L&T Group Facing Labour Shortage Of Over 45,000 Workers

The diversified conglomerate Larsen & Toubro Ltd. is experiencing a shortage of more than 45,000 workers and engineers in its various businesses, said Chairman SN Subrahmanyan on Wednesday.

The engineering, procurement, and construction company is facing a deficit of 25,000–30,000 workers, whereas the information technology and IT-enabled services sector is short of 20,000 engineers, according to him.

The possibility of increased income is motivating individuals from India to explore job prospects in challenging locations such as Russia, Ukraine, or Israel, said AM Naik, chairman emeritus of L&T.

This is not the first time that the company is going public regarding manpower challenges. Last year, Subrahmanyan had said that it was facing challenges despite wanting to hire over 30,000 labourers.

While speaking to reporters on Wednesday, he attributed the labour shortage to demand for certain skillsets, which are limited in supply, a push from clients to execute projects faster, certain events like elections and changes in weather patterns.

He said the adverse weather events have led to changes in working hours in some projects wherein no work is happening during the afternoons, except essential or critical works.

The company is also taking care of its employees by offering them transport facilities, health drinks and food at the project sites, he said.

Subrahmanyan also said that the company has skill centres and other initiatives that can act as a mitigating factor.

At any point of time, the company engages over 4 lakh labourers possessing specific skills like carpentry, masonry, etc., across its projects, he said.

On the engineering talent side, he said an attrition of over 10% makes it more challenging and this ensures that there is a shortage of over 14,000 engineers at any point of time.

"I think we would at the moment, need about 20,000 people, including attrition... that is engineers," he said.

(With inputs from PTI)