Religare Enterprises' distribution arm Religare Insurance Broking Ltd has retrenched close to 300 employees in the eastern region, mainly in Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The company, which has a headcount of 700, distributes products related to insurance, mutual funds, demat accounts and fixed deposits.

A spokesperson for Religare Enterprises said there was no coercion on the part of the company and that the employees had moved out on their own. In a statement to Business Line, the company said this was part of its annual performance appraisal exercise. “It has been observed that over a period of time most of the people who consistently fall short of the laid down performance benchmarks decide to move on. Also, a spike in attrition post every appraisal cycle is not uncommon in the industry.” The exits are no different and are reflective of this phenomenon coupled with some basic structural changes that the company has initiated in the operating business model, the statement said.

According to market analysts, shrinking brokerage fees and narrowing margins in the financial services business are driving broking houses to trim workforce. . An increase in the share of derivatives (which fetch lower brokerage than cash transactions) in the total traded volumes has not helped matters either.

Religare Insurance employees allege that they were forced to put in their papers and that many of them quit because they were not assigned any roles. Most of those who left were relationship, branch, area or zonal managers. No written termination is being provided, claimed an employee.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW