SAIL staff to fall by 7,000 in FY'10

Domestic steel giant SAIL sees its workforce shrinking by up to 7,000 this fiscal as it continues with the rationalisation of manpower aimed at reducing employee cost by Rs 350 crore (Rs 3.5 billion) per annum.

"We tend to continue our corrections and we will rationalise our manpower further by around 6,000 to 7,000 in the current financial year," Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) chairman SK Roongta told reporters after announcing the company's fourth quarter results here.

The move would also help the company to fend off the impact of high-employee cost it would incur on account of the upward wage revision.

The steel giant had seen a net reduction of 7,500 employees by way of superannuation and voluntary retirements in 2008-09. SAIL's present workforce stands at about 1,20,000 employees across the country.

However, Roongta clarified that the company is not going for any temporary job cuts and the rationalisation is "natural separation" and would help in checking the impact of high wages.

"The rationalisation would help in fending off the impact of wage revision. Our accounts for the year 2007-08 and 2008-09 have made full provisions for higher wage cost. This became due on account of wage revision on 1.1.2007," he said.