Flexibility to hire and fire

Manufacturing sector in any country supports its economy in general and provides endless employment to thousands of people in particular. Though the fruits of success might not have been distributed equally between the executive class and the labour class still the hard work done by each class has been commendable lately.

                                But in return of its hard work especially in SMEs the labour class has not been getting the benefits it deserves.  This is not the outcome of one day but the result of the changing trends in the manufacturing sector. Gone are the days when from food to transport and factory to dealership network every thing was managed by the parent company. Today is the time for taking least responsibilities with maximum gains. From all these changes worst affected is the labour class.

The plight of the present day working class is the result of the rigid working environment and frequent rifts between different labour unions and their respective managements till the first half of the last decade.  In pursuit of maintaining least manpower many companies have either outsourced the labour intensive work or the labourers. As lesser the number of employees on the payrolls of the company lesser is the energy and money spent to keep them satisfied.

This wariness among the companies has created poorest of poor in the working class. In a bid to supply manpower at least cost the contractors pay less to their labourers, some times even without meeting the state stipulated minimum wages norms. Many times workers in such situations have to work for more than 8 hours to earn a decent living.

If the past class of workers had been more accommodating to adapt themselves to the changing dynamics of manufacturing sector, more people would have been getting a decent living in this sector.

The philosophy of labour unions was that they would not do more work unless paid more. Rather it should have been that they would work more and demand more.

Under the aegis of labour unions scores of people never reported to work let alone doing any work and inefficiency was rampant.

Under the juggernaut of labour unions many companies bled to death. The unions which were mooted to maintain a healthy work environment and reconciliation between the aspirations of the management and the labour class have created a situation in which there are hardly any unions. Today more and more companies are outsourcing their labour even if it happens at a higher cost.

The action of the companies is justified as any company exists for earning profit and the rates of any input including labour should be defined by the law of demand and supply. The social security is the responsibility of the state. The private sector on its part should honestly pay taxes to support the state in meeting its objectives.

To support the growth in manufacturing sector the government should liberalise labour laws further.