Gopal Vittal took over as CEO at Airtel India in January last year and the resignations follow a number of others over the past 12 months.
The five leaving executives are thought to include: Jyoti Pawar, Airtel’s head of legal and regulatory affairs; Sukesh Jain, CMO of Airtel’s enterprise business; Vikas Singh and Mohit Parasher, heads of the company’s retail outlets; and Rohit Gothi, head of Airtel Delhi.
Vittal’s appointment as CEO has seen Airtel’s first quarterly profit rise in four years, but it seems that some in the company have been uncomfortable with the resulting changes.
Vittal’s changes include a heavier focus on consolidation and cutting costs, and a spokesperson for Airtel said that although they anticipated some resignations as a result, the latest exits in particular were not expected.
“People like Jyoti and Sukesh were very much in the right books, but with such mass churn happening, many executives have started feeling uncomfortable in the new landscape shaping up here,” an unnamed spokesperson told reporters.
Sukesh Jain had been with the company for 14 years and although he could not be reached for comment to confirm, he is expected to be moving to a senior role at Samsung India.
Vittal’s role is expected to expand to cover Airtel’s Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi operations on April 1.
