Mumbai: For many of those working in top brokerage houses, this could be the worst Diwali ever as a worsening business outlook has forced their employers to cut down on staff to slash expenses.
In fact, if sources are to be believed, as many as 20,000 people working with well-known stock-broking firms will be shown the door soon after Diwali. That's one-fifth of the roughly one lakh directly employed in such financial institutions. "After the bloodbaths on the bourses, all the big firms are planning to cut down their employee strength by around 15 per cent, which means we could see about 20,000 lay-offs," said a person close to the development. Biz down to 30-40 pc Sources revealed that almost all the brokerage houses have seen their business plummeting to just 30-40 per cent of what was registered during the heady days till early January. Share orders and transactions are dismal at many branches, reducing income levels drastically. "Salaries had grown by 4-6 times in the last two years alone. Now we are seeing a rationalisation of the same," said a senior level analyst at the company. "Sales volume is now just one-third of what we witnessed during the stock markets' peak. Obviously, so is revenue. So salaries are already being cut, with Sharekhan being the first one to do so." Main criteria: Performance Even Angel Broking, according to a senior level executive, is all set to issue pinkslips and has already shortlisted 500 employees for this. The plan, the source revealed, is to give each retrenched staffer a one-month notice. The first step would see job cuts at branches, mainly from mid- and lower-management levels. Angel Broking has the most retail outlets in India. "Performance of the employees is the main criteria to be considered," the official said. Sources at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited also confirmed the development. A highly placed official at the firm accepted the scenario by saying: "Yes, we have 'non-performers' on their way out, but they are very few in number." Staffers saw it coming Most employees working in the sector have been preparing themselves for this scenario from the time it came to light that there would be no Diwali bonus. "Forget the bonus, we don't even know what will happen about our jobs," said one, pointing out that lay-offs had started a couple of months ago with HSBC removing virtually the entire analysis team at IL&FS after taking over the firm. When contacted, a spokesperson at Angel Broking denied any retrenchment plans but accepted that they had halted all recruitment. "Lower level people got the bonus as it is not a big amount. Bonus at middle and higher levels is performance-linked and our half-year appraisals will come only in January. Considering the present scenario, we can hardly expect anything," the spokesperson said. Other companies' official spokespersons were unavailable for comments despite repeated attempts to contact them. http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article§id=5&contentid=20081029200810290452383112387b501 Sweet is the remembrance of troubles when you are in safety. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Kences1" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/kences1?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
