HR Headlines: April,08 (Part-1)

Pay Hike Estimates For 2008
The pay hike estimates for Indian employees stand around 15.2 per cent as per a survey by global human resources company Hewitt Associates. In 2007, Indian employees received an average salary hike of 15.1 per cent, the highest across 14 Asia-Pacific countries. 2008 would mark the fifth consecutive year of double-digit growth of salaries in India. However, it is estimated that salary hikes would gradually decrease and stabilize around 9-10 per cent by 2012. Real estate will head past retail and telecommunication to witness the highest salary rise at around 25 per cent in 2008. The ITeS sector would record the lowest pay hike at 14 per cent.
Source: 19-02-08 Business Standard Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

City Working Couples Becoming Weekend Parents
Working parents in Mumbai are a lot more comfortable than their counterparts in Delhi who are a guilt-rid, harried lot. In Delhi, a majority of working parents (62%) see themselves as ‘weekend parents’, with mothers having a higher burden of raising children, than in Mumbai (35%). A survey conducted by staffing firm TeamLease says that overall an increasing number of parents feel that work comprises major part of their days, leaving less quality time for kids. In Pune, the condition is even worse with 94% of those surveyed saying that they get only weekend time with their kids. Interestingly, only 18 % respondents in Delhi feel that odd working hours affect their marriage.
Source: 20-02-08 Hindustan Times Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

IT Firms To Cut Onsite Allowances Of Employees To Reduce Costs
Staff of Indian IT services companies deployed at clients’ offices in North America will now feel the heat of imminent recession in the US. Most Indian employers are set to cut the onsite allowances of employees by 25 to 30 per cent from April 01, 2008. Each company has a different method of paying the salaries of onsite employees. For most employees, posted onsite, major savings come from their daily allowance, which makes short stints abroad an attractive option. A cut in these allowances is likely to serve a blow to morale of employees who look forward to such postings. Generally, onsite workers in Europe or Japan earn more daily allowance than those in US, but the cost of living in these geographies is higher than in the US.
Source: 17-02-08 Business Standard Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

Wipro, Infosys, TCS Among Top 100 Global Outsourcing Service Providers
Reinforcing the fact that the outsourcing industry of India is among the best in the world, around 20 Indian companies, including the likes of Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services, have figured in 'The 2008 Global Outsourcing 100' list compiled by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP). Apart from these three, HCL Technologies, MindTree Consulting, Aditya Birla Minacs, Patni, Quest, Tech Mahindra, Mastek, KPIT Cummins, Convergys, Zenzar Technologies, First Source, ITC Infotech, Hexaware and 24/7 Customer, Genpact, WNS and EXLService (listed in the US), also find a place in the list.
Source: 22-02-08 www.dnaindia.com Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

In Personal Web Surfing, Delhi Employees Top The List
On an average, employees in Delhi spend more than 12 hours a week surfing the web for personal reasons that have nothing to do with work. Delhi has won this dubious distinction beating Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad, according to a study jointly conducted by Websense and The Nielsen Company India. Indian enterprises incur a productivity loss of Rs 1.6 lakh per employee, due to surfing of non-work related websites during the working day. The most commonly surfed sites are banking and finance websites (74%), personal email/web-chat sites (62%) and news-media websites (53%). The survey covered IT managers in 450 organisations providing internet access to employees at work. These IT managers also feel that there is a great risk of confidential data loss as employees send work documents to personal email accounts (35%), click on links sent by unknown sources (32%) or send an official email to the wrong email account (34%).
Source: 18-02-08 www.alootechie.com Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

IT Firms Slashing Cut-Off Percentage For Freshers
Giving a certain advantage to engineering students, top companies are increasingly lowering the cut-off percentage to hire freshers and opening up job offers to not so popular streams as well. The eligibility criterion for the selection of placements has been reduced from 58 per cent to 55 per cent. Apart from just reducing the percentage bar, some companies such as Accenture are also hiring graduates from electrical engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, metallurgy, instrumentation, automobile engineering, production and other related streams as associate software engineer. Apparently, the growing demand for engineers has led to such flexibility of attitude among IT firms.
Source: 17-02-08 www.sify.com Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

