New Delhi based real estate firm Omaxe laid off 70 employees, while slashing 10 percent of the salaries from the rest. “Salaries of all employees except those who earn Rs.10, 000 or less a month have been reduced,” said an Omaxe spokesperson.

The slowdown in the real estate market triggered the retrenchment steps, as the company’s net profit declined to Rs.20.38 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2008, from Rs.160.35 crore in the year-ago period. The realty firm has seen a drop in its total income from Rs.712.11 crore last fiscal to Rs.213.48 crore in the current fiscal.

The continuous attack of slowdown left other firms resort to similar measures like realty firm, Parsvnath has also reduced the salaries of the employees at top and middle level management by up to 20 percent. The basic slowdown is witnessed in housing segment as the economic crisis has pumped up the interest rates for any loan taken. Confederation of Real Estate Developer’s Associations of India (CREDAI) and National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), the real estate industrial body, have suggested the members to slash the prices of their properties as a remedy to the slowing demand. The suggestion was infact, made by the former Finance Minister P Chidambaram to prevent piling up of inventories.

Popularity: 14% [?]