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12
April 2018
Jobs (The Total Investment & Insurance
Solutions)
The tariff war in the telecom space is not
painting a rosy picture for the industry as this has led to another year of low
increment for the employees in this sector. But this year, the situation is worse
as 30-40 per cent workers may not get any salary hike, according to a reporting.
But that’s not it. Employees are likely to see a 50 per cent drop in
bonus payouts as well. The Total
Investment & Insurance Solutions
“At least 30 per cent of the employees may see no increment this year
and there will be a fall in their bonuses as the industry has a large talent
pool available without jobs and those employed cannot call the shots,” said
Navnit Sinha, chairman of search firm Korn Ferry. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
Last year, a report by HR consultancy firm Aon Hewitt had said that
telecom operators are likely to give out an average increment of 7.6 per cent.
Only about 40-50 per cent of bonus amounts are likely to be rolled out,
said eight HR firms who work with the companies in the industry.
The increments starts typically in June for the sector and about 30-40
per cent of a senior management's salary is the bonus component. The middle
order and junior segment have 20 per cent and 10 per cent bonus weaved into
their salaries.
Why are companies in the telecom space unable to give their employees a
salary hike?
The entry of a new player in the telecom sector (Reliance Jio) disrupted
the space leading to price wars. Post Jio's entry, a stiff price war has
erupted between the companies. Jio continues to expand its subscriber base with
discounted offers while the other telcos are struggling with consolidation
setting in the sector.
The telecom industry comprises operators, tower firms, infrastructure
providers and equipment makers. All these segments have shed at least one lakh
employees in the past 16 months due to tariff wars which forced some to shut
shop or merge. The companies that are surviving the price battle have taken
huge revenue hits. The Total Investment
& Insurance Solutions
"The past one year has been a difficult period and as a result,
about 40% of the workforce may not get a raise, and even if they do, it will be
a marginal one," said Rajan Mathews, director general at Cellular
Operators Association of India (COAI). The
Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
So, in towers and infrastructure providers, in best case scenario the
average hike would be around 9% or the same as last year,” said Anandorup
Ghose, partner at Aon India Consulting, adding that bonus may come down very
significantly.
Reskilling leads to no increments but top performers in the safe net
According to Mathews, while the top performers may get some raise,
telcos will look at re-skilling employees keeping in mind the new technological
needs of the sector. The Total
Investment & Insurance Solutions
“We are focusing on reducing the operating expenses in ground rental,
maintenance, energy, security, and growing our productivity, exponentially,”
said Eugene Valles, Head – human resources, GTL Infrastructure.The Total Investment & Insurance
Solutions