Software To Ensure Leaving Staff Does Not Steal Vital Data
A recent study says that about 69.6 per cent of business professionals steal some sort of corporate IP from their employer when leaving a job. To allay such threats, Tech Mahindra has come up with a software solution, Inte’-Leak Guard, that protects an IPR irrespective of its physical location. The software assigns rights to IP to every individual in the organization, depending on the user’s position. The solution then prevents visibility of IP on a hardware located outside the organization. It also restricts view of IP on a personal mail ID externally.
Source: 18-02-08 The Financial Express Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

Breach of Trust By Company Cannot Be Blamed On Employees: SC
The Supreme Court has ruled that company managers, directors and no other employee can be held guilty for breach of trust by a company. The ruling came in wake of an appeal by Mr S K Alagh, Managing Director of Britannia Industries. A trial court had held him responsible for alleged misappropriation of a cheque amounting to Rs 1.68 lakh issued to Britannia by a wholesaler dealer Akash Traders. The dealer filed a case against Mr Alagh and other executives after a draft issued by him in the name of Britannia Industries was not returned to him in time. The apex court ruled that the managing director or an employee could not be charged with breach of trust as the draft was drawn in favour of the company.
Source: 19-02-08 Business Standard Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

Retaining Or Retiring Staff Is Employers’ Prerogative: SC
The Supreme Court has ruled that it is the exclusive discretion of the management to retain or retire an employee and courts should not interfere in such matters. The ruling came in wake of an appeal filed by former class IV bank employees. The apex court said that the bank was entitled to prune staff when it was overstaffed and incurring losses. The ruling has brought a sigh of relief to overstaffed organizations.
Source: 22-02-08 www.zeenews.com Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

Cognizant To Hire Aggressively In India
While global biggies such as Yahoo and IBM are cutting down their workforce in India, BPO giant Cognizant has plans to expand its headcount in India by about 14,700 this year. It will also widen its talent pool by hiring doctors, lawyers and CAs. Globally, Cognizant will hire 16,600-19,600 staff in 2008, of which 75 per cent will be hired in India. At the end of 2007, company’s global headcount was 55,400.
Source: 17-02-08 Business Standard Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

Ness Tech to Increase India Headcount by 3,700
Global IT services provider Ness Technologies will hire over 1,000 people to take its headcount to 3,700 by the end of this year. The company is focusing on the research and development market in India. Currently, Ness Tech has 2,680 employees in India and their worldwide headcount is 8,000.
Source: 17-02-08 Hindu Business Line Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

Indian Women Better Educated But Lesser Employed Than Chinese Women
A study by Watson Wyatt Asia Pacific shows that despite China’s lower percentage of skilled women than India, Chinese women are much more likely to be in the workforce. The irony generates from the fact that workforce participation rates of Chinese women are twice as high as they are for Indian women. This emanates from the conspicuously low participation of highly-educated Indian women in economic activities. The study says that the gap between skilled men and women in India is shrinking. While women represented 38 per cent of enrolment in higher education, their workforce participation rates remained very low, at about 18 per cent in urban India. Women still face an uphill task in terms of equality with men in areas such as wages, opportunities and the kind of work offered to them.
Source: 21-02-08 www.rediff.com Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

CSC To Double India Headcount To 33,000
In a bid to maintain its growth momentum and increase revenues from India, the US based Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) will double its headcount to 33,000 in the next two years. Currently, the company has an employee strength of 16,500 in India. It plans to achieve its target through both organic and inorganic activity. Traditionally, CSC hires only 10 per cent of staff from campuses and educational institutes as against industry standards that stand at 30-50 per cent. However, in order to meet this target of doubling its headcount, CSC will increase its hiring from campuses.
Source: 16-02-08 www.hindustantimes.com Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

