Orient Craft, which laid off over 1,000 workers last year, is looking to hire around 2,500 workers this year on account of a weaker rupee increasing its export competitiveness in the international market.
This will imply a 10 per cent addition to its workforce of 25,000. Other companies like Lilliput Kidswear may also consider augmenting their workforce in the coming days.
Last year, Orient, among many other textile companies, had laid off workers due to the impact of the strengthening rupee which reduced their competitiveness vis-a-vis manufacturers from countries like Bangladesh and Cambodia.
"In order to reap the benefits of a stronger dollar, Orient hopes to increase its workforce by 2,500 this year. It is very encouraging to see the dollar becoming stronger. It will help us improve our realisations. We hope to generate more business with increase in orders," said Sudheer Dhingra, managing director, Orient Craft.
Last year saw textile companies cut jobs on a massive scale. In order to reduce costs, companies laid off contract labourers. The rupee appreciated around 12 per cent in 2007 to reach the level of 39 against the US dollar.
More From This Section
Textile companies missed the industry export target, exporting goods worth $20 billion as against the target of $25 billion for 2007-08. However, over the last 30 days, the rupee has depreciated around 7 per cent against the US dollar to stand at Rs 42.83 per dollar.
"We have been booking orders at Rs 39 and Rs 40 per dollar. Rs 42 has come as a surprise profit which we are reaoping on bookings that have already been done. We are optimistic about the coming times but one cannot be confident about the stability of the current scenario. But we will be open to any improvisation in our workforce if there is a need in future," said Sanjeev Narula, managing director, Lilliput Kidswear.