HR Headlines: June-08 (Part-2)

Hiring Intentions Best In India
According to a survey conducted by the global staffing services firm Manpower, India is the most optimistic nation in terms of hiring intentions across the world. However, despite the optimism, the US slowdown is showing its impact slowly but surely. India is reported to have the most upbeat hiring plans in the July-September period, followed by Singapore and Peru. The survey questioned 5,636 employers across seven industry sectors -- finance/ insurance and real estate; manufacturing; mining and construction; public administration and education; services; transportation and utilities; wholesale and retail trade. Of this, 45 per cent expect an increase in hiring activity in the third quarter of 2008, an increase of 6 per cent on a quarterly basis and 7 per cent on a year-on-year basis. The other top 10 most confident nations worldwide include Poland (29 per cent), Costarica (27 per cent), Romania (26 per cent), Hong Kong (26 per cent), Argentina (25 per cent), Taiwan (24 per cent), and Australia (23 per cent). At the other end, China reported the weakest hiring outlook in the region for the fourth consecutive quarter.
Source: 10-06-08 Hindustan Times Compiled by Amresh Anjan

How To Tackle Inflation Woes Of Your Employees
To counter the effect of rising inflation on employees, companies should consider the option of tele-commuting, or working from home, suggests Mr Samhita Rao, MD of Grass Roots Indian, a Gurgaon-based performance management company. This would help to curb transportation inflation, besides letting employees spend scarce quality time with the family. This is relevant for many knowledge industries like insurance, media, finance, training and instructional design, public relations, sales, marketing and many other sectors. Recently, employees of many IT companies in Noida and Gurgaon have demanded a revision in monthly conveyance billing by 10-15 per cent after the increase in fuel prices last week. To save on fuel costs, some companies are allowing some of their employees to work from home while allowing others flexi-timing.
Source: 09-06-08 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

China May Soon Overtake India In Talent Pool
A lot of business processes are outsourced to India on the conventional presumption that India has an abundance of skilled labour. However, that may soon change as China poses a serious threat to India's position as the world's largest talent supplier. According to a report by leading manpower consulting firm Watson Wyatt, China is poised to have twice as much skilled labour as India shortly. The consulting firm has identified three reasons that attribute to this growth. Firstly, the participation rate of the Chinese women in the workforce is twice as high as of the Indian women. Thus, China enjoys an advantage despite higher skill level among Indian women. Secondly, in China, the percentage of people attending universities is growing at a fast pace with a number of universities coming up in the past few years. India lags behind on this front too. Thirdly, the most popular areas of study in Chinese universities also tend to be the most in demand, such as engineering, management and science, unlike India where the quality of education in the country's mushrooming private institutions is a matter of concern. However, India is ahead of China in terms of mobility of talent in India, good English skills and the pace at which Indian students are returning home after higher studies abroad. China still needs to do a lot of catching up in these areas.
Source: 12-06-08 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Reliance Retail To Generate Over Five Lakh Jobs
With its expanding retail business, Mr Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries is expected to create more than half a million direct jobs in the next five years. This was recently announced by Mr Ambani during the annual general meeting in Mumbai. Currently, Reliance Industries has nearly 700 stores, comprising fourteen distinct formats, across 60 towns and cities. The company is looking to hire top talent from premier technology and management institutions besides nurturing home-grown talent. In a bid to retain talent, the company has introduced a performance oriented employee stock option plan and is also working with educational institutions to help build more robust and industry oriented programmes.
Source: 12-06-08 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Wanted Chiefs For Aviation, Airports Regulator
Government has short listed as many as a dozen candidates to head India's airports regulator the Airports Authority Of India (AAI). The authority also runs state-run airports in the country. The current chairman of the organization Mr K. Ramalingam will retire later this year. Those in the reckoning include two members of the AAI board, three Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers and senior executives with public sector undertakings. The aviation ministry is also looking for a candidate to head aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The current Director General, Mr Kanu Gohain, is slated to retire by end of this month after having two extensions already.
Source: 08-06-08 www.livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Praful Patel Assures A-I Employees of No Wage Cut
Civil Aviation Minister Mr Praful Patel has brushed aside reports that Air India was considering a 25 per cent wage cut for employees. After PM Mr Manmohan Singh’s austerity call combined with aviation industry’s financial crisis, speculations were rife that India’s biggest airline could affect a wage and other incentives cut. He categorically assured the employees and disregarded the rumours as a ploy to create disharmony.
Source: 10-06-08 www.ibnlive.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Nasscom Charts Out Path To Develop Talent For BPOs
At the end of the two-day Nasscom BPO summit, industry leaders have tried to identify a path to follow to develop and nurture talent for the BPOs. The participants agreed that gaps existed in the training for fresh recruits in BPOs. In an effort to address this concern, Nasscom, in association with almost 300 colleges and universities in Tamil Nadu, has taken an initiative to have classes which prepare students for BPO jobs by explaining what employers and clients would expect.
Source: 11-06-08 www.thehindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

