Army's loss, pvt. sectors' gain

PUNE: Army officers joining the corporate world is nothing new. The retail boom, however, has brought with it tempting job offers for army officers from industrial houses such as the Reliance and the Aditya Birla group.
With Bharti-Walmart announcing its foray into this sector, a senior official from the army’s directorate general of resettlement (DGR) described the retail boom as a "a high potential business area".What is driving this preference is the experience and expertise in supply chain management that men in uniform have.
Major General Harwant Krishnan, director general resettlement, acknowledged that the growth of the retail sector had opened new job avenues for army officers. Another DGR official said there have been inquiries from a number of retail companies including Piramal and RPG about army officers. Army officers, mostly in the rank of lieutenant colonel and colonel, have become the ‘preferred talent pool’ for most companies in the retail sector. While Reliance Retail, which runs the ‘Fresh’ stores, has hired 65 odd army officers, mostly serving as lieutenant colonels and colonels, in the past seven months, other retailers are also not far behind.
Comparing to an annual salary ranging between Rs 2.88 lakh and Rs 4 lakh and other facilities including accommodation, the men in uniform are being offered annual packages upwards of Rs 10-15 lakh by retail majors. This is for officers with experience of 13-18 years.