Only a few months away from the scheduled launch of 4G services in March 2015, Reliance Jio Infocomm is expected to go on a hiring spree. The company is believed to be looking to hire about 3,000 people at regional levels for its retail stores and distribution chains.
Reliance Jio acquired its first 4G license along with airwaves in 2010 through an auction. Since then, the company has been working on creating a foolproof go-to-market strategy. The 4G high-speed broadband services are supported by a INR 70,000 crores investment made by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) which includes the INR24,000 crores spent on airwaves.
Reliance Jio has been awarded spectrum in the 2300 MHz band across all 22 circles for its telecom services and the 1800 MHz band for 14 circles.
High Profile Appointments by Reliance Jio
During the lead-up to the rollout, the company had already made some high-profile recruitments. Recently, there was news of the appointment of Rainer Deutschmann from Deutsche Telekom. He will be heading major product and service innovations for the company.
In addition to this, two former executives from Google have also joined Reliance Jio in contributing to the company’s efforts to build a global team with specialized skills in digital media. 6 months ago, former sales head for the Middle East, North Africa & Adriatics at Google Ireland, Neeraj Bansal has joined Reliance Jio as Chief Marketing Officer, Mobility. Also, Google’s former Country Marketing Head (India) Nikhil Rungta joined Reliance Jio as Marketing Head for the fixed-line business that consists of hi-speed broadband, digital services and fibre-to-the-home services.
Shift in Recruitment Priorities
A person familiar with the hiring processes said that while the company has been on a hiring spree in the past, this one is different. Before, Reliance Jio was hiring people with skills in planning and now it is looking for talent capable of executing these strategies. This shift indicates the advancement of the company in the “rolling out” phase of its services.
A Reliance Jio spokesperson said, “As we begin to spread our geographical operations, hiring is an intrinsic part of our build process.” He further added, “It is obvious given the shape and size of our business, we envisage that with our nationwide operations, we will be potentially employing a large number of people.”
In the latest round of recruitments, the company is prioritizing employees with experience in Aditya Birla Group’s Idea Cellular. Idea Cellular took on established players such as Bharti Airteland Vodafone India by starting services in 8 regions only and moving on to expanding pan-India. Candidates that are familiar with new operations and countering incumbents are being given preference.
While Vinay Razdan, the Chief HR Officer at Idea Cellular refused to comment on their competitor’s hiring strategies, he said that Idea Cellular as a philosophy favors cultural comfort over last-minute retention policies. He says, “Even in the peak, when people were quitting after the 2008 period, we changed our policy from half-yearly promotions to annual ones, because we deliver our promise but believe the employees should also believe in Idea.”
In addition to this, Reliance Jio is considering lateral hires from other existing telecom operators as well.