No Plan To Retrench Employees At JLR: Tata To British MPs
Tata Group Chairman Mr Ratan Tata has assured British MPs from the West Midmands that Jaguar-Land Rover jobs at the research centres at Whitley and Gaydon were secure at least until 2012, after which a fresh business plan will be drawn up. He said that there were no plans to bring work in Jaguar-Land Rover to India. As of now, there is a possibility of employing more workers at the two centres.
Source: 10-06-08 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Financial Services Sector Largest Employer In Small Cities
Leaving behind Information Technology, the financial services sector has emerged as the top job provider in Tier II and Tier III cities, according to a study by Assocham. Financial services aced the list of 30 lead sectors that provided maximum jobs to young aspirants between Jan-March 2008 in small cities. For Jan- March quarter, the financial services sector provided maximum employment opportunities of 26.35 per cent. The job creation was propelled by the stock market, brokerage houses, mutual funds, insurance sector and banking sector. The study was conducted over 60 cities comprising Tier I, Tier II and Tier III cities. The second largest job creator was the IT sector, which generated an employment of 17 per cent in tier II cities and 17.5 per cent in tier III cities.
Source: 09-06-08 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Lehman Demotes Its CFO And COO
Following its first-ever loss as a public company and a 65 percent slide in its shares this year, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc has demoted its Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Ms Erin Callan has been replaced as CFO and Mr Joseph Gregory as COO. The current co-Chief Administrative Officer Mr Ian Lowitt will be the new CFO and Mr Herbert (Bart) McDade, global head of equities, will be Chief Operating Officer and President. Ms Callan will remain at Lehman, rejoining its investment bank while Mr Gregory will remain with the company in an unspecified role.
Source: 12-06-08 news.yahoo.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

350 Research Jobs To Be Trimmed At Glaxo
GlaxoSmithKline Plc plans to cut around 350 jobs in research and development as part of an ongoing restructuring programme. The cutbacks represent some two per cent of the group's worldwide R&D workforce of 17,000. Scientists and administrative staff at research sites in Europe and the United States have been informed of the headcount reductions.
Source: 11-06-08 www.sify.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

UK Unemployment Rises
According to the Office for National Statistics, unemployment in the UK went up by 38,000 to 1.64 million in the three months to April, thus pushing the unemployment rate to 5.3% from the previous rate of 5.2%. The number claiming unemployment benefit rose by 9,000 in May to 819,300, the fourth consecutive rise. Despite rising food and fuel prices, the rate of increase of average earnings slowed to 3.8% between February and April, down from 4%. The financial and construction industries saw the highest number of job losses, according to the Institute for Employment Studies (IES).
Source: 11-06-08 news.bbc.co.uk Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Microsoft India’s MD To Join HP
Ms Neelam Dhawan, Managing Director at Microsoft India, is set to join HP India in the same capacity. Joining Microsoft India in March, 2005, she has been associated with the company for three and a half years. Her resignation will be effective June 30, 2008. At Microsoft, she was in-charge of the sales and marketing efforts in India. She possesses 22-years of experience in the IT field. Prior to Microsoft, she has worked with IBM, HCL and HP.
Source: 09-05-08 www.topnews.in Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Nokia’s Business Mobility Business Gets A New Chief
Nokia India has appointed Mr Suresh Vedula as head of its Business Mobility business. Mr. Vedula will be based in Delhi and will be responsible for the overall operations of enterprise solutions group in India that includes a broad range of business-focused products and solutions, including security infrastructure, software and services. He brings to the table over 18 years of work experience in the IT and telecom space. Prior to this, he was heading British Telecom’s Business Development business in India.
Source: 09-06-08 www.thehindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

