Maruti Suzuki's Manesar hiring hits a hurdle

Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), still recovering from the impact of the July 18 violence at its Manesar plant, is having a tough time finding trained workers for the facility.

After firing 500 permanent workers following the violence, the company had said it will start hiring from September and complete recruitment by month-end.

"The process is taking longer than we had expected. The company is unlikely to meet the September deadline for meeting full workforce capacity. The company conducted one round of written test but we are having tough time in finding fresh talent," a person involved with recruitment said.

"Candidates are not very interested and besides not up to the mark," the executive added.

This time, the MSIL management also decided to do away with an outside agency for recruitment and hiring will be done by the human resources (HR) department.

The company last week had announced that it would go for maximum automation at both its plants to decrease its dependency on workers.

"We gradually plan to automate our plants in India to bring consistency in the quality of our cars," M. M. Singh, chief operating officer (production) MSIL, had said last week.

"We have already started the process at Manesar's first plant to take automation to 99 per cent, where the press and weld operations would be on par with the second (manufacturing) facility," Singh added.

The firm had about 3,300 workers at the Manesar unit before the violence, which killed one HR manager. Subsequently, the plant was shut down for almost a month.

After the lockout, which was lifted on August 21, MSIL sacked 500 permanent workers and said it would not reinstate 500 contract workers who have been found to be involved in the violence.

Courtesy: Mail Today