HR Headlines : December, 2007

Gender Bias Prevelant In The IT Sector: Study

A study conducted by NASSCOM and IIM-Ahmedabad has shown that women managers in the IT sector are still battling the glass ceiling. It has found that at the entry level, the number of female entrants is 42 percent but at the top, the number tumbles down. Less than 10 per cent of the top managers in the sector are women. The women included in the study feel that recruitment, appraisals and job opportunities are gender-biased. Over 40 per cent of the women professionals who responded to the study say they prefer women team leaders, while 60 per cent say they want more women executives involved in decision-making to make the process more gender-sensitive. The respondents also felt that managers should be made more accountable for gender-focused results.
Source: 15-12-07 www.ibnlive.com



New UK Visa Restrictions To Hit IT Sector
The UK government has issued new visa guidelines under which it has scrapped the 70-80 criteria that enabled potential immigrants to obtain a UK visa. As per the new rules, applicants have to fall under one of the five categories, namely, highly skilled individuals, skilled workers with a job offer to fill gaps in the UK labour force, low-skilled workers to fill specific temporary labour shortages, students and people going to the UK for mainly non-economic objectives. Also, the tenure of tourist visa has been halved to three months. The new guidelines will impact Indian IT companies with the ’body shopping’ business model. Under this model, manpower resources are provided to the local markets but the UK government feels that it hampers job creation for natives.
Source: 17-12-07 Hindu Business Line



Rising Wages Add To The Woes Of ITeS, BPO industry
The ITeS and BPO industry, already reeling under the problems of rupee appreciation and shortage of skilled manpower, is now feeling the pinch of rising salary levels. Majority of the ITeS and BPO companies consider rising salary levels as the major concern affecting the future growth of the industry. Removal of tax sops is another area of worry. To keep a check on high attrition, industry players are taking effective steps. They are entering into non-poaching agreements with peers and building a central database of employees. To counter the problem of talent crunch, companies have already started exploring other emerging markets like Eastern Europe, Latin American countries, a move which could also take care of rupee appreciation to a certain extent.
Source: 16-12-07 www.zeenews.com




Exporters Suggest Ways To Stop Job Losses Due To Appreciating Rupee
The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) is in favour of a long-term policy against the rising rupee to contain heavy job losses. Exporters have retrenched 30,000 regular employees and 100,000 contract labourers, following the appreciation of the rupee against the dollar. They have suggested a corpus to refinance banks for covering their hedging charges. The federation’s President, Mr Ganesh Kumar Gupta, has suggested that the dollar rates relevant for some schemes should be fixed. He has also urged the government to ask banks to reduce the general interest rate by 100-125 basis points.
Source: 16-12-07 www.telegraphindia.com



Sixth Pay Commission Holds Good News For Govt Employees
In an effort to retain efficient staff from shifting to the private sector, the government is likely to announce good salaries for its employees in the Sixth Pay Commission report. Union MoS for Urban Development Mr Ajay Maken has said that both Prime Minister and Finance Minister are in favour of providing comprehensive and good salary packages to employees, thus underscoring the importance of efficient employees for good governance. The Fifth Pay Commission was formed in April 1994 and its financial impact was Rs 17,000 crore.
Source: 16-12-07 Financial Express



Entries Invited For DMA – Erehwon Award for Innovative HR Initiatives
Delhi Management Association (DMA) and Erehwon Innovation Consulting are inviting entries from companies, NGOs, government bodies and enterprises to apply for the prestigious DMA – Erehwon Award for Innovative HR Initiatives. The award aims to recognize and felicitate those who have taken an HR idea from concept to reality. Apart from celebrating HR initiatives, the Award also aims to be a reference point in Cross learning. The awards process has been deliberately architected to strengthen the tenets of transparency and rigor. The last date for receiving completed entries is 24th December 2007. The awards will be held on 11th April, 2008 in Delhi. For more details about the process, evaluation criteria and the application forms, please visit www.erehwonconsulting.com or dmadelhi.org or write to awards@erehwonconsulting.com.
Source: 20-12-07 DMA

SBI Planning VRS For 40,000 Employees
The State Bank of India (SBI) is considering the proposal to introduce a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for over 40,000 staff members employed as its subordinate staff in the next financial year. The proposed scheme will give a chance to those employees, who find it challenging to work in a computerised environment and competitive market conditions, to opt for retirement. The VRS will not be open for the clerical or officer cadre. SBI's total employee strength is around 2,00,000. The payable amount to employees opting for VRS will be calculated by taking into account their number of years of service and the remaining period.
Source: 17-12-07 www.rediff.com


Mr Nakanishi Replaces Mr Khattar At Maruti
Mr Shinzo Nakanishi has replaced Mr Jagdish Khattar as Managing Director of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. Mr Khattar, a former bureaucrat, has retired after eight years at the helm of the company. 60 year old Mr Nakanishi has been the Non-Executive Chairman of the company for five years. He is the first Japanese national to hold the post of Managing Director of the company. Mr Nakanishi, who joined Suzuki Motor in 1971, will have a term of five years if his contract is continually renewed, because the retirement age at the firm is 65. As MD, his major task will be to to defend Maruti’s 50% market share in Asia’s third largest automobile market, India.
Source: 18-12-07 www.livemint.com


