Mukesh Ambani and Ratan Tata are two well-known businessmen whose companies give employment to thousands of people in various sectors. Ratan Tata has led the Tata Group which is present in several sectors including automobile, telecom, power and others. Whereas, Mukesh Ambani is the richest man in Asia and leads Reliance Industries as chairman.
But their retail firms are among the top five retailers who slashed many jobs in 2023-24. According to an ET report, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance retail, Tata Group's Titan, Raymond, Page, and Spencers saw their workforce fall by 17% or by 52,000 people due to weak demand. The layoff was across permanent and contractual employees. The retail segment is the second largest employer in India after agriculture.
Multiple other listed lifestyle, grocery retailers and quick-service restaurants (QSRs) reduced their employee count by nearly 26,000 in FY24, the report added. These retailers had a combined workforce of 429,000 people in FY24 compared to 455,000 employees a year ago.
"There is a shortage of talent and we are trying to tie up with universities so that the industry has the option to hire. Some companies might have reduced staff due to shutting of some business, but companies like Shoppers Stop and Trent continue to expand and will require staff," said Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO of Retailers Association of India.
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Meanwhile, Reliance Industries is the most valuable company in India with a market cap of Rs 20.14 lakh crore as of August 19. The share price of the company closed at Rs 2,979 on NSE on Monday. Whereas, Tata Group recently became the first Indian conglomerate to race past a combined valuation of USD 400 billion.
