IndianOil to see half of staff retire by 2021
New Delhi   24-Feb-2012

IndianOil is set to lose about 16,000 IOCians by 2021. In order to counter the mass exodus that will happen due to retirement of IOCians over the next eight years, the 50-year-old company will be outsourcing some of its “peripheral” jobs and services.

“Between 2012 and 2021, we will be losing half of our 34,000-strong workforce,” Ashok Jambur, chief training manager (refineries divisions) at IndianOil, told The Indian Express on the sidelines of the National HRD Conclave organised in Vadodara by the Federation of Gujarat Industries (FGI).

The retirement will be across the board and will include both white and blue-collared workers.Jambur conceded that the future recruitment would be a challenge for the company. “We will recruit through campus recruitment, advertisements and placement agencies,” he said.

An Ernst and Young study conducted in 2010 on the human resources challenges faced by India’s oil and gas sector had cautioned about retirements that will happen in the core functions.It said that the IndianOil and gas sector was facing competition in the talent market not only from other sectors but also from global oil and gas companies that are targeting premier Indian engineering institutes.

“We will also outsource some of the jobs and services like transportation, maintenance, canteen facilities etc,” Jambur said. IndianOil sources said the company might also consider hiring some of its retired IOCians on a contractual basis.