HR Headlines: Nov-08 (Part-1)

20 Million Jobs Likely To Get Slashed, Warns ILO
Even as governments around the world struggle to raise capital into their banks in the hope that the global liquidity crunch doesn’t disrupt economic activity, the International Labour Office (ILO) has warned that there would over 20 million jobs would be slashed across the globe due to the global financial crisis by the end of 2009. The turmoil might as well push 40 million more working poor people living on less than a dollar per day below the poverty line. Based on revised global growth estimates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations and early reports of other similar agencies, the ILO said that there were indications that the number of job losses would be rise in most countries. “Preliminary estimates indicated that the number of unemployed could rise from 190 million in 2007 to 210 million in late 2009. The number of working poor living on less than a dollar a day could rise by some 40 million and those at two dollars a day by more than 100 million,” ILO director-general, Mr. Juan Somavia said.
Source: 22-10-08 The Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Low Salary Hikes On The Cards For Chief Executives
Top executives are likely to get low salary hikes as India Inc tightens it belt. According to HR experts, while the salary hikes of CEO and top executives could range between zero to five percent, for the middle and lower management it is expected to be around 8 to 10 percent. Mr. Sanjeev Sethi, Corporate Director, Imperial Hotels, said, “Though at company level, we have thought of hikes of about 8 percent, CEO pay is going to increase by only 5 percent this year.” This is a considerable drop, as last year the hospitality sector saw an increase of around 20 to 25 percent in the salaries of chief executives. Similarly, Bharti Airtel’s could also get lesser salary hikes this year. HR consultants anticipate bad times for non-performing CEOs. Mr. Vijay Rai, an independent HR consultant said, “The Indian economy is now addicted to growth. Hence the accountability of the chief executives will now be hugely under the scanner.”
Source: 20-10-07 Hindustan Times Compiled by Amresh Anjan

50 Trainee Pilots Benched By Kingfisher
Mr. Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines, which is witnessing a loss of Rs 10 crores a day due to low flight occupancies and high costs, has benched 50 trainee pilots as an austerity measure. These pilots will continue to be on the airline’s payroll but they will lose their substantial flying allowances. They usually get around Rs 1.2 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh per month. Now, they will take home around Rs 30, 000. The airlines decided to bench the pilots and not sack them following the uproar over Jet laying off 1, 900 employees.
Source: 19-10-08 Hindustan Times Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Merrill Lynch CEO Anticipates Job Cuts
Mr. John Thain, Merill Lynch & Co Chief Executive Officer, said that he expected thousands of job losses from the bank’s $50 billion takeover by Bank of America Corp. He added that, most of the job cuts will fall in information technology, operations and finance. The firm has already cut more than 5, 000 jobs in the past 18 months, taking its headcount to about 60, 000, in an effort to rein in costs as credit markets froze.
Source: 21-10-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Corporate India Is Now More Anxious
The recent layoffs in the IT, BPO, banking and airlines industry has added to the anxiety of corporate India. The layoff and subsequent reinstatement of the 1900 Jet Airways employees, as well as announcements by Kingfisher Airlines indicating additional layoffs have only aggravated the anxiety. According to HR analysts, the manner in which the layoffs were conducted at Jet Airways was unfortunate and unplanned. IT and banking companies, which have weeded out similar umber of people, have done it in a more strategic and objective manner. Mr. Sandeep Chaudhary, Business Header, Hewitt Associates’ Rewards Consulting practice, said, “One of the effects of the current downturn and spate of layoffs is that attrition across sectors has gone down by at least 3% points. Salary levels and increases have taken a beating and have dropped from as recently as three months ago.” The overall impact of the financial crisis will continue to affect jobs and salaries over the next 6 to 12 months. The only difference between the layoffs in India and the US is that if a certain position is made redundant in the US the employee is made to leave irrespective of his or her performances, whereas in Indian companies will usually try and retain top performers in other roles even if their positions are made redundant.
Source: 21-10-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Infy Says India IT Is Safe
Mr. Nandan Nilekani, Co-Chairman of Infosys Technologies, said that there will be no pink slips in the Indian Information Technology (IT) as it has countered the impact of the cureent global financial tsunami well. “The fundamentals in the information technology sector are strong,” he added.
Source: 23-10-08 Hindustan Times Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Per-Capita Income Lowest In Bihar
with the monthly income of a person in the state being just a little over Rs 800. According to the State Directorate of Economics and Statistics, per capita income at current prices for Bihar was Rs 9702 for the year 2006-07, while Delhi was at the top with Rs 66,728, the data submitted by State Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation Mr. G K Vasan indicated. After Delhi at the top in terms of per capita income were Puducherry with Rs 52,669 and Haryana with Rs 49,038 at the second and third position respectively for 2006-07. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh at Rs 14,685 and Madhya Pradesh at Rs 16,578 were lower down in the list but over Bihar.
Source: 23-10-08 rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

