While we hear automobile manufacturers and auto-component manufacturers have reduced their workforce by significant numbers to tackle the losses, Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Group has remained committed that he will not fire his employees due to the current predicament the industry is experiencing.
“I agree that it is a difficult time, but a drop of 5 per cent to 7 percent sales can’t be called as a crisis,” he said. “It’s a double speak. Salary of employees is just 4 percent of sales, so is it justified to throw your employees for such small saving,” he asked. ” If I tell my employees that when the going is tough, I am going to throw you out, than how would my employees trust me, “he said. “I wouldn’t like to play with the lives and families of the employees,” he stated.
Talking about the slowdown, he said all industries will have a slowdown and it could take sometime to retake its former position but that does not necessitate a GST cut. He added that the struggles are mainly due to overproduction and stocking of the vehicles. He added that the economic slowdown plays a smaller role to the current scenario.
Bajaj didn’t hold back when he said automakers have contributed to the situation by overproducing vehicles based on the growth forecast. He suggested that the answer lies in being global so that the manufacturer doesn’t fall sick if one market catches flu.
It must be noted that Rajiv was the one to introduce Bajaj Pulsar which instantly elevated the fortunes of the company.