Tata says sacking workers during COVID against ethics

Tata Group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata has said that retrenchment of employees by Indian companies in these unprecedented times was not the solution. He said sensitivity towards employees was crucial to survive and do well in the long run. Layoffs amid the COVID-19 pandemic was a knee-jerk reaction and shows lack of empathy among the top leadership, Mr.Tata said on July 23.

While the Tata Group has not fired any staff, the salt-to-software conglomerate has slashed salaries of its top management by up to 20 per cent.

Speaking to Your Story, the industrialist and philanthropist said: “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.”

“These are the people that have worked for you, these are the people who have served you all their careers so you send them out to live in the rain? Is that your definition of ethics when you treat your labour force that way?” Mr. Tata said.

Furthermore, speaking about the importance of ethics in business, he highlighted that it is hard to survive as an organisation if one is ‘not sensitive to its people’, emphasising that “business is not only about making money and one has to do everything right and ethically for customers and stakeholders.”

The lockdowns have impacted businesses across sectors. Several have resorted to layoffs and salary cuts to trim costs.

Speaking about the plight migrant workers, who were left to fend for themselves after Centre imposed lockdown, the industrialist said, “Labour force one day was just told that there is no work for you and we don’t have the means to send you home. This highlights the lack of business ethics.”
Mr. Tata said that if there ever was another crisis like COVID-19, businesses would be in a better position to tackle it.