Shyamal Majumdar has raised a very pertinent issue (“Suvivors’ guilt”, April 2) which all companies need to pay close attention to. It is relatively easy to fire workers when sales start slowing, but managements need to study the impact of this carefully. For one, it is clear from a study of balance sheets of companies that the share of wages in overall costs is low — so, the attempt has to be to cut other costs first. Second, as Majumdar has pointed out, if companies don’t do this firing with great sensitivity, with adequate counselling which includes helping place those being asked to go, this lowers company morale significantly. Workers who still retain their jobs, instead of being happy, worry themselves to death about when they will be fired. As a consequence, loyalty towards the company is the last thing on anyone’s mind.
Shravan Kumar, Mumbai