Reliance cuts staff by 700

Mulls accountability-linked pay

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has cut its headcount for third year in a row and is mulling a salary model where pay is based on accountability and responsibility of its staff.

The company’s staff strength fell by 704 workers during the financial year ended March 31, 2011, and stood at 22,661 employees. RIL has disclosed its latest headcount in its 2010-11 annual report, where it also disclosed a new compensation model being mulled over at the company.

“2010-11 saw a significant change in the company’s compensation and banding management process. On the variable pay front, efforts are afoot to move towards accountability and responsibility driven variable pay programmes designed uniquely for various levels,” it added.

The company’s headcount stood at 23,365 employees at the end of fiscal ended March 31, 2010 — during which its employee strength had fallen by 1,314. During 2008-09 also, the company’s headcount had fallen by 808 people.

RIL is one of the biggest employers among the non-IT private sector companies in the country and the company’s profitability has been on a sharp uptrend in recent years.

During 2008-09, RIL’s total headcount had declined for the first time in six years, despite the company hiring more than 1,500 engineers that year.