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Layoffs, says management consultant Pramod Kumar Srivastava, are just an event in life, not life itself.
Life's canvas is very large, he says, fill it with wonderful new colours; colours of your choice.
Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com
Media reports claim that Tata Consultancy Services, TCS, India's biggest exporter of IT services, is laying off employees in large numbers.
There are conflicting media reports about the actual numbers. The company claims 3,000 employees are being laid off. The employees and various reports claim 30,000 TCS staffers are being given pink slips.
There are reports of litigation plus an online petition asking the prime minister to intervene.
1. Layoffs are painful. However organisations may want to package it -- poor performance; annual exercise; restructuring; involuntary attrition -- the end result is that the individual loses the job.
2. Reactions will be varied and natural, in the days and weeks following the layoffs.
3. All will be well, after a few months. Once the dust settles, everything will be as usual. Till we hear another big-bang layoff story from another organisation.
4. Employees being laid off should think logically and move ahead with confidence. No organisation owes you a job for life. Companies are here to create wealth for their shareholders, not for giving life-time jobs to employees.
5. This should be an eye-opener for the entire IT workforce. No job is permanent. Today, it may be TCS, tomorrow it could be your organisation. And god forbid, it may be you on the block.
So be realistic; live within your means, always upgrade your skills, always keep searching for better jobs and never ever believe any organisation.
6. Proponent of the adage 'Employees are the biggest asset' should smell the coffee.
'Employees are the biggest asset as long as they add to the bottom-line,' is the new mantra.
7. All employees must accept the bitter fact of 'hiring and firing' and prepare continuously for the worst eventuality.
Layoffs are just an event in life, not life itself. Life's canvas is very large; fill it with wonderful new colours; the colours of your choice.
How to cope with layoffs
Achche Din or not, people are being laid off. Layoffs can happen anytime. To anybody.
If you have been laid off and coped with it well, we would like to know the lessons you learnt and what it takes to emerge successful.
Please mail your responses to getahead@rediff.co.in (Subject line: Layoffs) to help those who have been laid off or could face layoffs in the weeks to come.
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Pramod Kumar Srivastava runs a generalist business management consulting, PKS Management Consultants based in Bengaluru. He specialises in 'Corporate Performance Improvement.'