HR Headlines: Aug-08 (Part-3)

HeadlinesHR Professionals Happiest Despite The Work Load
According to a recent study, HR professionals have emerged as the happiest lot in the country, even as they face an enormous workload. As per the latest Happiness at Work Index survey by international recruitment consultancy, Badenoch & Clark, about 94 per cent of human resource professionals insist they are still happy in their role, despite having mounting workload and a bleak career outlook. The current level of optimism at 94 per cent is much higher compared to 76 per cent seen three months ago, but the study does not mention the reason for it. Interestingly, the optimism persists despite the fact that the sector has witnessed the highest increase in the work pressure since the beginning of 2008 compared to other industries surveyed.
Source: 18-08-08 rediffnews.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesBanks Cut Down On Sales Force Due To Slowdown In Credit Growth
A slowdown in credit growth, which includes fresh personal loans, credit cards and auto loans is taking a toll on direct selling agents (DSAs) hired by banks to sell these products. According to estimates, banks have reduced the number of DSAs by 15-25 per cent, while marketing expenses are 35-40 per cent lower. For instance, ICICI Bank the country's second largest lender, has reduced the number of DSAs this year, while pruning the marketing expenses on these channels by 40 per cent to Rs 228 crore (Rs 2.28 billion) at the end of the first quarter. Citibank, which was till recently the most aggressive player among foreign banks, has slashed the number of DSA-managed sales staff by about 15 per cent over the last 18 months.
Source: 19-08-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesTwo India-origin Persons In The League Of Forbes’ Top-Paid Young CEOs
Two Indian origin businessmen, Mr. Shantanu Narayen from Adobe and Mr. Francisco D’Souza from Cognizant have made it to the league of young CEOs with hefty pay package in the US, as per a list compiled by Forbes. Mr. Narayen has been ranked at the 5th position and Mr. D’ Souza is at 15th position in a list of 15 young CEOs, aged 45 or less. The list has been topped by a person of Pakistani origin, Mr. Nabeel Gareeb, CEO of chipmaker MEMC Electronic Materials since 2002.
Source: 16-08-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesNine Lakh Bank Employees Go On A Day Long Strike
Banking services in the country came to a standstill as about nine lakh public sector bank employees went on a strike, paralyzing most commercial operations throughout the country. The strike affected banking operations in the financial capital Mumbai, other parts of Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, Tripura, Bihar, Assam and Gujarat. The employee unions are protesting against the government’s reform agenda, which includes privatization, mergers and consolidation and ‘unrestricted’ FDI in the banking sector.
Source: 21-08-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesCorporate World Trying To Cope Up With Increasing Stress
With increasing stress and illness among employees, companies are now showing concern over the mental health of their employees. Many companies are offering psychological help to their employees in the form of counselors, workshops etc. These counselors give a non-judgemental approach to their problems and suggest alternate thinking methods and solutions. In most multi-national companies (MNCs), counselors are hired on a part-time basis. In smaller firms HR managers are playing the role of counselors. Counsellors feel that it’s best to nip the problem in the bud, before it seriously begins to affect one’s personal and professional life. Also, coming of ‘de-stress’ weekends, coporate workshops, employee-bonding picnics etc have become a part of the corporate cycle that help in reducing stress.
Source: 18-08-08 DNA Mumbai Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesDelphi To Cut 600 Salaried Jobs
Bankrupt US Autoparts maker, Delphi Corp said that it would cut 600 salaried jobs from its electronics and safety division as part of a plan to cut the division’s costs by 25 per cent. The company, which employs around 10, 200 salaried workers in the US has cut thousands of jobs and has sold off several business units since it filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2005.
Source: 20-08-08 The Hindu Business Line Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesUS Slowdown Forces Ramco Systems To Cut 200 Jobs
The slowdown in the US economy has left 200 Ramco Systems employees jobless. The company is now left with only 1,200 people across the country. Employees with experience of two years and above, who have not been able to catch up with the performance requirements, were asked to leave. Though the average age of the professionals has increased marginally to 28.1 years from (from 27.5 years), the lack of experience poses challenges at the middle management level, according to Mr Kamesh Ramamoorthy, Chief Operating Officer, Ramco Systems. Other software companies who have cut down on extra staff in the last few months are TCS (500 plus), Wipro (725), Patni Computers (108), Hexaware Technologies (329) and Syntel (48), and Adventity (200 plus).
Source: 16-08-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesUP Govt. Staff, Teachers To Get More Salary
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Ms Mayawati has announced a pay hike for over 14-lakh government employees and teachers in accordance with the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations. This move would benefit 8.7 lakh State employees and around 5.5 lakh teachers. The Chief Minister said that the panel’s recommendations would be implemented with retrospective effect from January 1, 2006 and the employees would be entitled for the revised payscales from December 1, 2008.
Source: 19-08-08 The Hindu Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesIndia Inc Reviews Its HR Policies Because Of US Sub-Prime Crisis
Due to the combined pressure of global economic slowdown, the sub-prime crisis in the US and rising inflation, India Inc has been forced to reconsider their HR policies, increase productivity and redeploy their manpower. Though companies have factored in the economic turmoil in their budgets for 2009, the average salary projections for the coming year are lower by only a percentage point at 13.9%. Despite the increased pressure, the year 2008 saw a strong salary increase of 14.8% according to a study by HR consultancy firm, Hewitt Associates. According to the survey across 150 companies, only 20% are resorting to a slowdown in hiring or a complete freeze. While the majority, 57% are looking to balance the effect of inflation and lower HR budgets by increasing productivity, 31% are deploying their manpower towards better efficiency. Many companies (30%) have also introduced performance linked pay to deal with fixed pay increases.
Source: 20-08-08 The Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesIIMs Expect An Increase In Pre-Placement Offers
The leading Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are expecting a 25 to 50 per cent increase in pre-placement offers (PPOs) vis-à-vis other prominent B-schools, who are anticipating a 25 to 30 per cent drop in placements, this academic year. The IIM PPO process begins every July and goes on till final placements conclude in February. This academic year, too, the offers came from prominent investment banks and consulting firms. For instance, IIM Calcutta (IIM-C) has received 33 pre-placement offers (including 15 international offers) so far, and expects the numbers to go up by 25 per cent over last year, when it received 90 PPOs. Compared to last year’s figures, though, the initial figures indicate a dip in the growth percentage. “Even if the PPOs remain at the same level as last year, we would be happy. Considering that most international recruiters are from the banking and financial sectors (hit by the US sub-prime crisis), we do not expect an enthusiastic response even at the final placement stage,” said a prominent IIM official.
Source: 20-08-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesNBHC Adds Three More Directors To Its Portfolio
National Bulk Handling Corporation Ltd (NBHC) has strengthened its top management team by appointing three additional directors in the board meeting held in Mumbai. Mr. Surender Kumar Tuteja, retired IAS officer and ex-chairman of CWC, is appointed as Chairman, NBHC. Dr. Tajamul Haque, ex-chairman of CACP and advisor agricultural costs and prices, ministry of agriculture, GOI and Mr. Paras Ajmera, director operations and HR, FTIL are appointed as new directors.
Source: 21-08-08 The Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesIIM Course For Defence Personnel Bypassed By IT Firms
The Certificate Programme in Business Administration offered by the Institutes of Management has not seen much encouragement by information technology (IT) companies. The objective of this course is to help officers from all the three services - Army, Air Force and Navy - in their rehabilitation to civil life after retirement. The course has been initiated by the Directorate-General of Resettlement, Ministry of Defence, in association with the IIMs at Ahmedabad, Indore, Calcutta, Bangalore and Lucknow. However, out of the 80 companies that visited IIM-A during placements for the 66-strong participants in the batch, only a few companies including Tech Mahindra, TCS and Patni Computers were from IT. Companies from sectors like infrastructure, retail, telecom and finance mainly were present for placement. At IIM Lucknow, only five of the 26 companies that offered placements were from the IT sector.
Source: 10-08-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan



