who had the requisite skill sets were provided with opportunities to move to other departments within Tata Sky and/or to other group companies.”
It is learnt that most of the employees getting the pink slip are part of the company’s installation and after-sales service teams. As per the company’s website, it has a team of 3,000 service engineers to install set-top boxes and carry out after-sales services.
However, the company spokesperson said that the number of people employed with Tata Sky is an estimated 1,900, which includes people on the payrolls as well as employees on contract as of May ‘08. “The 3,000 service engineers mentioned on our website include teams recruited by our service partners,” the spokesperson added. According to sources, the company is learnt to be saddled with huge losses due to high customer acquisition costs and the recent price war in the DTH space. This has led to the company trimming down its work force and outsourcing some of the after-sales functions to third-party providers.
One of the former Tata Sky managers involved with installation and after-sales service who was sacked told ET, on conditions of anonymity, “Several people have been sacked from the company across the country. Some of us have been able to find employment with other companies but there are others who are still jobless. We were all good performers and were sacked without any reason. When we asked Tata Sky for reasons, the company said that the move is not related to our performances. They said it’s because some of the positions have become redundant,” he added.
Tata Sky cuts 5% jobs
Most Of Those Sacked Belong To Installation & Sales-Service Team; Firm Says Rejig The Reason
Meenakshi Verma Ambwani NEW DELHI
IN WHAT could be the fallout of intense competition and price wars in the DTH space, Tata Sky has cut down its work force as part of a restructuring process. While the company said that less than 5% of its work force would be impacted, sources in the know of things say a significant number of employees have been axed.
In an e-mail reply to ET, Tata Sky managing director and CEO Vikram Kaushik said, “Tata Sky has recently reorganised the company by consolidating operations across India in an effort to maximise the quality and maintain consistency in operations. In respect to the overall objective, the company has initiated reorganising of some functions to bring in efficiencies across all levels. These changes will help streamline operations and optimise performance level, taking advantage of the present DTH industry. Tata Sky respects and operates in accordance with the local law and ensures utmost transparency in its actions at all levels. As part of the reorganising exercise less than 5% of the staff were impacted. However, staff who had the requisite skill sets were provided with opportunities to move to other departments within Tata Sky and/or to other group companies.”
It is learnt that most of the employees getting the pink slip are part of the company’s installation and after-sales service teams. As per the company’s website, it has a team of 3,000 service engineers to install set-top boxes and carry out after-sales services.
However, the company spokesperson said that the number of people employed with Tata Sky is an estimated 1,900, which includes people on the payrolls as well as employees on contract as of May ‘08. “The 3,000 service engineers mentioned on our website include teams recruited by our service partners,” the spokesperson added. According to sources, the company is learnt to be saddled with huge losses due to high customer acquisition costs and the recent price war in the DTH space. This has led to the company trimming down its work force and outsourcing some of the after-sales functions to third-party providers.
One of the former Tata Sky managers involved with installation and after-sales service who was sacked told ET, on conditions of anonymity, “Several people have been sacked from the company across the country. Some of us have been able to find employment with other companies but there are others who are still jobless. We were all good performers and were sacked without any reason. When we asked Tata Sky for reasons, the company said that the move is not related to our performances. They said it’s because some of the positions have become redundant,” he added.