Air India has introduced a second round of early retirement schemes for employees, just a year after being taken over by the Tata group. The airline aims to reduce costs and trim its workforce. Mint reported that Air India planned to launch a new voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to enable a younger workforce and minimize staff costs. All permanent general cadre officers who have worked at Air India for at least five years and are over 40 years old are eligible for the new round of VRS, including clerical and unskilled employees. Those who apply for it from March 17th to April 30th will receive a one-time ex-gratia payment. Furthermore, eligible employees who apply by March 31st will receive an additional ₹1 lakh, along with the ex-gratia payment.
The airline introduced its first phase of VRS in June 2022, which was offered to 4,500 eligible employees above 40 years of age and with 20 years of continuous employment. Air India's announcement to its employees stated that they had received requests from employees to extend the additional benefits of voluntary retirement to other permanent employees. Around 1,500 employees accepted Air India's first VRS offer after privatization, during which the airline had 12,085 employees, including 8,084 permanent employees. In addition to reducing costs, Air India, which is 25.1% owned by Singapore Airlines, plans to hire new talent to accelerate its growth in both domestic and international aviation markets.
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