M&A Side Effect: Aircel to let go of 700 employees amid expected merger with RCom

The company is reportedly looking at laying off around 10 per cent of its pan-India workforce.

With the telecom industry witnessing saturation and the war for spectrum going on alongside pressures for profits, companies are being pressed to take drastic measures. In its first stage of manpower downsizing, Aircel is reportedly looking to give pink slips to 700 staff or around 10 per cent of its pan-India staff strength.

At a time when the whole industry is undergoing a huge wave of consolidation that is going to engulf India’s telecommunication sector, the decision to cut staff may be the only feasible option to sustain in the future. Aircel currently has around 8,000 employees in India.

While this may be the first shocker to Aircel employees, reports say that there are many such announcements awaiting India’s telecom sector.

Apparently, this would be the first lot of people who have been given around a week’s time to agree with the company’s compensation package, which includes a full month’s salary in February and just the basic pay of the following six months.

Considering the overall industry scenario, the decision to let go of people is being aimed at reducing duplication of human resources with the possible merger with Reliance Communications (RCom). The circle teams as well as corporate base are being resized now with an eye on cost restructuring.

The Gurgaon-headquartered mobile network operator has first taken stock of its circle strength and then started serving termination letters to its sales and network team members across the country.

In addition, if reports are to be believed, in the coming seven to eight months, the company may be planning to go slow on all segments as more stages of job cuts are on the cards. The next stage of job cuts, however, is expected to happen in April.