Shaadi.com and Shark Tank India judge Anupam Mittal has criticised lack of media coverage over the Reliance Industries Limited layoff issue
Shaadi.com’s Anupam Mittal expressed concerns about 42,000 job cuts by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) in the financial year 2023-24. Mittal shared his opinion on X, formerly known as Twitter, over the lack of media coverage about the Reliance layoffs.
“42K? Why is this ‘quiet news’? Should be raising serious alarm bells across the economic and political circles,” said the Shark Tank India judge in a post on ‘X’.
The news came to light after the company filed its annual report on exchanges for FY24. The Ambani owned-RIl's workforce nosedived from 389,000 in FY23 to 347,000 in FY24. The company’s workforce decreased by 11 per cent and the reduction in the workforce was dominated by its retail businesses.
RIL’s retail business job cut went from 245,000 in FY23 to 207,000 in FY24, amounting to nearly 60 percent. Jio’s employee strength too marked a decrease from 95,000 in FY23 to 90,000 in FY24.
“It doesn’t mean that the numbers (of headcount) won’t increase when new business opportunities emerge and strategy changes. They understand very well how to drive cost management and efficiency,” said an analyst in the Economic Times report. The analyst added that the decision to cut jobs is to improve cost efficiency.
The job cut news has come just when Reliance Industries climbed the ladder of successful businesses globally and moved up to 86th position in Fortune 500 global rankings. The company jumped two spots compared to the previous year and has surpassed all other Indian companies listed in the Fortune 500 list. In the financial year 2023-24, Reliance’s total revenue stood at 2.6 percent year-on-year rise at Rs 10,00,122 crore.
From holding 155th position in 2021 to reaching 86th spot in just three years shows an upward move in the Fortune 500 list. It is an ultimate scorecard for the business success, said Scott DeCarlo, vice president of research at Fortune, in a statement.