Corporate responsibility

Some notes and observations on the Jet lay-off:

I find it interesting that the first door the laid-off staffers knocked was that of Raj, not Uddhav. Should tell you something about who the next godfather of Mumbai is. Now we understand how much the canny Raj benefited his own brand by ‘fixing’ the Bachchans amongst his other nefarious deeds. The misfit Uddhav must now gracefully admit defeat, and forget about his future in militant politics.

I have this niggling feeling one of the reasons the media is so concerned about the sacked staffers is that the demonstrators consist of attractive chicks and hunky doods. Makes for good visuals. A refreshing change from the striking mill workers, farmers and rickshaw drivers they usually deal with. Personally, I am waiting for the Kingfisher babes to come out on the roads. Chosen personally by the tasteful Dr Mallya, these gurls have sexier figures.

While it’s never a great feeling to lose your job (I have been unceremoniously sacked once), my sympathies lie with the Jet management in this instance. They have every right to lay off staffers in bad times, the law of the land allows corporates to fire. So it’s extremely unfair that they are being put under such pressure by the media and the parallel governments. What people need to understand is this pressure will cause CEOs to hire with caution during good times. And it’s these same youngsters who stand to lose in the long term.

Also, I am sorry if these 20-something kids took loans and are now saddled with EMIs. Whose fault is that? Did Naresh Goyal ask them to take such risks in unconfirmed jobs? We middle-aged sods did not borrow till we were in our thirties, and after we had covered our arses for contingencies. Perhaps this is a wake-up call for today’s gen that lives unplanned, for-the-night lives.

Let’s assume the airlines are forced to take these staffers back, and the airlines cannot afford them. What will happen? What if they shut down operations for some time? Imagine being stuck with the maha regressive and maha inefficient Indian Airlines all over again. Did someone mention this country moves one step forward and two steps backward?

Finally, spare a thought for the dance bar girls. Many of the laid off girls had to lay dirty old men to eek out a living. The air hostesses can and will find decent jobs if they stop protesting on the streets, and try to scan employment ads. Guess more than money, it’s the cushy, high-life they are finding difficult to kiss goodbye.