Opportunity In Adversity

In an upfront interaction, G.S. Ramesh, Founder and Chairman of the Layam Group shares with Ashish Bhatia the need to scout for your opportunity in adversity, referring to the employment landscape in the automotive manufacturing and services sector.

- Ashish Bhatia

Q. Give us an insight into how the Layam Group business has evolved over the years and how have you aligned to the present-day employment landscape of the automotive manufacturing and services sector?

A. Conceived over two decades ago, the idea was to leverage my experience in setting up the Hyundai Motors, Chennai plant. My observation is that Human Resource (HR) is prioritised on a need-based use case scenario instead of looking at with a long term lens as the standardised need of any organisation. We studied the outlook on human capital employment. It clicked to us that there was a dire need to sensitise people about the importance of HR. For me, HR needs are underlined by the practice of sustaining honesty in a relationship with the human capital brought on board to join the respective team. It has to be looked upon as the most crucial asset for any business.

When we looked at the employment landscape across the country, we found more than three and a half lakh candidates entering the market. They were not job-ready when seen through the conventional lens. They included dropouts (technical and or general). I started to focus on these candidates at a time no one bothered to create an opportunity for them. I created a business model for clients in the engineering industry, for instance. Allaying fears of unskilled labour impacting quality at that point and time, the company shortlisted these so-called unfit candidates and streamlined them to perform as contract manpower. While giving back to society in my way, the industry also began to reap the benefits of this additional manpower that was erstwhile sidelined.

Q. A recent report from the CEDA estimates the job loss in the manufacturing sector at 31.7 per cent for FY2021. How do see the landscape changing in the near to medium term?