Of late, the best-known manufacturing plant in the Sriperumbudur sprawl, albeit a small part of it, is Nokia’s plant. And for all the wrong reasons.

The plant, once the Finnish handset-maker’s biggest in the world, was at the very heart of the special economic zone, almost its pulse. The Nokia Telecom SEZ park covers a little over 200 acres and employed over 30,000 workers at its peak.

At that time, over 100 vehicles ferried employees to and from Nokia every day, with employees coming from areas as distant as Tiruvallur, South Arcot and North Arcot, said a former employee.

So, Nokia’s decline, as well as news of the sale and then the failed transfer of the plant to Microsoft hit employees and other enterprises and individuals who depended on the plant to earn a living, hard.

Ancillaries hit

The worst affected among Nokia’s ancillary businesses are those transporting workers and cargo. Nokia has stopped providing transport to and from work for its remaining 850 staff members while shipping of finished products has almost come to a standstill, said a security official at the entrance to the SEZ.

Logistics company DHL, Nokia’s long-standing global business partner, refuses to comment on how much business it has lost from the Chennai factory.

‘No Nokia effect’

But other companies claim that nothing has changed. “Our plant in Sriperumbudur is operating as usual. There’s no Nokia effect,” says Valerie Kurniawan, Asia representative for marketing and corporate communications at Flextronics, a supply chain solutions company. Nokia was a major customer of the company.

Salcomp and Liteonmobile, two electronics companies that supplied Nokia, among other handset makers, continue to have operations in Sriperumbudur, supplying parts to other global clients.

Overall, officials of leading companies in the special economic zone say it’s business as usual.

Others take pains to point out that the Nokia Telecom SEZ is but a drop in this ocean of industries in and around Sriperumbudur. The developments at Nokia were unprecedented for the region, they point out, but still one-off events. Many believe that those who have lost jobs at Nokia will easily be able to find employment in the numerous electronic and other industrial units spread over the area.

Community morale

What other employers do worry about, however, is the effect on the morale of those still working in Sriperumbudur. “It is a small community here. Most employees hail from in and around the region and know each other,” says an official with a big manufacturer. The shock of seeing friends losing their jobs suddenly has hit them all hard.

Aditya Narayan Mishra, President (Staffing) at HR firm Randstad India, admits that the thousands who left Nokia will be hard-pressed to find other jobs, leading to a much higher social impact in the region. “But this effect has been minimised a bit by the VRS option, as it provides interim financial stability,” says Mishra.

comment COMMENT NOW