Headlines‘Outplacement Services’ Gaining Momentum In India
In order to help workers, who have been asked to leave, IT companies are now roping in HR firms for ‘outplacement services’. Outplacement is slowly gaining momentum as the US slowdown is casting a cloud on hiring, and delay in client decisions is forcing companies to cull jobs and weed out non-performers from their rolls, “Outplacement service is a global practice, but in recent times we have seen MNCs adopting it in India. The demand for such services has picked up steam since the beginning of 2008 and we have offered ‘outplacement assistance’ to three MNCs for almost 250 employees,” Mr Kris Lakshmikanth, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Head Hunters India, said. The firm offers resume and interview assistance, career counselling and placement services to candidates affected by such lay-offs.
Source: 18-08-08 The Hindu Business Line Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesEmployees Union Express Dissatisfaction With The Pay Hike
Many employees’ unions have expressed their dissatisfaction over the Union Cabinet’s approval to the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission. While the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) claimed that the recommendations accepted were ‘not fully satisfactory’, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) showed their disagreement with the government’s decision terming it “totally inadequate, disappointing and discriminatory towards lower-level employees”.
Source: 16-08-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesRediffusion Has Appointed A New Group CEO
Rediffucion | DYR has appointed Mr. Mahesh Chauhan as Group CEO, with immediate effect. Mr. Chauhan is taking over the reins from Mr. Diwan Arun Nanda and will be spearheading all the group companies of Rediffusion | DYR; TME, Wunderman, Showdiff, Rediffusion Public Relations, OAP-Touchpoint as well as Rediffusion | DYR.
Source: 20-08-08 The Hindu Business Line Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesMr. Vinod Gupta Resigns From InfoGroup
Company founder of database provider, InfoGroup, Mr. Vinod Gupta resigned as Chief Executive Officer. The company said that Mr. Gupta would remain on the board of directors.
Source: 22-08-08 Hindustan Times Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesAmbit Corp Finance Appoints A New MD
Ambit Holdings Pvt. Ltd has announced the appointment of Mr. Nikhil Puri as Managing Director of Ambit Corporate Finance. Prior to this, Mr. Puri was working as Managing Director in the Global Industries Group.
Source: 21-08-08 DNA Money Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesMr. R.S. Pandey Joins Petronet As A Board Member
Mr. R.S. Pandey is all set to join the Board of Petronet LNG Ltd (PLL), a position left vacant after his predecessor, Mr. M.S. Srinivasan had quit on July 31 this year. Mr. Pandey’s name has been approved by the government. According to a source, the next step of PLL would be to circulate a resolution to its Board members to not only consider Mr. Pandey’s appointment as an independent director but also to designate him as Chairman of the Board.
Source: 22-08-08 The Hindu Business Line Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesClifford Chance Appoints Mr. Rahul Guptan
International law firm, Clifford Chance has said, Capital Markets Lawyer, Mr. Rahul Guptan will join its global partnership. He will be based in the firm’s Singapore office. He has moved from Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co.
Source: 21-08-08 DNA Money Compiled by Amresh Anjan