TVS Motor Leadership Revamped
TVS Motor Company has appointed Mr H. S. Goindi, Senior Vice-President as the Head of Sales, Service and Marketing, replacing Mr R. Chandramouli. In his new role, Mr. Goindi will be responsible for sales, service and marketing of two-wheelers in India along with his existing responsibilities.
Source: 12-06-08 www.thehindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Time Magazine Appoints Ms Jyoti Thottam As S Asia Bureau Chief
Time magazine's senior editor, India-born Ms Jyoti Thottam, has been re-designated as the magazine's South Asia bureau chief. Ms Thottam will soon relocate to New Delhi from New York. She joined Time from On magazine/Time Digital. Prior to that, she was a newspaper reporter in Queens and in Jacksonville, Florida. She has co-authored the play ‘Interrogations’. She started as an intern at the Wall Street Journal and her writing has also appeared in the Believer and the Village Voice.
Source: 11-06-08 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr Shunichi Senda Appointed As Director ICP At Canon
Digital imaging company Canon India Pvt has appointed Mr Shunichi Senda as Director, imaging communication products (ICP) division of the company. In his new role, he would head ICP sales and marketing activities in the country. Canon India Pvt Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon Singapore Pvt Ltd.
Source: 10-06-08 www.sify.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr Sachin Mohite Joins Miditech
Mr Sachin Mohite has been hired as Creative Director, fiction at Miditech, a television production company. In his new role, he is expected to bring his expertise to running popular shows like ‘Parivaar’ on Zee TV and ‘Chhoona Hai Aasmaan’ on Star One. Earlier, he has been associated with successful television productions like Tara, Umeed and Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki. He has also been creative head with Endemol India.
Source: 09-06-08 www.livemint.com


Compiled by Amresh Anjan

HR Headlines: June-08 (Part-1)

Shortage Of Talent Translates Into 15% Salary Hikes
Talent crunch and rapid growth in many sectors has ensured that private sector employees in India have received or can look forward to an average salary increase of 15 per cent this year. The double digit hike has come despite the slowdown and turmoil in financial markets. The increment is roughly the same as the last year but not significant in real terms because of the inflation rate, which is ruling at 8 per cent. Still, India is far ahead of other markets, for instance the average hike was 5.5 per cent in the US and 8 per cent in China. While companies are growing at a fast pace, there is not enough talent in the market to fill the demand. Thus, companies are resorting to significant pay hikes to retain people. According to executive search firm EMA Partners International, average increases will be 7 to15 per cent while top performers will still get 25 to 30 per cent. HR firm Hewitt Associates estimates average salaries in India rose 15.2 across sectors for 2008-09. Unlike in developed countries, where the increases are linked to inflation, in India salary increases are generally driven by the demand-supply scenario.
Source: 27-05-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Naukri.com Is The Most Popular Job Site: JuxtConsult
According to the India Online 2008 survey report by JuxtConsult, Naukri.com, 99acres.com and Jeevansathi.com have gained user share in their respective verticals. The report captures the recall and usage of online brands through an online and land survey by the research agency. Naukri.com has gained a 5% share of users to grow to 42% of all users. According to the report, Naukri.com is the most popular job website across all age groups, socio economic classifications and regions. Naukri.com is also among the top 10 most popular online brands in India. 99acres.com is the most popular real estate site and has a 14% share of users. It gained 4% of total users and Magicbricks.com lost 1.8%. Jeevansathi.com gained 3% share of users.
Source: 29-05-08 Our Bureau Compiled by Amresh Anjan

