HR Headlines: Jan-09 (Part-2)

This Is How Working Indians Spend Their Incomes
With rising disposable incomes, working Indians are spending more generously on housing, education, healthcare, transport and communication than they did earlier, according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. As per the survey, around 41 per cent of working class Indian families stay in independent houses. Expenditure on housing has risen to 16.01 per cent from 9.84 per cent in 1981-82. The average monthly incomes per family at constant prices have risen from Rs 810 in 1982 to Rs 1,486. According to the report, people spend most on food but expenditure on food has dropped in terms of total expenditure percentages from 56.95 per cent in the last decade to 47.48 per cent. Medical expenses have risen from 2.54 per cent to 4.54 per cent, education from 3.15 per cent to 6.19 per cent, and transport and communication from 2.69 per cent to 5.25 per cent.
Source: 28-06-08 www.sify.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Corporate India Hiring Expat Talent From Similar Markets
Gone are the times when corporate India solely depended on the US and the UK for leadership talent. India Inc is now looking at hiring experts from markets similar to the Indian context. Executive search firms are hiring talent from Vietnam, Malaysia, Russia, Finland, Poland and Australia to usher the country to the next level of growth. India is now looking at specific skills instead of just leadership. For instance, Spencer Stuart, a global executive search consulting firm, has recruited CXOs from Australia, West Asia Vietnam, South Africa and Brazil. Global search firm EMA Partners has recruited from Finland and Poland (for expertise in metals), Australia (for mining) and West Asia (for real estate, infrastructure and oil and gas sectors) for Indian companies.
Source: 29-06-08 www.sify.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

27% Dip In Polaris Chief’s Gross Salary
Gross remuneration of Mr Arun Jain, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Polaris Software Lab Ltd, came down by 27 per cent to Rs 85 lakh in 2007-08 compared with Rs 1.08 crore last year. This includes Rs 20 lakh (Rs 51.25 lakh) towards performance-based bonus. Other Directors of the company too got lower commission in 2007-08. For instance, Mr Abhay Agarwal’s commission dropped to Rs 3.50 lakh during the year compared with Rs 4.98 lakh in the previous year. Similarly, commission of Mr Arvind Kumar dropped to Rs 3.50 lakh from Rs 4.63 lakh. Also, no stock options grants were provided during 2007-08 for Directors compared with 10,000 given to six of them in the previous year.
Source: 30-06-08 news.moneycontrol.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Steel Sector Facing Shortage Of Engineers
The world’s largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal has expressed concern that there are not enough skilled manpower and talented engineers in the steel sector and the shortage is likely to worsen in the coming years. There are 1600 engineering colleges in India but bright students choose a career in the field of information technology (IT) over the manufacturing sector, which has led to this shortfall. ArcelorMittal has proposed to set up a 12 MTPA capacity greenfield steel mill in Orissa’s Keonjhar district. The steel major also plans to set up a model Industrial Training Instutute (ITI) close to its proposed plant to train manpower.
Source: 01-07-08 www.livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

More Fatal Accidents Happening At Workplaces
According to the report 'Beyond deaths and injuries: The ILOs' role in promoting safe and healthy jobs' by International Labour Organisation., employees are seeing more accidents at workplaces. However, there has been a decline in deaths due to such mishaps. Between 2001 and 2003, the estimated number of fatal accidents at workplaces increased from 351,000 in to 358,000 while the non-fatal category during this period showed a rise from 268 million to 337 million. This was caused largely due to increase in workers globally. The report suggests that the number of overall deaths due to work-related diseases was lower from 2.03 million to 1.95 million and the estimated number of deaths due to accidents and diseases also decreased from 2.38 mn to 2.31 mn.
Source: 01-07-08 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Disgruntled Workers At Bajaj Auto Turn Down VRS
The negotiations between the management of Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) and Vishwakalyan Kamgar Sanghatna, the workers union, have failed with around 1,100 workers refusing to accept the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) offered by the company. The workers were offered a one-time settlement of Rs 17.75 lakh, which they turned down a day after reportedly agreeing to the VRS scheme at a meeting held at Yamunanagar in Pimpri-Chinchwad. The company had offered to pay the amount in two parts. The first installment was to be a lump sum of Rs 5.75 lakh and the remaining money was to be paid as monthly instalments of Rs 10,000 over a period of 10 years. The workers are demanding the entire sum in one go.
Source: 03-07-08 www.expressindia.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Satyam Launches SatyamStarPower.com For Employee Engagement
To increase employee engagement and give a chance to employees to showcase their creative talent, IT services provider Satyam Computer has launched the web portal SatyamStarPower.com. Referred to as Fun@Work, the website will allow employees to express their creative talent irrespective of their location. On the portal, employees can express creativity in terms of writing, singing, dancing or even painting. The website will let all employees be part of the fun and entertainment taking place in any part of the world within the company.
Source: 04-07-08 www.sify.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr Jai Talwar Joins Business India Publications
Business India Publication Ltd (BI) has hired Mr Jai Talwar as President, advertising. Prior to this, he was Senior President, Last Minute Media. At Business India, Mr Talwar will head the national advertising sales of all company publications and the group’s international media division, which includes Business India, Inside Outside and Auto India. Mr Talwar possesses nearly three decades of experience in the media and advertising sector. Beginning his career with advertising agencies such as Clarion (now Bates 141) and Ulka (now DraftFCB Ulka), he has worked with various media organisations such as The Reader’s Digest, Hindustan Times, Zee TV and Khaleej Times, Dubai.
Source: 03-07-08 www.afaqs.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr Karamjit Dua, Mr Rajiv Bakshi Promoted At Discovery
Discovery Networks India has promoted Mr Karamjit Dua, Vice-President, Advertising Sales, as Head, Advertising Sales. Also, Mr Rajiv Bakshi, Associate Director, Marketing and Communication, has been promoted as Director in the same department. Mr Dua will head Discovery’s national sales team and be responsible for advertising revenue while Mr Bakshi will manage the three channels, Discovery Channel, Discovery Travel and Living, and Animal Planet.
Source: 03-07-08 www.afaqs.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