HeadlinesMr. Uday Ved Appointed As Head of Tax By KPMG
KPMG has appointed Mr. Uday Ved as Head of Tax. He specializes in international taxation, transfer pricing and exchange control regulations.
Source: 22-08-08 The Hindu Business Line


Compiled by Amresh Anjan

HR Headlines: Aug-08 (Part-2)

IT Companies Taking A Hit On The Quality Front
After the frenzied recruitment drives, the IT and IT-enabled services (ITES) companies are now feeling a hit on the quality front. Companies are being forced to rethink their hiring strategies considering that there is a widespread lack of sufficient technical skills for high-end jobs with a basic absence of soft skills. There is an industry-wide concern over the gap between academics and industry needs. The existing syllabus seems outdated and obsolete compared to the global IT standards while the industry demands newer and enhanced skills and competencies.
Source: 07-08-08 www.sify.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Attrition Goes Down With The Economic Slowdown
While the economic slowdown is wreaking havoc on the revenues of the companies, it is also a blessing in disguise, when it comes to attrition. According to HR analysts, the economic slowdown is expected to clamp down the attrition rates across industries, at least for the next two quarters. The attrition rates were very high in some industries such as financial services and retail, as companies were on a hiring spree. However, now with the economic slowdown, jobs are not coming easy and many companies have frozen recruitment, leading to lower attrition rates across industry.
Source: 04-08-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Infosys Invests Rs. 750 crore In Fresh Recruits’ Training
Complaining that existing engineering colleges do not churn out candidates with required skills, Infosys Director Mr T. V. Mohandas Pai has informed that Infosys Technologies spends Rs. 750 crore a year on training fresh recruits. The company added 3,192 staff in the first quarter of 2008-09. This amounts to Rs. 2.50 lakh spent on each potential new employee during a 16-week training period. The training has successfully helped in containing attrition at around 13.7 per cent against the industry average of 17 per cent. Infosys runs its own on-campus job skills programme, Campus Connect that covers 510 engineering colleges in several regions.
Source: 03-08-08 www.thehindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Bharti Enterprises Restructures Top Level
Distributing responsibilities for its various businesses, Bharti Airtel has announced a strategic restructuring at its corporate level. As per the new structure, Mr Rajan Mittal, younger brother of group chairman Mr Sunil Mittal, has been promoted to be the Vice-Chairman. He will look after the Group’s retail, cash and carry, and realty businesses. Mr Akhil Gupta is the new Deputy Group CEO and MD and would be responsible for tower infrastructure unit—Bharti Infratel, and also lead the financial services and software businesses. Mr Gupta would remain Non-Executive Director on the company board. Mr Manoj Kohli has been designated as the CEO and Joint Managing Director. Also, the board has approved the appointment of Mr Quah Kung Yang as an Additional Director and accepted the resignation tendered by Mr Francis Heng.
Source: 05-08-08 www.livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Global Financial Firms Reducing Headcount In India
Global financial powerhouses such as Lehman and Merrill reducing their employee headcounts in India owing to the US sub-prime shakeout. Lehman Brothers is shutting down its mortgage capital division in Mumbai dismissing 28 people in Mumbai and 17 in their Chennai office. Merrill Lynch, which announced a $5.7 billion bad debt write-down earlier this week, is reportedly cutting down 45 jobs in India giving substandard performance of employees as the reason. JP Morgan Chase has cut down its Indian workforce by 10. Several other US banks have already stopped recruitments in India while others have put on hold their expansion plans. There are also reports that Citi Group is in the process of selling its Indian back office operations, where it employs over 5,000 people.
Source: 03-08-08 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

