Amex layoffs 200 senior Indian employees

New Delhi, Nov 4: It is now the turn of credit card company, American Express to sack its employees. And this time it was neither the contract employees nor the junior level employees who were sacked, but it is the senior managerial employees who were asked to quit. These employees primarily from Delhi and Bangalore branch have served the company from past 15 to 20 years. However, the Amex India has hired a consultancy firm to help the sacked employees find a new job. The company is reported to have handed over pink slips to 200 of its employees out of its 6000 employees in India.

The report on layoffs comes on a day when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked Indian companies to 'refrain from large-scale lay-offs' Singh on Monday warned industry leaders that layoffs may lead to a 'negative spiral'. "While every effort needs to be made to cut cost and raise productivity, I hope there will be no knee-jerk reaction such as large-scale layoffs, which may lead to a negative spiral," Singh said on Monday, Nov 3.

American Express confirmed that it would cut jobs in India but said it cannot give a specific number. "Approximately 7,000 jobs are being eliminated company-wide which translates into about 10 per cent of the company's worldwide workforce," the company said in a press statement.

"While we cannot give you specific numbers for India, we can tell you that we (Indian operation) are not the main focus for restructuring," it said. "Reduction will occur throughout the company and across business units, markets and staff groups, primarily focusing on management and other positions that do not interact directly with customers." American Express, last week, announced it would lay off 7,000 employees about 10 per cent of its worldwide workforce-to save $1.8 billion in costs in 2009.

OneIndia News