The Telegraph Gets New Vice-President
ABP Group has appointed Ms Jayashree Mohanka as Vice-President, in-charge of the Group’s English daily The Telegraph. She replaces Mr Shraman Jha, who quit last month. She will be reporting to Mr Amitabha Datta, President-Dailies, ABP Group. Prior to this, she was with Kolkata-based Eveready Industries, where she was Vice-President, Marketing. She has worked with companies like Reckitt and Coleman in Product Management, Titan Industries as Regional Manager, and Jenson & Nicholson as General Manager.
Source: 02-07-08 www.exchange4media.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr Prashant Pandey Quits JWT To Join GSK
Mr Prashant Pandey has called it a day as Vice-President at JWT to join Glaxo SmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH) as General Manger, Marketing. At GSKCH, he will be responsible for marketing of the Horlicks brand and its extensions, including Junior Horlicks, Horlicks Lite and Women’s Horlicks. Mr Pandey will report to Mr Shubhajit Sen, Executive Vice-President, Marketing, GSK. Beginning his career with Mudra Communications in advertising in 1995, Mr Pandey joined JWT a year later and was there till now.
Source: 03-07-08 www.afaqs.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

CARE Promotes Mr D R Dogra To Become Dy MD
Credit Analysis & Research Limited (CARE) has promoted Mr D R Dogra to the position of Deputy Managing Director. Prior to this, he was working as Executive Director of CARE. He has already undertaken more than 3,500 rating assignments in corporate & infrastructure sector.
Source: 04-07-08 The Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr Michael P Foley Is CEO, Essar, East Africa
Mr Michael P Foley has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer by Essar Communications Holdings Ltd (ECHL) for its East Africa operations. ECHL is the telecom subsidiary of Essar Global. In his new role, he will be responsible for the launch of Econet Wireless Kenya, in which ECHL holds a 49 per cent stake. Meanwhile, Econet Wireless Kenya has appointed Mr Shailendra Khare as the Chief Technical Officer, Mr Mr Philip Mudimu as Project Director (East Africa) and Ms Anna Othoro as Marketing Director.
Source: 01-07-08 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr L N Mittal Becomes Independent Director At Goldman Sachs Board
Mr Lakshmi Mittal, the Indian-origin steel magnate, has joined the board of the investment bank major Goldman Sachs as an independent Director. He has joined the company’s audit, compensation and corporate governance and nominating committees. On the 13-member board of the company, he is the tenth independent Director. Mr Mittal has been a long time client of Goldman Sachs.
Source: 30-06-08 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Starbucks To Lay Off Up To 12,000 Staff
To cope with an economic downturn and increasing competition, Starbucks Corp plans to cut up to 12,000 full- and part-time positions and shut down 600 underperforming U.S. stores. Grappling with the slowing U.S. economy and consumer spending, Starbucks is bracing for its first full-year profit decline since 2000 as it faces stiff competition from major competitors like McDonald's Corp.
Source: 01-07-08 news.yahoo.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

UBS Restructures Top Management
Amidst losses due to the credit crisis and pressure from investors, UBS has restructured its top management. It is dismantling the office of chairman, a key demand of one of its top shareholders, Olivant, which had objected to the chairman's office for having too much influence over executive management. Four board members would resign and an extraordinary general meeting planned to be held on October 2 will elect the replacements. Meanwhile, Mr Sergio Marchionne, Chief Executive of Italian automaker Fiat SpA, will fill in the newly created post as Senior Independent Director, and will continue as Non-Executive Vice-Chairman of UBS.
Source: 01-07-08 new.yahoo.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Citigroup Planning To Change Bonus System
Citigroup is planning come up with a new bonus system for senior managers. Under the new system, managers would be encouraged to cooperate and help one another win business. The new system is part of the new strategy of Chief Executive Mr Vikram Pandit who wishes to turn around Citigroup by breaking down the divisions between different parts of the bank, instead of breaking apart the financial conglomerate. Meanwhile, Citigroup is cutting down jobs as it tries to cut costs.
Source: 29-06-08 news.yahoo.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

ESOPs For All Employees At Lehman
Expecting a rise in its share value, Lehman Brothers has granted shares to all employees representing about 20 per cent of their equity compensation for the year. Rumours are abuzz that Lehman plans an emergency sale to a larger US or foreign bank. Shares tumbled down 11 per cent on the buzz that Barclays was about to buy Lehman for $15 per share, well below the investment bank's book value. However, the prices recovered when analysts and others noted that the rumour had no factual basis.
Source: 03-07-08 www.ft.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Siemens To Trim Jobs In Huge Numbers
Reeling under a wide-ranging corruption scandal and an increasing cost base, the German engineering and electronics company Siemens is reportedly cutting down 17,200 jobs, which amounts to up to 4 percent of its work force worldwide. Mostly, white-collar and administrative jobs will be shed. Of the intended cuts, some 6,400 will be based in Germany, where it employs around 136,000 people. The payroll cuts will represent one of the boldest moves by the company CEO Mr Peter Loscher.
Source: 01-07-08 Hindustan Times Business

Compiled by Amresh Anjan