Naresh Goyal Of Jet Airways (India Based Airline) Reinstates 1900 Employees 48 Hours After They Were Laid Off

This was probably the only lay off of its kind. Have you ever heard of employees who were terminated and laid off, only to be reinstated and given back their jobs after 48 hours? This is exactly what has happened with Jet Airways and its employees. Jet Airways is a leading airline in the crowded Indian aviation sector. With dropping revenues and high gas prices, airlines in India are facing huge losses and drop in profitability. Terminating employees as a cost cutting measure is usually one of the steps taken by companies to stop the pain of dwindling revenues. This is what Jet Airways also did, by laying off 1900 employees two days ago.

What followed was unprecedented. The laid off employees, obviously unhappy, were involved in fierce protests bringing work at airports to a standstill. Political parties and industry observers slammed Jet Airways’ move saying that it will only add more fuel to an already fluid economic situation. In a stunning reersal, Naresh Goyal, the chairman of Jet Airways, called a press conference and said that he was not part of the management that made the decision to sack these employees. He said the decision was taken in his absence. He also announced the immediate reinstatement of all 1900 terminated employees.

According to TimesOfIndia, this is what Naresh Goyal had to say –

Goyal said he had been unable to sleep because of recent events. “I am mentally disturbed with all this and I will not be able to live (like this) as long as I live my life.” Calling it the most emotional day of his life he said, “My daughter is 19 years old. They (the sacked employees) are 20 or so. I cannot see their trauma and agony.”

Distancing himself from the decision, he said the management had taken it on the basis of economic conditions in the industry. He claimed he didn’t even know the number of employees who had been sacked. “I was out of town and just flew back on Thursday night.” He declined to commit himself on a revision of salaries although reports suggested that the staff might have to take a pay cut.

When asked if the company worked without his mandate, he said, “As chairman, it was my mandate to them to cut costs. The management had worked out an equation based only on arithmetic. But my conscience does not allow me to look at economics alone.”

What a bizarre turn of events. Well, i am happy for the employees who get their jobs back. Losing your job during the festive season is probably the last thing anyone would want.

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