Mahindra & Mahindra sacks 300 executives due to slowdown in domestic automotive industry

Since the start of this calendar year, Mahindra & Mahindra has fired 300 of its management executives because of the slowdown in the domestic automotive industry, which has been fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As per reports, the company’s automotive division suffered a debilitating 27.52% drop in sales in this fiscal so far, and industry volumes have shrunk by 13.2%. The BusinessToday report highlighted that the senior management executives who have been shown the door include VS Parthasarthy, who was President of Mahindra’s mobility services sector and member of the group executive board.

Rajeshwar Tripathi, CHRO, Automotive and Farm Sector, M&M Ltd, said transformational and future-ready work is underway within the company. “We have taken up initiatives for simplifying the organization for greater agility, higher productivity and accelerated growth,” he explained. “These initiatives have been carried out in an associate-friendly manner. There have been some redundancies, but in almost all cases we offered alternate positions across the organization. In a handful of cases, we had to take the difficult decision to separate.”

Another senior executive highlighted that this is nothing short of a bloodbath that is unheard of in the group even in the days following the 2008 global recession. “Since the start of the year, nearly 300 executives have been fired. It is brutal.” He said the morale is really low.

Tripathi said there have been no separations in the workmen category. “There has been no rationalisation or salary cuts at any level. “Even in 2020, a difficult year because of the pandemic, we announced salary increases at all levels and paid out full performance pay,” the executive said. “As you are aware, the Mahindra Group has a robust talent management process. Nurturing and growing internal talent is extremely motivating and inspiring for associates.”

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He pointed out that the company believes their strategy of transitioning internal talent into key positions continues to serve well. The company is also undergoing a proper restructuring.