The Chairman of Larsen & Toubro (L&T), SN Subrahmanyan, caused a stir with his remarks on Indian workers especially in the construction and tech areas about their reluctance to move for jobs. These comments were made during his speech at the CII South Global Linkages summit on Tuesday. The issue is further aggravated because there are fewer workers in the construction industry, as Subrahmanyan stated, even more so, the disinclination of the corresponding population to move to a job opens the door for challenges for industries that are movement.
L&T chairman highlights reasons behind Indian workers' reluctance to relocate
Indian workers, including techies, were said to be moving to work. Even as the challenge of migration is a challenge at the global level, it is particularly evident in India, since many workers don't want to leave their locality for work in another area or cities.
According to Subrahmanyan, this is because various government welfare schemes and financial aids are available. Schemes like Jan Dhan accounts for banking, direct benefit transfer, Garib Kalyan Yojana, and MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) have made workers feel that there will be a limited financial burden in their lives. So, without perfect urgency in money, it no longer seems required to work outside their location.
Government welfare schemes, such as monthly payments and financial assistance, have reduced the need for workers, especially in rural areas, to relocate for employment, contributing to labor shortages in industries like construction. L&T, for example, faces high worker attrition, requiring the recruitment of around 6 million workers annually. While traditional recruitment methods have shifted to online platforms, the company still struggles to convince workers to accept job assignments, highlighting a broader shift in workforce attitudes and expectations regarding relocation and employment.
L&T's HR for labour department tackling attrition and labour shortages
In helping the company address the effects of very high attrition and consequent labour shortages, L&T has created another department in the company termed "HR for Labour." This department has been tailored particularly to address all issues entailed in labor management for the construction sector. Subrahmanyan shared that he even personally engages with the department to stay informed about the challenges they are facing. The existence of this department is a testament to L&T's sincerity in solving the perennial problems of mobilization and retention of workers.
Digital recruitment’s role in overcoming reluctance to relocate for jobs
He also pointed out that the manner in which workers are recruited and mobilized underwent a paradigm shift with the growing use of technology and digital communication. The company now uses its database, built up from previous workers, to reach out to potential employees for projects yet to be undertaken. Thus, the example of workers to be reached out to for carpentry at a new site would mean calling the previously employed carpenters, rather than putting an advertisement out for whole new recruitment. This whole shift illustrates how the employment agency is changing with the use of digital communication.
These observations were mostly on the reluctance to move for relocation among engineering professionals. Remembering his induction into the company in 1983, he recalled that at that time it was not uncommon for an employee to transfer to some other part of the country and work in that location. It was generally understood that people would be forced to go where they were needed at that period.
Why are engineering and IT professionals reluctant to relocate and return to office work?
The issue is pertinent not only for the general construction laborer but also for the engineering professionals. As Subrahmanyan has noted relating to the issue, "When I joined L&T in 1983, my boss said, if you are from Chennai, you go to Delhi and work. But today if I take a guy from Chennai and tell him to go to Delhi and work, he says bye." He added that such reluctance was more prominent in the IT sector where employees shunned returning to physical office spaces much more in favor of remote working environments.
"If you tell him (IT employee) to come to the office and work, he says bye. And that's a different world altogether. Therefore it is a funny world which we are trying to live in, and many of us wearing slightly more white hair are trying to understand it. We have to see how to live with this world and have policies that are flexible to understand all this and move forward," he said.
Workplace comments cause controversy
Interestingly, it attracted tons of criticism over the past month for a "stare" comment that was somewhat out of place.
"What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife?" the L&T chairman asked his employees in a viral video.
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