GM Mulls Layoffs In White-Collar Jobs
Following the tremors of the crisis, General Motors Corp. has been forced to layoff salaried workers even after more employees than expected took buyouts, the company said in a statement. The company also will cut salaried worker benefits, including eliminating matching payments in to 401(k) plans and further changes to be announced soon, according to the letter from GM Chief Executive, Mr. Rick Wagoner and Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Fritz Henderson. It added that layoffs will take place later this year and early next year.
Source: 24-10-08 Mint Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Goldman Sachs To Axe 10% Of Its Staff
Goldman Sachs Group Inc is planning to cut 10 percent of its total staff, or almost 3, 300 jobs, according to a source. In June this year, the company laid off hundreds of support staff and junior bankers due to slowing markets following a round of cuts in leveraged lending and mortgage securities jobs in April. The company had 32, 569 employees worldwide at the end of August. Compensation and benefits accounted for 57 percent of its total operating expenses in the three months to August, down from 67 percent in the second quarter and 73 percent a year ago.
Source: 24-09-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Lenovo To Slash 50 Jobs in the US
According to reports from Hong Kong, Lenovo Group, the world’s No. 4 personal computer maker, said it would cut 50 jobs at its US headquarters by December, as the global economic crisis overshadows the business outlook. The company has 1, 680 employees at its US headquarters and 23, 200 employees worldwide. Last year, the company laid off 1, 400 workers and moved jobs to emerging markets.
Source: 23-10-08 Hindustan Times Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Parsvnath To Sack Non-Performing Employees
Affected by the slowdown in the realty market, Parsvnath Developers announced that it would sack under-performing employees as part of its cost-cutting measures that would begin in the next 15-20 days. Pointing out that sales in the current festival season have declined by about 40-50%, the company’s Chairman, Mr. Pradeep Jain said: “A non-performer has to go away, cost-cutting measures will start in 15-20 days”. He, however, did not mention the number of people who will be retrenched. The company currently employs 1,400 people and about 30,000 people are indirectly employed. But he clarified that non-performer would be replaced by good professionals, who are currently available in the market in good number.
Source: 24-10-08 livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Spice Jet Appoints Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal
Spice Jet has appointed Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect replacing Mr. Siddhanth Sharma. Prior to this, he was the COO and Chief Strategy officer for Flight Options. He has earlier worked as Senior Director of Marriott International and has also been Manager of financial planning for the maintenance, reservations and internal consulting area of US Airways.
Source: 22-10-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

DBS Bank Names Mr. Sanjiv Bhasin As CEO
Mr. Sanjiv Bhasin joins DBS Bank as CEO, replacing Mr. Pranam Wahi. He will take charge after necessary formal approvals are received from the Reserve Bank of India. Mr. Bhasin has spent his 30-year of banking career in various geographical and business assignments in India and overseas.
Source: 22-10-08 The Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr. Ravi Sud Quits Hero Honda
Mr. Ravi Sud, Chief Financial Officer, Hero Honda has resigned from the company after spending 10 years with it, a release from the company stated. “Mr. Sud has decided to move for opportunities outside the company. He would be with Hero Honda till the end of this month,” added the company release.
Source: 23-10-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr. V Sumantran Joins Ashok Leyland
The Hinduja Group flagship company, Ashok Leyland has announced the appointment of Mr. V Sumantran as director on its board. He is currently executive vice-chairman of Hinudja Automotive UK and chairman of Nissan Ashok Leyland Powertrain. Prior to this, he was at Tata Motors’ Passenger Car Business and Engineering Research as Executive Director.
Source: 23-10-08 Business Standard

Compiled by Amresh Anjan