Chapter-7

LAY-OFFS IN INDUSTRIES DURING THE YEAR 2007

Analysis By States, Causes, Industry Groups, Sectors And Months

7.1 During the year 2007, as many as 43 cases of Lay-off were reported which affected 6,992 workers and resulted in time-loss of 986,169 mandays. There was a decrease of 14 percent in the number of cases of Lay-offs. Number of workers Laid-off also decreased by 15.75 percent but the mandays lost were increase by 1.72 percent during the year 2007 as compared to the previous year. 38 cases of lay-offs were reported in the State Sphere and 5 cases of Lay-off were reported in the Central Sphere during the year, 2007. Tables- 7 (I) (a) to 7 (I) (g) reveals the statistics relating to number of cases of Lay-offs, workers Laid-off and mandays lost by States, Causes, Industries, Sectors and Months during the year 2007.

Analysis By State

7.2.1 State Sphere: Table -7 (I) (a) reveals that the highest number of cases of Lay-off (i.e 9 or 20.93 percent) were in Kerala followed by 8 (18.60 percent) cases in Puducherry and 7 (16.28 per cent) in Uttar Pradesh. The largest number of workers laid- off 1,994 (28.52 percent) were in Kerala followed by 1,878 (26.86 percent) in Uttar Pradesh and 1,034 (14.79 percent) in West Bengal. The maximum number of man-days lost due to Lay-offs were 535,860 (54.34 percent) in Kerala followed by 349,081 (or 35.40 percent) in Uttar Pradesh and 50,232 (or 5.09 percent) in Rajasthan. The three States viz., Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Puducherry taken together accounted for the largest number of lay-offs (55.81 percent) and workers laid-off (67.52 percent) to the total number of lay-off (43) and workers laid-off (6,992) while the highest time-loss 94.83 percent added to the total time-loss (986,164) due to lay-offs by the States of Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan taken together during the year under review.

7.2.2 Central Sphere: Five cases of Lay-offs affecting 823 workers and resulted in time-loss of 1,636 mandays were reported in Central Sphere.

Analysis By Causes

7.3 State Sphere: The main cause responsible for Lay-off was ‘Shortage of Power’ (9 cases or 20.93 percent) followed by ‘Financial Stringency’ (8 cases or 18.60 percent), ‘Lack of Demand for Products’ (6 cases or 13.95 percent) during the year under study. It is significant to note that the largest number of workers was laid-off (2,181 and 1,791) were due to the causes ‘Shortage of Power’ and ‘Financial Stringency’ during 2007. The highest time-loss (38.50 percent) was due to ‘Shortage of Power’.

Analysis By Industry Groups

7.4 State Sphere: Table- 7 (I) (c) shows that the highest number of Lay-offs i.e. 34 (79.07 percent), workers laid-off 5,135 (73.44 percent) and Mandays Lost 945,871 (95.91 percent) were alone in Manufacturing Division (Industry codes 15 to 37). Within the Manufacturing Division Industry Group 17 – ‘Manufacture of Textile’ accounted for the highest number of lay-offs 10 (23.26 percent) whereas highest number of workers affected and mandays lost 1,415 (20.24 percent) and time-loss 401,860 (40.75 percent) attributed by the Industry Group 24 – ‘Manufacture of Chemicals and Chemical Products’ within the same Division.

Analysis By Sectors

7.5 State Sphere: Table-7 (I) (d) reveals that out of 43 cases of Lay-offs, 28 cases (65.12 percent) were in the Private Sector and 8 cases (18.60 percent) were in the Public Sector. The remaining two cases (4.65 percent) was in the Co-operative Sector. It may also be seen from this table that 5,256 workers (75.17 percent) were affected due to Lay-offs in the Private Sector and 8499 workers (12.14 percent) in the Public Sector. The maximum number of man-days lost i.e. 964,501 (97.80 percent) was in the Private Sector while 1,346 man-days (0.14 percent) were lost in Public Sector. The Co-operative Sector accounted for a time loss of 18,681 man-days (1.89 percent). There was no case of Lay-off in the Joint Sector.

Analysis By Months

7.6 State Sphere: Table –7(I) (g) shows that the maximum number of cases of Lay-offs 4 cases each started during the months of February, March and April followed by three cases each in January, June, September and October, 2007. The highest number of workers affected due to Lay-offs were in the month of April (11,635) followed by September (620) and in March (501). Similarly, the maximum number of man-days lost was in the month of November (108,314) followed by October (108,052).