LG Innovates 5-yr Career Growth Plan For Its Staff
In a bid to beat attrition, LG Electronics India has started a 5-year programme to enhance the career of its white-collared employees. The programme that was started last month has been made mandatory for its white-collared employees that number about 1,900. Under the programme, all eligible employees will undergo an assessment by experts to help them identify their weak points. While the senior employees will be assessed on the basis of their vision and leadership abilities, young people will be assessed as per their functional capabilities. On an average, the company makes about 300-400 new recruitments a year in various departments and has managed to keep its attrition rate at 6 per cent.
Source: 03-08-08 www.ndtvprofit.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

PwC To Hire 5,000 People In 3-4 Years
Auditing and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers is looking to double its headcount in the next three to four years. Its technology centre in India is being projected as a global outsourcing hub for the group. Currently, the firm has 5,000 professionals. PwC has three 'Centre of Excellence' on technology, e-governance and government practises.
Source: 06-08-08 The Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Wage Hikes To Moderate At Wipro
According to Wipro Ltd Executive Vice-President – Human Resources Mr Pratik Kumar, the company expects salary hikes to moderate in 2008-09 as per industry standards. The company is also hiring more cautiously. For April-June, Wipro’s employee utilization for its IT services business edged up 50 basis points.
Source: 08-08-08 Hindu Business Line Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Over Half Of India's Programmers Work On Sun Micro
According to Sun Microsystems Vice-President and Managing Director Mr Anil Valluri, the company has around 7.40 lakh developers working mainly on Solaris and Java platforms in India. This amounts to over half of the total developer population in India. The company has around 700,000 developers in China and around 600,000 in the US. Thus, India has retained its position of being the largest developer location for the company.
Source: 07-08-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Sebi Allows Grant Of Esops To Nominee-Directors
The Securities and Exchange Board of India has made an amendment, which now makes directors nominated by financial institutions eligible for employee stock options, if the director and nominating institutions sign an agreement on this and a copy of it is given to the company. The amendment was made after the board received several cases after a grey area in the regulation led to institutions forbidding nominee-directors from receiving Esops. However companies such as Life Insurance Corporation and General Insurance Corporation may not allow nominee-directors to accept Esops since they were government-owned bodies. Earlier, as per the Employee Stock Option Scheme and Employee Stock Purchase Scheme guidelines, 1999, Esops were meant for whole-time directors, employees and officers of an organisation. Exempt categories were promoters or directors with over 10 per cent holding in the company.
Source: 06-08-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

From Public To Private: No Easy Road For PSU Executives
For top level public sector executives, it would now be not easy to join private firms after retirement or resignation. As per a circular issued by the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, they would have to get a go-ahead from the government. If they fail to do this, they may have to pay damages to the government for violation as per the bond or agreement signed with the department concerned. The decision was prompted by case of some senior officials of finance, petroleum and other ministries who joined the private sector, and were later allegedly involved in lobbying for their new employers.
Source: 04-08-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Capgemini And HCL On A Hiring Spree In Kolkata
Capgemini and HCL Infosystems are looking to ramp up headcount in the city of Kolkata. While Capgemini plans to increase its headcount to 2,000 by the end of 2009, HCL Infosystems is looking at hiring anywhere between 1,000 and 1,500 in the next 12 months. Capgemini is shifting to its new 200,000 sq ft office campus, which can accommodate 1,700 people. HCL Infosystems Ltd has also got land for a Kolkata campus, which will become a consulting hub for the IT major in system integration and employ around 1,000 to 1,500 people in the next 12 months.
Source: 06-08-08 www.telegraphindia.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

