NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries Ltd has reduced its workforce by 11% in FY24 in its cost-efficiency bid with the retail segment witnessing the highest number of job cuts, according to the company’s latest statement.
Retail sector had 207,552 employees last fiscal year, representing about 60% of RIL’s total workforce. This figure was down from 245,581 employees in FY23, Economic Times reported.
Reliance Jio also experienced a decrease in its workforce with employee numbers falling from 95,326 in FY23 to 90,067 in FY24.
“Overall voluntary separations in FY24 are lower than FY23. The retail industry typically has a high employee turnover rate, especially in store operations,” the company said in a report.
Talking about the restructuring, broking firm analyst told Economic Times, “The new lines of businesses (at Reliance) have matured now and have significant support from digital initiatives. Now they are at a stage to better manage the operations with optimum strength.”
“It doesn’t mean that the numbers (of headcount) won’t increase when new business opportunities emerge and strategy changes. They understand very well how to drive cost management and efficiency,” the analyst added.
In FY23, Reliance Retail increased its physical store network by over 3,300 new locations, bringing the total to 18,040 by the end of the year. In FY24, the store count rose to 18,836, reflecting a net addition of approximately 800 stores after accounting for closures of unviable locations.