PM asks industry to refrain from job cuts

Amid fears of job cuts in the face of global economic crisis spilling over to India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asked the industry leaders to refrain from large scale layoffs.     

"While every effort needs to be made to cut cost and raise productivity, I hope there will be no knee-jerk reaction such as large scale layoffs, which may lead to a negative spiral," the Prime Minister said in his interaction with corporate honchos here.    

Advising the Indian corporates not to let the global crisis shake their confidence, the Prime Minister said the industry "should bear in mind their societal obligations in coping with the effects of the crisis".      

Singh's remarks on avoiding layoffs come within days of an Assocham report that created a scare of large-scale job cuts. While the industry body has since withdrawn the report, the government is concerned over the impact of slowdown on employment.    

It was only after the government expressed its concern over Jet Airways firing 1,900 employees, the country's largest private sector airlines reinstated the staff.     

Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta asked the industry to avoid firing staff. "They (industry) have seen good period for the last four years. This is a different kind of situation. They should try to retain the people as much as possible and for as long as they can," Gupta said on Friday.