M & M Rejigs Top Management
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has announced key changes in its top management. Mr Rajesh Jejurikar has been appointed Chief of operations and Mr Rajan Wadhera Chief of engineering and development, while Mr Louis Pereira is the new CEO of Mahindra Automotive Ltd. Mr Jejurikar will look after the manufacturing division, in addition to his sales and marketing functions. Mr Wadhera will manage the materials management segment apart from product engineering and development. Mr Pereira will be responsible for the development of the Chakan plant in Maharashtra. Meanwhile, Mr Nalin Mehta has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Mahindra Renault Pvt Ltd, the joint venture between M&M and Renault of France.
Source: 05-08-08 www.telegraphindia.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

US Unemployment At A Four-Year High
According to a labour department survey in the US, the unemployment rate hit a four-year high in July. While employers are shedding jobs for a seventh straight month, economic uncertainty is adding to the woes. Employers cut 51,000 jobs last month as the national unemployment rate ticked up to 5.7 per cent from 5.5 per cent in June.
Source: 02-08-08 www.sify.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

In UK, Support Diminishes For Working Mums
A survey by Cambridge University has suggested that in the United Kingdom, growing numbers of people are getting concerned about the effect of working mothers on family life. The results are based on social attitude polls from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. In 1998, 51% of women and 45.9% of men believed family life would not take a hit if a woman went to work. This has dropped to 46% of women and 42% of men in 2002. This indicates growing acceptance of the old-fashioned view that women should be in the home and not the workplace. The survey, conducted by Professor Ms Jacqueline Scott from the university's Department of Sociology, questioned between 1,000 and 5,000 people. She, thus, established that the idea that support was steadily growing for women taking an equal role in the workplace, rather than their traditional role in the home was just a myth.
Source: 06-08-08 news.bbc.co.uk Compiled by Amresh Anjan

British Government Launches Helpline For Mistreated Employees
The UK government has launched a helpline to report the mistreatment of workers and illegal pay rates. The helpline is part of government’s initiative to clamp down on rogue employers. A new board has been constituted to coordinate the work of the groups which check that firms adhered to rules on treatment of staff. An information campaign has also been planned to raise awareness of employment rights and how to enforce them.
Source: 05-08-08 news.bbc.co.uk Compiled by Amresh Anjan

New CMO At Reliance Cap
Mr Anil Ambani-led Reliance Capital has hired Mr Sanjay Jain as the Chief Marketing Officer of the company. In his new role, he will be responsible for brand building, marketing strategies and corporate communication of all Reliance Capital companies. Earlier, he was associated with Bajaj Allianz where he was responsible for creating a strong visible identity for brands Bajaj Allianz & Allianz. In his 17 years of work experience, Mr Jain has worked in diverse sectors and companies like Times of India Group, Ogilvy and Coca-Cola Co.
Source: 06-08-08 www.livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

India-Origin Co-CEO At Motorola Inc
The US-based telecommunications major Motorola Inc has appointed Mr Sanjay Jha as its Co-Chief Executive Officer alongside Mr Greg Brown. Mr Jha is the Co-CEO for its handset division. In this role, he would be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the company's mobile devices business and report directly to the board. Also, Mr Greg Brown, Motorola's earlier CEO would now serve as Co-chief executive officer of Motorola and would be heading the other two divisions of the company. Mr Brown and Mr Jha would share responsibility for Motorola as it moves towards separating into two independent, publicly-traded companies. Prior to this, Mr Jha was the Chief Operating Officer of Qualcomm.
Source: 05-08-08 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Apollo Tyres Gets New CFO And CRT
Apollo Tyres has appointed Mr Salil Gupta as Chief Financial Officer and Mr Peter Becker as Chief of Research & Technology of the company. These two posts were created recently as part of company’s expansion plans in the domestic and global markets. Mr Gupta would be responsible for the finance, taxation and accounts functions, while Mr Becker, based out of Germany, would oversee the setting up of an R&D facility there keeping in mind the mobility needs of European customers.
Source: 04-08-08 www.livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

New CMDs At Three Public Banks
Executive Directors of three leading public-sector banks have been elevated as heads of state-owned banks. Union Bank of India Executive Director Mr R. S. Reddy is now CMD of Andhra Bank, while Central Bank of India Executive Director Mr Albert Tauro has been appointed the Chairman and Managing Director Vijaya Bank. Bank of India Executive Director Mr K. R. Kamath will be the Chairman and Managing Director of Kolkata-based Allahabad Bank.
Source: 03-08-08 www.thehindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

