MUMBAI: Eaton, a major engine valve supplier to auto majors such as Mahindra, Tata Motors, Honda and Ford has been facing a talent exodus. Around 8 functional heads in key positions have quit in the last 15 months accusing the parent company of unfair business practices, confusing directives from Shanghai & US and the India operations running as a 'remote control' by the US headquarters.
Deepak Sharma, the long time anchor behind the electrical business out of Delhi recently quit. The Pimpri based hydraulics business head Nitin Chalke has been designated as the country head replacing Raja Kochar. The Ahmed Nagar & Nasik based automotive business head Ramchandran Rao left, engineering centre head Arun Jaura quit in March this year. Some of the other senior officials who quit, include Neeraj Goel, country finance head, Naren Nair the country HR head and Adesh Jain the country legal counsel. Some of the existing officials in Eaton Indiaare currently multi-tasking at all levels since the company is unable to attract senior and lateral talent anymore.
The Indiansubsidiary is also in the tax net for executing unauthorized work for local OEMs through the
SEZ leading to disillusionment among employees , said people close to the development.
Eaton clarifies that India is a major market and forms a key part of its overall global business strategy. Over the last 12 months, workforce in India has grown by over 16%. Overall attrition rates are amongst the lowest and have retained above 86% of its key functional leaders over the last twelve to eighteen months. It has also groomed many to take up positions of higher responsibility within the organization. Even where we have experienced attrition, most of the positions have been filled through promotions of our internal talent - which include the managing director for India and the vice president of the India Engineering Center, said Nitin Chalke, MD India, Eaton Technologies.
People in the know said that the Indiansubsidiary has not only been unable to engage and retain senior talent but has seen supplies drop by more than 30% to all the major OEMs (customers of Eaton) . Many of Eaton's customers are now starting to work with alternative vendors because of the fear of closure of some Eatonfacilities soon.
ET spoke to some of the senior officials who quit the company on conditions of anonymity and has learnt that Eatonhas not been making any fresh investments in Indiaand the lack of ethics is leading to loss of good talent. There are also fears of the automotive units being sold soon and severe downsizing of the engineering center in aerospace, vehicle and hydraulics.
Meanwhile, the tax authorities are understood to be pursuing Eaton India for booking 'super profits' from their SEZ engineering and shared services from FY 2006-07 which estimates to more ($100mn) Rs 600 crore. "Eaton is ensuring that it is in full compliance with all tax laws in all the jurisdictions where we operate. The tax issue is currently in litigation with the appropriate Indian tax authorities and are unable to comment on this, "said Chalke.
Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com