Job offers withdrawn; B-school grads stare at uncertainty

<p style="font-weight: 400;">For a 25-year-old graduate from a reputed business school, life has suddenly taken a harsh turn. He was set to join an airlines company from April 1 as a management trainee. He received a call 10 days ago and has been asked to “hold on for now.”</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">The story is almost the same for a senior executive who quit his job in December-end to join another company. He even finished serving his notice period with his previous company and was slated to be in the new job in April. While he has not heard anything from the company yet, he fears that the offer may be withdrawn.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">The SARS-Cov 2-induced contagious coronavirus and its rapid spread across India and the world has redefined life for all. Uncertainty and panic have gripped a large number of business school graduates and other freshers who were to join the workforce this year. Many companies that have been directly impacted by the spread of the disease indicated that job offers may be withdrawn or pay packages renegotiated with lower pay packages.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">“It is a nightmare for many as the fresh job offers that were made will have to be withdrawn and, in most cases, the people have already resigned from their existing jobs. It is hard for us but there is no choice. The priority is to protect our existing employees,” an HR executive of an airline company, on condition of anonymity, said.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Another senior executive engaged in the hospitality industry said that hotels have started rethinking their strategy. Most hotels are gearing up to drastically slash prices to woo customers once the spread of the disease is contained. The executive said that the situation is far worse than the global meltdown of 2008-09. “I don’t see business coming to even 50 per cent of our expected sales for the remainder of the year or perhaps the entire financial year,” the executive said.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Besides, as businesses stare at losses and shrinking demand, HR executives said that performance pressure on existing employees will mount. The number of employee who are identified as non-performers will increase. Contours and the ‘ask’ for performers will be redefined and made more stringent.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Meanwhile a Confederation of Indian Industry report said about 52 per cent firms foresee job losses in their respective sectors, owing to the spread of the disease and the ensuing lockdown.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">While the proportion of jobs that are expected to be cut is quite staggering, a significant proportion of firms—47 per cent—expect less than 15 per cent job loss. However, 32 per cent expect to shed 15-30 per cent of jobs, once the lockdown ends.</p>.