New CMD At Power Grid
Mr S K Chaturvedi is the new Chairman and Managing Director of the Power Grid Corporation of India. Earlier, he was Director (personnel) with the National Hydro Power Corporation. He possesses 30 years’ experience in the power sector.
Source: 04-07-08 Hindustan Times


Compiled by Amresh Anjan

HR Headlines: Aug-08 (Part-1)

India Is Training Its Fresher Workforce
Despite low science and engineering graduation rates, India is rapidly becoming a global hub for R&D. A team from Duke University found that Indian firms are training their staff from scratch and bridging the skills gap. Technology majors such as HCL and Wipro increasingly hire from second- and third-tier colleges, and also arts and science schools. These companies have taken upon themselves to make these recruits profitable by training them. Most large firms have built their own dedicated learning centres. For instance, the Infosys Global Education Centre at Mysore can train 13,500 people at a time. New recruits at Infosys attend a 16-week session, which strengthens their technical, communications and management skills. Similarly, TCS provides seven months of training in computer programming, customer orientation and project management to its science recruits. The shortages in managerial talent are also made up by fostering talent from within.
Source: 24-07-08 www.livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

IT Industry Getting Younger By the Day
The India IT industry is focusing on freshers and young pass-outs stand a better chance of getting a job in the industry than their more experienced counterparts. Factors such as rising oil prices, high inflation growth, the sub-prime crisis and an economic slowdown in the US are prompting IT companies to clamp down on costs. Consequently, these companies are hiring freshers that settle for lower salaries leading to significant savings. Freshers can be hired at half or less the cost involved in getting an experienced person on-board. IT majors such as TCS, Wipro and Infosys are increasingly scouting for young guns. TCS plans to recruit 30,000-35,000 people this year, of which about 60% would be freshers and the remaining 40% those with experience. At Infosys, about 70% of the new hires would be fresh campus recruits. Also, the monopoly of IT graduates has been challenged with more and more companies hiring Bachelors of Science (BSc) graduates. With basic training, these graduates are able to handle roles of a system analyst or programmer. Also, starting salary for B.Sc. grads is around Rs 1.5 lakh against Rs 3 lakh-plus that engineers command. Wipro will hire 15,000 freshers and over 8,000 experienced people this year. Of the freshers, 30-40% would be BSc graduates and 50% engineering graduates.
Source: 19-07-08 www.dnaindia.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Financial Results of Info Edge (India) Ltd For Q1
Strengthening its position as the pioneer in the online business in India, Info Edge (India) Limited reported Net Profit after Tax of Rs. 129.73 million for the quarter ended 30 June 2008. Info Edge recorded Total income of Rs. 671.44 million compared to Rs. 519.63 million in the corresponding quarter last year (FY2007-08). Operating EBITDA at Rs. 167.29 million grew by 40.7% over the corresponding quarter of FY07-08. The company achieved a profit after tax of Rs. 96.68 million from operations in Q1 of FY08-09, a 39.9% growth over the corresponding quarter of FY07-08. The Other Income has come down by 25.8% at Rs. 40.21 million from Rs. 54.19 million in corresponding quarter of FY07-08. This decline is primarily for the reason that about one third of the investment portfolio has been moved into longer maturities where returns will be accounted for in the next financial year.
Source: 24-07-08 Our Bureau Compiled by Amresh Anjan

