Contract workers face job loss risks on fuel, input supply woes, ETHRWorld
NEW DELHI: Fuel and raw material supply constraints, which have forced shutdowns in certain segments of manufacturing, especially small businesses, may hurt contractual and gig workers.
Some signs of strain are visible in certain sectors, including steel, automotive, textiles, pharma, medical devices as fuel supply, input cost and availability (shortage) bite into operations, industry representatives and HR experts told .
Restaurants, quick service restaurants (QSRs) and cloud kitchens are also feeling the heat, with the LPG crisis forcing many to curtail operations or shut down temporarily.
The disruption has forced larger players to halt operations and switch to alternate fuels, according to stock exchange filings by certain companies. Kirloskar Ferrous Industries resumed one of its plants on March 21 after an LPG-driven shutdown, while Jubilant FoodWorks, which operates Domino’s, is accelerating a shift to electricity and piped natural gas.
While no hard data is available yet on the scale of job losses, multiple companies and industry experts across sectors confirmed the trend.
“Supply chain disruptions triggered by the LPG crisis are beginning to hit a wide swathe of MSME clusters and labourintensive sectors. Small and medium automotive component makers, critical to the car industry’s supply chain, are among those worst affected, given their dependence on gas. Ceramics hubs, such as Khurja and glass clusters like Firozabad, have seen production slowdowns and even shutdowns, while operations in Agra’s units are impacted. Glass, packaging, paints and plastics are facing supply shortages, with a cascading effect on downstream industries, including automobile and pharma. In Moradabad’s brassware cluster and Coimbatore’s small foundries, rising input costs and weak demand, particularly for pumps and cast iron components, are compounding the stress. The textiles sector, too, is grappling with higher fuel costs,” said Ashok Saigal, chairman of CII National MSME Council.Foundry units in the south operated at nearly 50% capacity during March, while the paint cluster in Aurangabad were also disrupted. Adding to the strain is migrant labour distress, with LPG (cooking gas) cylinder refill costs surging from around Rs 150 to Rs 450 per kg, many workers are opting to return to their villages, deepening labour shortages, he added.
The pressure is equally visible in India’s gig economy. The gig workforce is estimated at around 1.2 crore, a majority concentrated in last-mile delivery and those with cab aggregators, making this segment particularly sensitive to both demand shocks and workforce fluctuations, says Balasubramanian A, senior VP with TeamLease Services, an HR firm.
“Platforms are likely to push toward multi-category roles for workers, reducing dependence on a single segment like food delivery. Also, during elections, harvest seasons and key festivals, a section of workers typically returns to home states, further tightening availability. With polls this month in several states, this (labour) pool could get tightened,” he said.
“While no immediate structural change is expected from companies, gig workers are already adversely impacted by the slowdown in operations,” says Sonal Agrawal, managing partner, Accord India/AltoPartners.
Organisations are currently moving beyond reactive measures toward a more resilient recalibration of their workforce models, particularly within the gig and delivery ecosystems, says Yeshab Giri, chief commercial officer, operational talent solutions, Randstad India, a talent company.
