Last month, Panasonic Corp announced it would be slashing 35,000 jobs globally as a part of its restructuring exercise. However, its Indian arm has said the company would be adding 3,000-4,000 people in the coming two years.
“There will be no impact of the global job cut on the Indian market as it is a high-growth market for us. On the contrary, we are looking to hire about 3,000-4,000-odd people,” Mr Daizo Ito, President, Panasonic India, told Business Line .
The durables and appliances firm is setting up a manufacturing facility for air-conditioners and washing machines in Jhajjar in Haryana. It will be operational by 2012. “A majority of the additional headcount will be added to the new facility,” he added.
At present, the company has about 12,000 people on its rolls. “We had 10,500 employees in 2010 across our operations in India and we will have 12,650 employees by the end of 2011 and 16,500 employees by 2012,” Mr Ito said.
Speaking on the company's growth plans for India, he said Panasonic is going aggressive not just with its products but also its distribution, service and branding exercise. The company competes with Korean chaebols LG and Samsung in categories such as LCDs and air-conditioners. It recently set up its first research and development centre (R&D) in Haryana.
“We are renewing our focus on small appliances such as hair dryers, besides entering new categories such as water-purifiers,” he said, adding the company has earmarked about Rs 600 crore towards its advertisement and marketing budgets.
Panasonic had posted a turnover of Rs 3,200 crore in FY2010. India currently contributes around 4 per cent to the company's global turnover.
The company plans to increase the share to 10 per cent by 2018. For the year ended March 31, 2010, Panasonic's global sales stood at $79.4 billion.