VRS option not viable for cos

CALCUTTA, MAR 29: Voluntary retirement schemes floated for companies with view to downsizing the existing surplus workforce is likely to boomerang and prove unviable, according to study paper presented at a National Institute of Personnel Management sponsored seminar held in the city in early March.The author Siddharta Sen, who is also a director of the Institute of Cost amp; Works Accounts of India, has based his conclusion from the annual report figures of various multinationals like Cadbury India, Proctor amp; Gamble, Hindustan Lever, Philips, Glaxo and a host others along with a number of central public sector undertakings.

The seminar paper made available to The Indian Express noted that many of the Fortune 500 US companies in the last decade, were seen to be on a recruitment spree after an initial stint of downsizing. Sen8217;s paper says that in 1996 alone, some US companies recruited over 50,000 employees, which is close to 20 of 2.8 lakh sacked in the early nineties.

According to this paper, among otherreasons for opting for VRS, 62 employees were uncertain about their future while 9 were forced by the authorities. Sen has also analysed the educational backdrop of the employees who opt for VRS. His study paper says that 74 employees opting for VRS not cleared secondary examinations. Only 42.85 were successful in getting a new job.