MUMBAI: The telecom sector lost a fourth of its workforce, or some 75,000 employees, in the last one year as operators, tower firms and vendors consolidate to remain afloat in the severely competitive industry.In the telecom industry, manpower accounts for 4-5% of the costs, but in the last few years there was no reining in of salaries. More exits are on the anvil.“About a year ago, there were three lakh employees, 25% of which have moved out of the sector in the last 12 months,” said A Ramachandran, partner at search firm Ema Partners. “There will be at least another 15% reduction in manpower,” he says.The telecom sector, reeling under Rs 5 lakh crore of debt and facing a sharp fall in revenue, profitability and free cash flows, has been on a consolidation spree since Reliance Jio’s entry in September last year. Second-ranked telco Vodafone India and No. The employees across levels are gearing to take a pay cut and head for the e-commerce, transport, logistics and FMCG.Hiring experts say those who have been asked to leave have got wages of a few months as severance packages.

Source: Economic Times November 14, 2017 18:43 UTC