Telecom tower company GTL is said to be laying off 1,500 employees in a bid to trim its costs as it struggles to service its debt. According to people with direct knowledge, the company has asked a set of employees to leave by July 31 and another set to leave by August 31.
GTL owns 32,000 telecom towers and has 35,000 employees, according to the company website. Sources said the company has closed down several units and initiated a massive downsizing drive.
When asked the company spokesperson said he needed time to reply as top executives are travelling. “Some churning is happening as we are shifting our focus to the power business. However, there is no large scale lay off,” an official said.
GTL, which acquired Aircel’s tower business for $1 billion, is under a corporate debt restructuring (CDR) scheme under which lenders had agreed to let GTL repay its Rs 6,000 crore debt at 11% interest rate over 8 years.
{{/usCountry}}GTL, which acquired Aircel’s tower business for $1 billion, is under a corporate debt restructuring (CDR) scheme under which lenders had agreed to let GTL repay its Rs 6,000 crore debt at 11% interest rate over 8 years.
{{/usCountry}}GTL reported a consolidated loss of Rs 453 crore in 2011-12. According to another source, it has been laying off people for the last five months, and half of its total staff in Mumbai may have already left.
Its former employees are finding jobs hard to come by in view of the fact that the telecom sector is going through a rough phase, and practically no hiring is taking place.