IT Is The Most Coveted Sector For Engineering Students
According to Nielsen's Campus Track T-Schools study, Information Technology (IT) is the most coveted sector for job options among engineering students. In a survey, it found out that among the top-five preferred companies, four hail from the IT sector. The top three preferred companies are Tata Consultancy Services, Google and Accenture. The study covered 140 engineering colleges and institutes (including all IITs and NITs) for the report. For non-IT students, automotive is the most preferred industry sector. However, when it comes to students from top-rung premier institutes (Indian Institute of Technology), the energy sector and investment banks are considered the best industries.
Source: 29-05-08 www.business-standard.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Indian BPOs Convincing Parents To Hire Employees
Along with more-flexible work hours, higher salaries and continuing education, Indian BPOs are now trying family outreach as a critical recruiting and retention tool. Faced with a shortage of workers and rising attrition, India's outsourcing specialists are trying every trick in the book to make sure they are able to hire the right people. BPOs are trying to convince parents about the security of employees, especially for girls. Also, companies believe that creating a bond, not just between the employees and the organization, but also with the families, is an important retention strategy.
Source: 27-05-08 Wall Street Journal Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Employment Generation Rises In '98-'05
According to the fifth Economic Census report released by the Central Statistical Organisation, employment generation in the country has increased considerably in the eight-year period from 1998-2005. Employment grew at the rate of 2.78 per cent in 1998-2005, which is much higher than the 1.75 per cent recorded during 1990-98. Interestingly, Jammu and Kashmir had the maximum employment growth at 6.82 per cent followed by Andhra Pradesh (5.87 per cent), Kerala (5.86 per cent) and Haryana (5.35 per cent). Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh were the two main employment-providing states followed by Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh provided maximum employment in the rural areas (13.14 per cent of the total rural employment), followed by West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, UP, Kerala and Maharashtra. Maharashtra topped the list among the urban-employment providers, with 14.10 per cent of total urban employment.
Source: 29-05-08 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Easier Visas For Service Professionals, Demands India
India has sought easier visas for its professionals providing services in developed countries, after the World Trade Organisation released the proposed guidelines to open up the services markets. The guidelines ask member countries to commit to providing market access in sectors where many trade barriers exist. In the report, there is uncertainty over Mode 4 that deals with professionals traveling abroad to supply services. Post-release, Commerce Secretary Mr Gopal K Pillai said that Indian firms winning contracts abroad needed to send their professionals to execute them. Thus, India wants to ensure that visas to such professionals are not denied.
Source: 28-05-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

300 Glasgow Jobs Being Relocated To India
Capita, a business services firm in Glasgow, Scotland is shifting more than 300 jobs to India. The company is cutting jobs in Glasgow office due to the closure of its site in Wythall, Birmingham. The Unite union is irked that Capita has not given its staff in Glasgow a firm commitment that there would be no compulsory job losses. The outsourcing of work to India will be a bitter blow for the workforce in Glasgow which now faces an arbitrary redundancy selection criterion.
Source: 28-05-08 news.bbc.co.uk Compiled by Amresh Anjan

DHBVN To Hire Over 1500 Employees
Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Ltd will soon hire over 1500 to overcome the problem of staff shortage. This would include 63 Sub Divisional Officers (SDO), 162 Junior Engineers (JE), 20 Accountants, 1000 Assistant Linemen (ALM), 100 Shift Attendants (SA), 66 Upper Divisional Clerks (UDC) and 142 Lower Divisional Clerks (LDC).
Source: 28-05-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Lufthansa To Recruit 40 Indian Flight Attendants
In an effort to provide ‘culture specific’ services to its Indian passengers, premier German carrier Lufthansa will recruit 40 Indian flight attendants. The company believes that this will help the Indian customers feel comfortable on board and enable them to speak in their language. Currently, Lufthansa employs close to 200 Indian flight attendants and approximately 15,000 flight attendants from more than 45 countries around the world. Lufthansa has also introduced a new range of Indian cuisine, including pure vegetarian meals, and Hindi in-flight entertainment.
Source: 28-05-08 www.dnaindia.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

