Fresh recruitment or merger of offices needed for PSU non-life insurers

Chennai, June 9 With the merger of the three public sector non-life insurers shelved and with large scale retirements to happen, it is time for fresh hiring by them, said senior industry officials.

If recruitment is not possible, then the other option is to merge the offices divisional/branches and save on rental outgo and rebalance staff deployment, they added.

The central government a couple of years ago announced the merger of three general insurers viz., National Insurance Company Ltd, Oriental Insurance Company Ltd and United India Insurance Company Ltd and put a freeze on fresh recruitment.

Shelving the merger plan the government is planning to sell off about 50 per cent stake in one of the above insurers.

"The operating offices are short staffed, impacting customer service. Retirements of about 150-200 employees are happening in each company and this number is set to increase soon. There is a dire need to beef up the staff strength at the lower level," K. Govindan, General Secretary, General Insurance Employees All India Association