Massive Layoff: 75,000 Employees Lose Jobs in TN Due Pandemic Crisis!

In the wake of the pandemic and crisis, workers who were engaged in the leather sector in Tamil Nadu's Vellore district are facing layoff in their firms.

Looking into districts like Vellore, Tirupathur and Ranipet- tanneries, shoe making units and allied industries have been providing employment to about 1.5 lakh workers in the state while most of them were women. The leather based firms are located in places like Ambur, Vaniyambadi, Ranipet, Visharam and Pernambut areas.

Due to the pandemic, about half of the workforce in the region have chosen to lay off workers. “Once the lockdown restrictions were relaxed in May, several companies resumed operations, but with only skeletal strength. Now many have been opting for layoffs. About 50 per cent of the workers have lost their jobs,” says J Ruban, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Trade Union Centre.

Currently, workers are struggling to cope with financial liabilities. “I have been working in a shoe making company for 28 years. Now, they are giving me work for just 5 days in a week,” worried 40-year-old N Kavitha of Pachaikuppam said.

Further opening up with the burden of a monthly installment of Rs 9,235 for a home loan she had availed, Kavitha said; “I have approached the bank branch and requested to defer collection of the installment until the situation eases.”

This layoff will have an adverse impact on their lives as most of the workers are from less privileged sections. “The impact of the pandemic on workers is very severe with the international supply chain getting affected. Most of them are from socially backward sections, and do not have alternative employment,” notes Pradeep Krishnan, project coordinator of CIVIDEP, an NGO working for the welfare of workers, as per Indian Express. 

“Many first generation workers had a lot of hope but the pandemic has dashed it,” he added. 

The pandemic has adversely affected the families in these specified areas as women have been shouldering the burden till date. But after losing their only mode of financial help, the future looks dark.