EPFO Free To Invest To Enhance Returns: FM
Finance Minister Mr P. Chidambaram has indicated that the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) may invest in high yielding instruments to enhance monetary returns for its over four crore subscribers. However, the minister has negated chances of increasing the interest rates on special deposit schemes (SDS), where the bulk of the EPF funds are parked. Instead, he said, the EPFO was free to withdraw the SDS money and invest it elsewhere, if it got better returns.
Source: 19-07-08 www.telegraphindia.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Slump In Net Manpower Addition Of IT Majors
For the quarter ended June 2008, the net manpower addition among the top four Indian IT services companies has seen a sharp climb-down, as compared with the year-ago quarter. TCS saw a manpower addition of 4,895 at the end of June’08 against 5,512 in June’07. For Infosys, the figures stand at 3,192 in June’ 08 against 3,730 in June’ 07. Worst hit was Wipro with net addition as low as 108 in June’08 against 5,225 in June’07. At Satyam, it was 651 at the end of June’07 against 2,716 a year ago. Collectively, the figures dipped from 17,183 in June’07 to 8,846 in June’08. The salary hikes have also been low across the IT sector this year.
Source: 21-07-08 www.thehindubusinessline.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Rising Poaching In The Auto Industry
The auto industry is witnessing a slowdown due to rising cost of finance and sluggish sales. Despite that, the industry is seeing an all-time high level of poaching among auto makers. With the entry and expansion of global auto companies in the Indian market, there is a rising demand for experienced high and medium level officials. Recently, German automaker Volkswagen lured away Mr KK Swamy from Toyota Kirloskar Motors Ltd, who has brought with him two more senior officials from Toyota — Mr K Takewala, head of quality control, and Mr Kalyan Kumar, head of regional sales. TVS Motor lost two high-ranking officials within a year. Threatened by the trend, some companies are mulling talks with rivals for non-poaching deals.
Source: 19-07-08 www.hindustantimes.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Top Level Appointments At Hexaware Technologies
Hexaware Technologies recently hired Mr Rajiv Pant from Wipro Technologies to assume the role of President, North America. Also, Mr P R Chandrashekhar has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman replacing Mr Rusi Brij. Prior to joining Hexaware, Mr Chandrashekhar was President, Americas and Europe at Wipro. Other than these two, Mr Prateek Aggarwal has been roped in as Chief Financial Officer replacing Mr P K Sridharan. Earlier, Mr Aggarwal was Head of Finance of the software division of HCL Technologies.
Source: 25-07-08 Business India Compiled by Amresh Anjan

SBI Plans To Hire 3,000 Recovery Officers
Amid the displeasure expressed by the regulators and the judiciary on the high-handedness of agents hired by banks to recover loans, State Bank of India (SBI), is planning to hire 3,000 marketing and recovery officers. This is the second such recruitment drive in less than a year. The position of officer for its rural operations would have a contract period of two years. Apart from recovering loans, these officers would also promote the bank's products, conduct pre-sanctioned survey, file applications and verify the documents. Being the largest employer in the country’s banking space, SBI had a total 1,79,205 employees as on March 31, 2008.
Source: 24-07-08 www.business-standard.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Around 400 RIL Employees To Be Outplaced
After downscaling its fuel retailing business, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is looking to outplace around 400 employees. The 400 would mainly include sales and marketing executives, besides some finance executives, people manning oil pumps at retail stations, and employees of Reliance A1 Plaza, the retail-entertainment-dining establishments that are attached to the stations. RIL officials say that people in the company’s petroleum retailing business would be placed in other business operations within the company. Over the past three-four years, Reliance has hired around 1,800 people from consumer goods companies, banks and insurance firms for its fuel retailing business. In 2007, Reliance trimmed the number of employees in this business by around 500 and shifted them to Reliance Retail.
Source: 22-07-08 www.livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

IIT Mumbai Director Resigns
Mr Ashok Mishra, the Director of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay, has quit to join US firm Intellectual Ventures in the month of September. Mr Mishra had submitted his resignation to the Ministry of Human Resource and Development. An alumnus of IIT-Kanpur, he was a professor of chemical engineering and fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Sciences. Mr. Mishra has been working with the institute for the last six years and had two more years to serve as director of IIT Bombay. His successor at IIT is still to be decided.
Source: 22-07-08 www.topnews.in Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Management Reshuffle At HSBC India
HSBC has appointed Mr Vikramaaditya as the Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Asset Management (India) Pvt. Ltd. He replaces Mr Sanjay Prakash who will take up a senior position within the HSBC Group. Joining the HSBC Group in 1998, Mr Vikramaaditya has held various key positions in cash management and securities services for HSBC in India. Prior to this appointment, he was Head of HSBC Securities Services for India. Mr Kapil Seth, until now head of Corporate Banking in South India, will assume Mr Vikramaaditya’s role in the company. Mr Seth joined HSBC in 1996 and has held positions across Personal Financial Services and Global Banking functions.
Source: 21-07-08 www.moneycontrol.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

