Deja vu: Fear of labour migration haunts cos again | Economic Times

Companies across hospitality, retail, consumer and auto sectors fear labour could migrate to villages once again after steep rise in new Covid-19 cases in several cities and subsequent restrictions and lockdowns in a few states. Reverse migration has already begun in restaurants and the retail sector in cities such as Mumbai and Delhi, which companies say could trickle down to other segments.But the manufacturing and construction sectors, which are fully functional, have not seen any flight of labour so far.“With many people from hospitality and retail already traveling back to villages, we anticipate similar movement in ancillary industries either in supply chain or packaging. So far, manufacturing has not been affected but we are planning for contingencies,” Parle Products senior category head Krishnarao Buddha said.National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) said employees mostly in Mumbai and Delhi are going back to villages not just due to outlet closures and strict timings but also to avoid any inconvenience or restrictions in travelling back similar to what they faced last year.81943438“While it is a cause of concern, we don't expect business to be impacted massively once restaurants re-open or timings relaxed as there won't be a surge in footfalls from day one,” said Anurag Katriar, president at NRAI.Shortage in Labour ForceAccording to a report by Elara Capital, nearly 75-80% of the labour that had reverse migrated returned to their place of work while the rest either do not wish to return or have not managed to get viable opportunities for work. As a result, there is already a shortage in the labour force after last year’s lockdown.Apex retail body Retailers Association of India (RAI) CEO Kumar Rajagopalan said with a month's closure in Maharashtra, most retail store workers will migrate back to their native places. "Getting them back will be again a challenge. It's a complete lockdown scenario for retailers in the state and the same issues of last year will crop up," he said.Vibhooti Prasad, president of Mumbai Mobile Retailers Welfare Association, which represents 3,500 cell phone retailers in the city, said every store employs at least 7-8 people of which half are from rural areas who are migrating back.Companies claimed they are better prepared this time around and don't expect significant hurdles in operations except last mile delivery.