HMT to lay off 2,900 workers at Bengaluru unit

The woes for Karnataka’s HMT (previously known as Hindustan Machine Tools) seem to continue. The HMT Group Chairman has now stated that 2,900 staff from the company will be laid off. The 2,900 of the 4,500 strong workforce will be offered a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS), he added.

HMT International, HMT Machine Tools and HMT Holding Co. is expected to be merged into one company. The central government had decided in December 2014 that three subsidiaries running under loss will be shut down, and the remaining will be made into one unit. The employees laid off will reportedly be given a hefty VRS.

PS Chandrasekhar, president of the HMT Head Office Employees Association, has alleged that the government has not paid them salaries for the last 17 months and is also not offering the employees VRS.