State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is looking at filling 700 positions at deputy general manager and higher grades to prevent a collapse of the state-owned telecom company, a top company executive with direct knowledge told ET.
The company lost more than 90% of its top managers last month. It is exploring ways to woo back telecom professionals from the Indian Telecom Service (ITS) cadre.
"The board is about to approve an emergency recruitment plan to cherry pick some 700 senior managers at the levels of DGM and above from the ITS pool," said a top BSNL executive. The board is scheduled to meet later this week.
BSNL had recorded staggering losses of 6,384 crore for the year ended March 2011. Cash-strapped company had 1,300-plus ITS officers who were deputed to it nearly 11 years ago when the telco was carved out as a separate corporate entity from the DoT. Last month, barring 13 officers, virtually the entire ITS cadre comprising executives in the ranks of DGM, GM, PGM and CGM opted to return to the telecom department, robbing BSNL of its middle and senior management.
While over 300-odd ITS officers have already reported to the telecom department's technical wing, the Telecom Engineering Centre, most don't have much work. It is precisely this situation that the BSNL leadership is trying to cash-in by setting in motion a special emergency recruitment drive to buy back the best ITS talent that is available. A selection board will shortly be constituted to complete the process in the next three months.
"We are looking at hiring 400 executives in the rank of DGM and another 300-odd in the rank of GM and above. We will only target ITS officers in the first phase. In case, the numbers prove hard to come by, we will have to take the more expensive route of poaching top industry talent from the private sector," said another BSNL executive familiar with the matter.
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