New IBM Centre In Pune
IBM has opened a new ‘Global Delivery Centre’ (GDC) in the Hinjewadi Information Technology Park, Pune. Once fully staffed, the 1.8-lakh sq. ft centre will house close to 2,000 employees. The centre will provide business consulting and application services to its clients worldwide. This is IBM’s fourth site in Pune.
Source: 27-05-08 www.thehindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr Sarin To Be Replaced By Mr Colao At Vodafone
Vodafone Chief Executive Mr Arun Sarin has decided to step down in July. He will be replaced by Mr Vittorio Colao, currently the vice chairman of Vodafone Essar Ltd, India's fourth-largest mobile service provider in which the UK telecom major acquired a majority stake last year. Mr Colao is already a member of the company board, which is chaired by Mr Ravi Ruia of the Essar group. Speculations are rife that Mr Sarin will join one of the world's largest private equity funds. India is an important market for Vodafone, evident from the fact that Vodafone invested over $2 billion in the financial year ending 2008, which is 20 per cent of its global investments in the year.
Source: 28-05-08 www.business-standard.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Unemployment Rate Rises In Japan
The jobless rate in Japan rose to 4.0 percent in April, up from 3.8 percent in March, the highest level since last September, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. With a slump in the economy and rising prices, conditions of employment are deteriorating. The total number of jobless in April was 2.75 million, up by 70,000 from a year ago. The number of workers in the construction sector dropped by 490,000 and in the retail sector, it declined by 110,000.
Source: 30-05-08 news.yahoo.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Ford To Lay Off Up To 12 percent Of Salaried Jobs
According to reports, Ford Motor Co will cut its U.S. salaried work force by up to 12 percent. The cuts are a result of the failure of company’s turnaround plan because of the downturn in the U.S. economy. Ford has already informed its employees that it would not achieve its long-standing goal of returning to profitability in 2009 because of the U.S. economic downturn and a permanent shift in demand toward cars and crossovers and away from large trucks and SUVs. Thus, the company is expected to make involuntary cuts in hourly and salaried employees by August 1.
Source: 28-05-08 news.yahoo.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Three India Appointments At Google
In a bid to compete against Microsoft and Yahoo, search giant Google is restructuring its India operations. Google has appointed Mr Sridhar Seshadri to head the financial services business practice along with Mr Parminder Singh and Mr Narasimha Jayakumar who would be heading the technology and travel and local business practice (includes classifieds and real estate) that brings in revenues in the form of online advertisements. All three will report to Mr Shailesh Rao, Managing Director, Google India.
Source: 26-05-08 www.hindustantimes.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

SCM Microsystems Gets New President
SCM Microsystems (India) Private Limited has hired Mr Venkateswaran Krishnan as President, Indian operations. Mr Venkateswran Krishnan brings to the table more than 25 year of experience in the electronic product and service industry.
Source: 29-05-08 www.thehindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr Sameer Nath To Head Citigroup India M&A
Citigroup has announced that Mr Sameer Nath will head its mergers and acquisitions business in India. Of late, the business has seen a spate of overseas purchases by local companies. Mr Nath joined Joining Salomon Smith Barney in 2001, Mr Nath spent six years in technology investment banking, which was later acquired by Citi. Mr Nath will report to Mr Pramit Jhaveri, Citi's head of global banking for India and to Mr Steve Wallace, head of M&A for Asia Pacific.
Source: 26-05-08 www.financialexpress.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Volkswagen Hires Mr K K Swamy as MD & VP
German car maker Volkswagen has hired Mr K K Swamy as Managing Director and Vice President of its India operations with effect from July 21. As Md & VP, Mr Swamy would report to Mr Jorg Muller, President of Volkswagen India. Prior to this, Mr Swamy was Deputy Managing Director at Toyota Kirloskar Motor.
Source: 27-05-08 www.dnaindia.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Suzlon Energy CEO Quits
Mr Andre Horbach has resigned as Chief Executive Officer of Suzlon Energy. Mr Horbach, a former senior executive of General Electric Co., was among a number of foreign executives hired by Suzlon to manage its rapid global expansion. Suzlon has hired Mr Toine van Megen to replace Mr Horbach as its chief executive. This is the second high-profile resignation after the company’s chief financial officer left in March.
Source: 28-05-08 Mint Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr Kamlesh Bajaj Is New Nasscom CEO
Nasscom has appointed Mr Kamlesh Bajaj as CEO of its Data Security Council, India region (DSCI), which is Nasscom's initiative in data security and privacy protection. Apart from heading Nasscom, Mr Bajaj will also be providing direction to Nasscom's security initiatives. Earlier, Mr Shayamal Ghosh was appointed as the chairman of DSCI.
Source: 28-05-08 www.business-standard.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Jefferies Appoints Mr Sidharth Punshi As MD
Jefferies International, the UK subsidiary of US-based Jefferies Group Inc, has hired Mr Sidharth Punshi as Managing Director and country head in India. In this role, Mr Punshi will lead the firm's operations working with an experienced and dedicated team of investment banking professionals covering the Indian market.
Source: 27-05-08 Business Standard

Compiled by Amresh Anjan