DMA Summit On ‘Compensation & Benefits – Going Global’
DMA is organizing a two day high profile Summit on ‘Compensation & Benefits – Going Global’ on 11-12 January, 2008 at Hotel Le Meridien, New Delhi. The Summit will facilitate a diagnostic comparison between the existing and the emerging trends in C & B practices both locally and globally, for divergent industry segment. The eminent speakers invited for the summit are Mr Amit Chincholikar, Mr Pavan Bhatia, Mr Sanjay Singh, Mr A Sudhakar, Mr Chandan Chattaraj, Mr Gopi Nambiar, Dr Y V Verma, Mr Shantanu Banerjee, Mr V C Agrawal, Mr G K Agarwal, Mr G Ohja, Dr A K Balyan, Mr Aquil Busrai, Mr Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Dr C S Ventakaratnam, Dr Pritam Singh, Mr Jagdeep Khandpur, Mr Mark Thompson and Mr P Dwarakanath, eminent consultants from Price Waterhouse Coopers, Hewitt Associates and Ma Foi.

For further registration/sponsorship, please contact Mr Rajan Pandhi, Assistant Director, DMA, Mobile 9810877615, 24629555, 26629552, Email: dmadelhi@sify.com or dmadelhi@ndb.vsnl.net.in DMA Website : www.dmadelhi.org
Source: 19-12-07 DMA

The India HR Summit 2008 “Targeting Excellence – The HR Way”
HR issues are at the forefront of today’s business. The face of HR has been changing gradually and HR, as a function, has increased its presence in Indian Industry. Consequently, the role of the HR department – previously conceived more as an administrative function – is being redefined and capacity building exercises for “People Professionals” have to be comprehensively and rapidly boosted. To discuss these issues, THE INDIA HR SUMMIT, 2008 will be held on January 12, 2008 at PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi.

PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
PHD House, 4/2 Siri Institutional Area,
August Kranti Marg, New Delhi 110016
Source: 20-12-07 Birla Institute of Management Technology


Export Of Engineering Goods Dips Leading To Job Losses
A study conducted by the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) on 30 high and low value engineering companies has shown that the exports of products manufactured by the engineering sector has gone down, leading to job losses, This decline has come despite the engineering goods sector registering an export growth of 22 per cent (dollar terms) in the April-July period of this year. However, in the April-October period, 2,868 jobs were lost, which has been attributed to the decline in export orders.
Source: 18-12-07 www.rediff.com



Upcoming Brokerages Tempt Senior Execs From MNCs
Using equity stakes as bait, new and upcoming brokerages are luring analysts and senior executives from foreign brokerage houses and leading local equity broking firms. The soaring valuations of broking houses have made such offers quite tempting for senior executives to leave their existing jobs in MNC broking houses to build teams in new and upcoming brokerages. Recently, local brokerage houses such as Way2Wealth, Fortune Financial Services, Antique Stock Broking, Centrum Capital, Avendus Capital and Ambit Capital have managed to poach senior staff from leading foreign brokerages by offering them meaningful equity stakes.
Source: 16-12-07 Business Standard




IOM Urges Nations To Ensure Rights Of Global Migrant Labour
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has exhorted nations to frame cooperative and comprehensive policies to make sure the rights of migrants and temporary contractual workers are protected, thus enabling successful management of global mobility. On International Migrants’ Day, the IOM Direct-General Mr Brunson McKinley said that the protection of the human rights of migrants and of temporary contractual workers is vital to secure full economic and human potential. He believed that an effectively managed international labour mobility can play an important role in helping migrants acquire knowledge and skills which can promote development in the home country. He also said that inter-state dialogue and cooperation on labour mobility are important for economic, developmental and social progress.
Source: 18-12-07 www.rediff.com



New Chinese Labour Law To Push Up Business Costs
A new labour contract law by the Chinese government is likely to increase labour costs by 8% next year. As a result, many firms may be forced to shift work inland provinces or out of China altogether. The new law will also require firms to give open-ended contracts to staff who have worked for 10 years or have completed two fixed-term contracts. It will also make it mandatory for the firms to pay sacked employees a month’s wages for every year they have worked.
Source: 19-12-07 The Financial Express



New US Fed Law May Pose Trouble For Indian Airline Cos
The Indian airline industry, already facing a crunch of qualified pilots, may have a tough time ahead. A new law passed by the US government and called Fair Treatment for Experienced Pilots Act allows both the pilot and co-pilot on a domestic flight to be up to the age of 65 years. This may make it difficult for airline companies in India to recruit retired expatriate pilots to meet growing shortages. Earlier, the cut-off age was 60 years for US pilots. Thus, it was easier for Indian carriers to hire US pilots since commercial pilots in India can fly till the age of 65. Out of over 800 foreign pilots in India, about 5 per cent of are above 60 years and from the US.
Source: 18-12-07 www.rediff.com



