MANPOWER
RATIONALISATION IN SAIL
Backgrouder
The underlying theme of SAIL's
restructuring plan is cost-competitiveness. One of the major ways
of achieving this is through rationalisation of manpower. Among
the biggest employers in the country, SAIL bears a fixed manpower
cost amounting to almost 22 per cent of its turnover. This places
the company at a disadvantage vis-à-vis its competitors,
which incur manpower costs in the range of 6-7 per cent of their
turnovers on an average.
Modern steel making technology
is not manpower-intensive. Internationally, leading steel producers
employ around 1,500 workers to produce one million tonnes of steel;
services are entirely outsourced. Going by that standard, SAIL
should be employing only 18,000 people in operational areas even
while producing at a full capacity level of around 12 million
tonnes. Today, with over 1.48 lakh employees on its rolls, SAIL
remains with a huge handicap in its efforts to become globally
competitive. The restructuring plan, with a target of reducing
manpower to a level of one lakh by 2005, is an effort to increase
the competitive position of the company.
SAIL introduced VR schemes in
late 1980s for the first time. These were operated up to 1992-93.
More than 17,000 employees availed VR during the period. However
liberalisation and competitive pressures made it almost mandatory
to introduce VRSs in the last Nineties.
Due to SAILs' finances being under
heavy pressure, a deferred payment scheme was designed for the
VRSs operated in 1998 and 1999. In 2001, a lump-sum payment scheme
based on the DPE pattern was introduced. All three overshot their
targets. A total of 26,102 employees availed VR between 1998 and
2001.
An analysis of the three VRSs indicate:
- Generation of more numbers than targeted.
- Higher VRs in 55+ age group; low in below-52
age-group.
- Ratio of manpower in plant/unit or grades maintained.
- Higher VR in non-works areas.
- Higher VRs (as percentage to manpower) in loss-making
plants.
- Marginally high VRs in executive category.
- Less professionally qualified employees and
consistently high performing executives availing VR.
The first phase of VRS-2002
has already been launched with a target of 7,500. Taking the company's
interest into account while granting VR to employees, the management
has retained the right to reject applications from employees working
in key functions/categories like telecommunication, instrumentation,
computers specially software, professionally qualified finance
personnel, specialist medical personnel, critical categories for
plant/unit etc; and also executives having ACP above 40 in previous
ten appraisals. A thrust is being laid on achieving responses
in the age group of 40-55 years so that VRs are fairly spread
across all age groups. No recruitments are to be made against
VR, neither will contract labour be engaged in areas where there
is separation through VR.
The manpower position since March 1995-January 2002
is given below:
|
As on
|
Manpower
|
|
31.3.1995
|
1,89,460
|
|
31.3.1996
|
1,87,504
|
|
31.3.1997
|
1,83,340
|
|
31.3.1998
|
1,76,147
|
|
31.3.1999
|
1,74,736
|
|
31.3.2000
|
1,59,940
|
|
31.3.2001
|
1,56,719
|
|
1.1.2002
|
1,48,530
|
