With PSUs in the reckoning in the wake of the economic downturn, the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) feels that the time is right to get back its former employees.

The Navratna defence PSU has been assiduously wooing its former employees to return and has launched a campaign to get them all back. For the last six months, HAL has been engaged in an advertisement blitzkrieg in leading publications, welcoming old hands with open arms.

"HAL has received several hundreds of applications from former employees in the last six months, particularly in critical areas, where finding younger talent is tough in these difficult times," a senior HAL.

HAL had been losing trained and experienced employees to the private sector in the last decade due to the boom in the aerospace industry witnessed by the country. "But in the last few months, due to retrenchments and job losses in the private sector caused by the economic recession, government jobs have become more attractive," the HAL official said.

"And we certainly want to cash in on the trained human resources pool made available in the market by the economic downturn," he said, explaining the trend. The ad campaign had germinated as a great idea and the top management in HAL decided to implement it with immediate effect, he added.

" Of course, recalling former employees back into the organisation was not an easy decision, what with human resource management and clash of interests of existing employees posing greater problems," the official said.

"Some of the younger employees have grown in the organisation after some seniors had resigned and left HAL. When these seniors return, where do we post them? The old hands will return only for better pay scales and grades. We are debating it and will soon find an answer," he said.