Capgemini To Exceed Its Recruitment Target In India
The Indian arm of the French IT consulting and offshoring major, Capgemini Consulting, is all set to meet its 2010 hiring target ahead of time. As per the original plans, the company wanted to hire 40,000 by 2010. But now it is looking at recruiting 30,000 employees by the end of 2008. If the target is achieved significantly, Capgemini would be second to IBM, which had around 53,000 employees in the country at the end of last year, which is expected to go up to 73,000 by the end of this year. Currently, Capgemini has 17,000 people in India, the second largest after France.
Source: 18-12-07 offshoreindianews.blogspot.com



Pfizer Facing Manpower Shortage In Clinical Research
With the explosion of new drugs being developed globally, companies like Pfizer are doing multi-location trials in an attempt to hit the markets quickly. However, it is faced with a lack of quality clinical research professionals. To deal with the shortage , Pfizer India’s CR division has started the Academy for Clinical excellence in a tie up with the Bombay College of Pharmacy and Suven Pharma. Currently, Pfizer is conducting 44 trials in India and by 2008, the company will hold more trials here exceeding those in China.
Source: 19-12-07 Hindu Business Line



IBM Hiring Big Time In BRIC Countries
International Business Machines Corp is on a hiring spree in the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China, with most of the growth coming in India and China. IBM’s total work force in these countries will approach 100,000 people by the end of the year, up from about 85,000 at the end of 2006. In 2006, IBM employed 355,000 people around the world. This year, the company’s headcount in India is likely to reach 73,000 people, up from 52,000 last year. Employment in China will touch 13,000, up about 30 per cent from 10,000 last year.
Source: 18-12-07 www.sify.com



Goodyear India Gets New MD
Mr Prabhakar Jain has been appointed as the Managing Director of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. He will take charge from February 1, 2008. Formerly, Mr Jain was the Managing Director and General Manager of Sales of Thailand-based ICI Paints Asia. He has 29 years of international experience and holds an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur. The current MD at Goodyear India, Mr Antonio Capellini, will move on to a new assignment in a similar position at Goodyear Colombia.
Source: 17-12-07 Hindu Business Line



GFH Project To Create 3 Lakh Jobs In Maharashtra
The Gulf Finance House Project coming up in Maharashtra is expected to create three lakh jobs in the state. The state government has done a $10 billion Economic Development Zone agreement with the Bahrain-based investment bank. With this project, Maharashtra is trying to regain its earlier status as an investment-friendly hub.
Source: 16-12-07 DNA



Pay Raise Of Non-Exec Directors Doesn’t Improve Effectiveness: Survey
A survey among directors of over 100 companies has revealed that an increase in the remuneration of non-executive directors has shown least impact on the working of company boards. It is estimated that the remuneration of these directors has increased more than 50 percent during the last two years. The report also said that apart from higher remuneration, other ways to improve the effectiveness of the boards are interaction with management outside board meetings, better understanding of the business of the company and seeking the views of all stake holders.
Source: 18-12-07 Hindu Business Line


Standard Chartered and SPJIMR Introduce Corporate Banking Training
Standard Chartered Bank and S P Jain Institute of Management Studies and Research have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to start a special training programme on corporate banking for graduates. The programme is aimed to meet the rising demand professionals in corporate banking. Initially, the bank will pick 31 graduates from different colleges across seven cities and train them for five months. The programme would deal with topics including general management, core banking, managerial economics, financial accounting, banking regulations, global markets, cash management and marketing management.
Source: 19-12-07 Business Standard


Computer Skills 'Undervalued' In The UK: Microsoft
According to a survey conducted by the software giant Microsoft, computer knowledge is still undervalued in the UK board room. The survey was conducted over 500 UK business leaders. It revealed that knowledge of information technology (IT) was seen as the seventh most important workplace skill. Instead, team work and interpersonal skills were seen as the core factors, followed by initiative. Analysing and problem solving came third in the survey behind team working and initiative. This was followed by verbal communication, personal planning and organising and flexibility.
Source: 15-12-07 news.bbc.co.uk


Sebi Market Surveillance Capacity Hit By Staff Crunch
According to a report by US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) lacks the required level of trained staff to conduct effective surveillance, investigation and enforcement for a market that has grown considerably in the last five years. As of March 31, 2006, Sebi had 441 employees in various grades, including 288 officers. The watchdog is also facing a problem of rising attrition. It is frequently confronted with situations where it recruits, trains and provides experience to staff that leave for higher paying jobs. Apart from staff constraints, Sebi also lacks a centralised information database for market intermediaries that can boost surveillance capacity of the regulator. However, Sebi denied any such staff crunch.
Source: 17-12-07 www.indianexpress.com

Compiled By: Amresh Anjan