M&M, Centurion Bank Bag HR Awards
Mahindra and Mahindra has bagged the 'Employer Brand of the Year' award for 2007-08 at Asia Pacific HRM Congress. The HRM conference has awarded Mr Rajeev Dubey, the company's HR and corporate services President, as the 'Outstanding HR Professional' in the country. Centurion Bank of Punjab has claimed two awards. The bank was awarded in the category ‘Organisation with innovative HR practices’ wherein it showcased its ‘vision mission values’.
Source: 15-02-08 www.rediff.com Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

Second Career Opportunities For Retired NCOs By ICICI Prudential
In a welcome initiative, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company is set to provide second career opportunities for retired non-commissioned officers (NCOs) within the company. Former army personnel will join the company as unit managers for the company's rural business. To equip them with the nuances of business, a six-week Certificate in Insurance Management programme (CIM) has been instituted in association with STRIVE (skills, training and research in vocational education) while providing a corporate platform within the company.
Source: 22-02-08 www.newindpress.com Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

LG Signs MoU With 23 ITIs
With an aim to strengthen its after sales service in India, LG Electronics has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with 23 Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) to hire students from there. LG aims to recruit 10,000 people by the end of this year. The pact is a part of its branding strategy to focus on service and move away from discounting. Currently, the company has inked deals with ITIs in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Punjab, Assam, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. The programme will be expanded in a phased manner to other states as well. LG Electronics has already recruited 300 students for its 1200 service centres, and plans to raise the number to 10,000 by the year-end.
Source: 22-02-08 www.business-standard.com Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

Mr Harish Bhat Appointed President Of Blue Star Infotech (America) Inc
Mr Harish Bhat has been appointed President of Blue Star Infotech (America) Inc and Global Business Head for product engineering practice by Blue Star Infotech. Mr Bhat has 25 years of experience in the IT industry and has worked with Patni Americas Inc as Senior Vice President.
Source: 18-02-08 Hindu Business Line Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

New MD For Blue Dart Aviation
Ms. Tulsi Mirchandaney has been appointed as Managing Director of Blue Dart Aviation. Earlier, she was Senior Vice President- Marketing and Projects with Blue Dart Express. She has replaced Mr Niteen Gupte in her new responsibility. Joining the company in 1995, she has been involved in various activities, including route planning and space allocation. She has an MBA Degree in International Aviation from Concordia University, Montreal.
Source: 19-02-08 www.moneycontrol.com Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

Top Level Changes At NSDL
National Securities and Depositories Ltd (NSDL) has appointed Mr R H Patil as non-executive chairman. Mr Gagan Rai, currently executive director of NSDL, has been promoted as CEO and MD of the depository. The changes were brought into effect following the appointment of Chairman and Managing Director C B Bhave as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Currently, Mr Patil is the Chairman of Clearing Corporation of India and will continue in the role.
Source: 16-02-08 www.rediff.com Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

Wall St Banks To Further Cut Jobs
Investments banks in the US are faced with acute pressures to slash spending as they have absorbed $150 billion in mortgage and corporate loan losses in recent months. Faced with such debt losses, Wall Street banks have already cut tens of thousands of jobs and even more significant cuts loom large in the months ahead. US financial services slashed more than 52,500 jobs in the second half of last year. Amidst bleaker earnings outlook, more layoffs will be announced in the next two quarters.
Source: 17-02-08 Hindu Business Line Compiled by : Amresh Anjan

In UK, Women Without Children Top Unpaid Work List
A report by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) says that five million workers in the UK do unpaid overtime, saving employers almost £25bn in 2007. Among them, women without children are most likely to do unpaid overtime. Also, it is men with children who put in the highest number of unpaid hours - 8.3 hours per week on an average. Around 24.2% of women without children do unpaid overtime, whereas for women with children, this number declines to 17%. Women were forced to choose between caring for family and maximizing their career prospects by companies who weigh performance according to the number of hours put in by an employee.
Source: 22-02-08 news.bbc.co.uk


Compiled by : Amresh Anjan