While Companies Are Busy Laying Off Staff Amid COVID-19, Ratan Tata Says It Is Not The Solution

The economic crisis that stemmed from the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented and nobody knows when the economy will recover.

And one of the immediate aftereffects of this was a bloodbath in the job market.

Companies, including some of the biggest names in India, laid off thousands of its staff, in the name of cost-cutting and business optimizations.

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But Chairman of Tata Trusts, Ratan Tata has a different opinion on the practice by companies and said businesses will need to show sensitivity to all stakeholders and not just shareholders to survive post COVID-19.

¡°Accept that you have to change in terms of what you consider is fair and necessary in order to survive. One cannot continue to do business in certain ways and one won¡¯t survive if you are not sensitive to all your stakeholders. Working from home is one solution. Laying-off people will not help you solve your problems as you have responsibility to those employees,¡± Tata said in an interaction with Your Story.

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He said layoffs amid the pandemic was a knee-jerk reaction and shows a lack of empathy among the top leadership.

¡°These are the people that have worked for you. These are the people who have served you all their careers. You send them out to live in the rain. Is that your definition of ethics when you treat your labour force that way?¡± he said.

While Tata Group is one of the few top companies that has not laid of its staff during COVID-19 has cut salaries of its top management by up to 20 per cent.

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While the Covid-19 crisis has created multiple challenges on economic and healthcare front, the industrialist is of the opinion that this could be the opportune time to explore innovative and creative solutions. ¡°Some of the most interesting or tremendous solutions have been found at moments of distinct difficulties ... we tend to be more innovative and creative to find solutions in such times ...," he told the website.

Terming the pandemic as one of "the worst crisis" the human race has faced, Tata said: "We must fight this with a spirit of solidarity, resolve, empathy, and understanding. We must unite to win the battle against COVID-19."