InfoGROUP Sacks Its Indian-Origin Chairman
US-based business and consumer database provider infoGROUP has sacked its Indian-origin founder Mr Vinod Gupta from the post of its Chairman. The sacking came as a result of a shareholder lawsuit against the company and a probe by the market regulator SEC. However, Mr Gupta would continue as the company’s CEO.
Source: 23-07-08 www.dnaindia.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Former SpiceJet Chief Joins InterGlobe
Mr Siddhanta Sharma, former Executive Chairman at SpiceJet has joined InterGlobe, a leading aviation and hospitality company. Based in Gurgaon, Mr Shrama will assume the role of Executive director (corporate affairs) at InterGlobe.
Source: 19-07-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Reva Electric Hires Former TVS Executive
Mr R Chandramouli, former Senior Vice President at TVS Motor, has joined Reva Electric Car Company as President of sales and marketing. In his new role, he will be responsible for strengthening Reva in India and non-European markets.
Source: 19-07-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Renault To Trim 5,000 Jobs
As the auto industry faces huge losses and dipping consumer demand, carmakers are adopting ways to cut costs. French car manufacturer Renault has decided to clamp down on its European workforce by 5,000 through voluntary redundancies. Renault has blamed the deteriorating economic outlook for these job cuts. Renault is witnessing weak sales in Spain, Italy and the UK. Apart from Renault, Ford and Daimler are also undertaking cost-cutting measures.
Source: 24-07-08 news.bbc.co.uk Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Northern Rock Appoints New CEO
Mr Gary Hoffman, the vice chairman of Barclays, has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of Northern Rock. Mr Hoffman will join in place of current Chief Executive Mr Andy Kuipers who will leave the lender after 20 years of service. Mr Kuipers is the final member of Northern Rock's original board to leave the bank following last year's crisis. 47-year old Mr Hoffman is a Cambridge University graduate. He joined Barclays in 1982 and has worked as Chairman of UK banking and Chairman of Barclaycard.
Source: 23-07-08 news.bbc.co.uk Compiled by Amresh Anjan

The Ogilvy Group Appoints Global CEO
Mr Miles Young, Chairman of Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide AsiaPacific, has been appointed global CEO of The Ogilvy Group. In his new role, he replaces Mr Shelly Lazarus who has led the company for 11 years. Mr Lazarus will continue as Chairman of the group. Mr Young has been running Ogilvy in Asia-Pacific for the past 13 years. He has built the group into the clear industry leader in India and China. The group is a strong player in Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand, and the creative powerhouse of Ogilvy’s Singapore hub.
Source: 23-07-08 www.livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Morgan Stanley Recruiting Financial Advisers
Morgan Stanley is on a hiring spree and aggressively recruiting financial advisers, especially from Merrill Lynch and other rivals. At a time when Wall Street is reeling under a credit crisis, the bank is accelerating the expansion of its global wealth management business. With relative stability in the bank, it has added a net 250 recruits so far this year. Morgan Stanley ended May with 8,350 brokers, down from 8,429 at the end of November 2007. The drop was caused due to Morgan's sale of its Spanish brokerage, which had 233 advisers.
Source: 24-07-08 news.yahoo.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

US Jobless Claims Escalate With Weak Housing Market
According to US Labor Department reports, the number of newly laid-off people filing for unemployment benefits in the country jumped to 406,000 last week, a rise of a seasonally adjusted 34,000. Amid a weak economy and poor housing scenario, employers across industries are cutting jobs. With increased lay offs and new jobs being hard to find, the buying momentum in the market is also very low. Weak housing and job outlook is likely to affect the upcoming presidential elections too.
Source: 24-07-08 news.yahoo.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Management Reshuffle At Citigroup
Mr Michael Klein, a former head of investment banking and a 23-year veteran of Citigroup, is leaving as part of the latest management shakeup under Citigroup Chief Executive Mr Vikram Pandit. In March, Mr Klein was named Chairman of investment banking group, known as the Institutional Clients Group, as well as Vice Chairman of Citi. Mr Klein was once considered a candidate to eventually become the company's Chief Executive. However, he is set to leave now. Mr Pandit hired Ms Teresa (Terri) Dial as global head of consumer strategy and CEO of consumer banking in North America. Ms Dial previously worked at Lloyds TSB Group Plc.
Source: 21-07-08 news.yahoo.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Qantas Airways To Prune 1,500 Jobs
Australia’s largest airline, Qantas Airways, has decided to slash 1,500 jobs worldwide and has dropped plans to hire 1,200 more. The airline is trying to cope with skyrocketing fuel costs. The cuts would amount to 4 percent of its total work force. About 1,300 jobs will be lost in Australia and the rest overseas.The airline would close call centers in Tucson, Arizona and London, causing the loss of 99 jobs there. Globally, carriers are facing a tough time and resorting to job cuts to stabilise costs.
Source: 19-07-08 Australia’s largest airline, Qantas Airways, has decided to slash 1,500 jobs worldwide and has dropp



Compiled by Amresh Anjan