Maruti Suzuki demand leads to increase in workforce

Thanks to strong demand for its new products, Maruti Suzuki’s workforce has been growing steadily over the past few years. During 2016-15, the total number of employees at India’s largest passenger car company stood at 25,161.

Between 2013-14 and 2015-16, the company increased hiring of contract workers by 61.5% from 6,578 workers to 10,626 workers. During the same period, MSIL increased its permanent employee strength by 5.67% from 12,547 to 13,259.

The overall workforce (including apprentices) increased by 24.4% during the aforementioned period. Interestingly, Maruti Suzuki stated after the 2012 labor unrest that it won’t hire contract workers but the stats indicate that the company had a change of heart.

Post the fiasco, the company introduced a few changes in its policy towards contract workers. For starters, they are now called Company Temps and enjoy more benefits than before (like free meals, insurance, and provident fund). They are also hired directly by the company from ITIs instead of agents.

However, the Company Temps are paid much less than permanent employees. The increased proportion of temporary workers will help the company to be flexible when it comes to reacting to the fluctuations in market demand. It’s easier to downsize the contract employee workforce.

Considering that both Manesar and Gurgaon plants are running at full capacity, we don’t see Maruti downsizing its workforce anytime soon.

This article first appeared on Rushlane.com