Tata employees fear job security, say ‘If this can happen to the Chairman, it can happen to anyone’

The firing of Cyrus Mistry as the chairman of Tata Sons has left the employees of the group shocked as Tata Group never followed the ‘hire and fire’ mantra. Employees always believed on job security at Tata and now all they feel is ‘if this can happen to the chairman of the company, it can happen to anyone’.

"This is not the Tata way of doing things. If this can happen to a chairman, it's safe to assume it can happen again, at any level," a senior executive from Jamshedpur told ET.

Regarding the Mistry issue, a joke surfaced on many social media platforms like, “Kitne bhi bade ho jao, job security toh sirf government job mein hi hai!”

Employees of Jamshedpur are mainly shocked with the news and fears regarding job security has surfaced in offices across the city as Jamshedpur used to be the centre of power for Tata Group until in 1990s and after that the group expanded under Ratan Tata and Bombay House emerged as the locus of power. As per the employees, there is a huge communication gap in Jamshedpur and whatever information about employees they receive is through media or hearsay.

"We did not receive any formal intimation. A news link broke the news to most of us here and then forwards from colleagues started. It did make us wonder why some colleagues in Tata Sons had received the email signed by Ratan Tata and we didn't," another executive from Jamshedpur told ET.

"First, we thought someone had hacked the website and put the release up. This is just unbelievable for the Tatas. There has been no official communication other than the press releases even to us," a Tata executive said.

While, social media has been adding fuel to the fire in this whole issue, lack of communication from the management, rumours are flying thick and fast, sometimes bordering on the bizarre.

"I heard someone say that the institutional bondholders had asked Ratan Tata to step in. No one knows, so everyone is guessing. But we all feel very bad that this happening. If this goes to court and there is a fight there, then this would be very embarrassing. This is the Tata Group, not Reliance," a second executive told ET.