L&T Faces Massive Manpower Shortage Amid Labour, Engineer Exodus

L&T Group is experiencing a significant manpower shortage, struggling with a deficit of over 45,000 workers, including 30,000 labourers and 20,000 engineers. The issue is exacerbated by factors such as high attrition rates and employees moving abroad for better prospects. The company is working on mitigating tactics to address the crisis.

On Wednesday, Chairman S N Subrahmanyan of the diversified L&T Group revealed that the company is grappling with a substantial manpower shortage, lacking over 45,000 labourers and engineers across its operations.

The flagship engineering, procurement, and construction business faces a deficit of 25,000-30,000 labourers, while the information technology and IT-enabled services sector is short of 20,000 engineers, Subrahmanyan informed reporters.

This shortage is partly due to Indians seeking higher earnings overseas, in regions like Russia-Ukraine or Israel, as noted by A M Naik, chairman emeritus of L&T.

Despite efforts to employ 30,000 labourers, this is not the first instance the company has publicly addressed manpower challenges, with similar issues highlighted last year.

Subrahmanyan attributed the labour shortage to high demand for specific skills, client pressure to expedite projects, and external factors like elections and adverse weather patterns.

He mentioned that adverse weather has necessitated changes in working hours, limiting afternoon activities except for essential tasks.

The company is also providing transport, health drinks, and food at project sites to support its workforce, he added.

L&T boasts skill centres and other initiatives to mitigate these challenges, employing over 4 lakh skilled labourers in various roles across its projects.

On the engineering front, a 10% attrition rate further complicates the shortage, leaving the company with a deficit of 14,000 engineers at any given time.

Overall, L&T currently needs around 20,000 engineers to meet operational demands, Subrahmanyan stated.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)