HR Headlines: Feb-09 (Part-3)

Naukri JobSpeak Reports A Stable Job Scenario In January
Naukri JobSpeak, the monthly Job Index by Naukri.com, reports that overall the Job Index inched up from 697 in December 2008 to 738 in January 2009, an increase of 5% in new jobs. Overall, this implies a 26.2% decline in new jobs since July 2008. Bangalore saw an increase in new jobs by 18% in January 2009 as compared to December 2008. The job index for ITes and BPO industry moved up by 28% in Jan 2009. Functional areas/sectors such as teaching and hospitality inched up above the July 2008 levels indicating a more robust job scenario in these sectors.
Source: 19-02-09 Naukri.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Hewitt Predicts Single-Digit Salary Hikes In India
A survey conducted by HR consultants Hewitt Associates has indicated that India Inc will see only single-digit salary increases for the first time in six years and the salary increase projections may fall even further in the coming months. Salary increase projections for 2009 in India dipped to 8.2 per cent from an actual increase of 13.3 per cent in 2008. However, the silver lining is that these are still the highest in the Asia-Pacific and among the highest globally. Also, amidst massive layoffs worldwide, less than 16 per cent of companies in India are considering retrenchment. More than 60 per cent of companies in India are still hiring, and nine out of every 10 companies are still giving promotions. The report also shows that FMCG, consumer durables and telecom sectors are projecting double-digit salary increases. On the other hand, the retail sector will offer the lowest increments at 5.3 per cent, followed by infotech firms at 5.7 per cent.
Source: 20-02-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Indian Companies Remain Optimistic On Base Salary In '09
Despite a general gloom due to the global financial downturn, majority of Indian companies remain optimistic on base salaries. In a survey conducted by consulting firm Mercer, of the 48 Indian companies surveyed across 22 sectors, 69 per cent don't anticipate a freeze on base salaries in the next 12 months. The base salary is determined by individual and company performance and 58 per cent firms consider base salary to be the most effective pay element to align executive remuneration to organisation strategy. Around 38 per cent companies expect lower short-term incentives payouts with 54 per cent anticipating a change there. The survey also indicated that senior executives in India may have to accept smaller performance bonuses for 2008-09. With the economic downturn, companies across sectors are looking to trim costs and cut corporate profits. Around 38% of the companies surveyed expect lower short-term incentive payouts, or variable and performance bonuses, for 2008-09. The results were inferred on the response of human resource heads at 48 companies across 22 sectors in India, of which 31% are multinational and 69% Indian.
Source: 17-02-09 Business Standard, www.livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Wipro Trains Employees To Prepare A Multi-Skilled Workforce
In a bid to reduce hiring without affecting efficiency, Wipro Technologies is training its staff to turn them into a multi-skilled workforce. The IT major is providing training to its employees in different domains and technologies to cater to the current requirements. The company has signed a few large integrated deals, wherein the company is providing both the IT outsourcing and BPO services by a single team. The company has already transitioned some of its employees from each of these two businesses (IT and BPO) to work for such projects.
Source: 19-02-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Hyundai Re-Inducts Fired Trainees
Hyundai India Motor Ltd is re-hiring the trainee employees, who were sent out from the factory after their training period two months ago. So far, 200 trainee employees have been hired back. There has been a sudden surge in the demand for skilled employees owing to the Korean auto giant bagging more orders from Europe. At its manufacturing facility in Chennai, the work hours have been increased to 9-hour in each shift a day from 8-hours to increase the production. Earlier, the company was running three shifts to produce around 52,000 cars a month but had to cut it down to two shifts at the end of December, to drag down the production on the back of a global slowdown.
Source: 14-02-09 Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Low Pay Hikes In The Offing For Infosys Employees
The Chief Financial Officer of Infosys Technologies has said that employees of the IT major may get pay hikes below 10 per cent this year. In 2008-09, overseas employees were given a pay hike of 14 to 15 per cent, while onsite employees received a 4 to 5 per cent hike.
Source: 17-02-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Ford To Hire 1,000 Staff This Year
Ford India, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, USA, will hire 1,000 employees in India this year. Currently, it has 6,000 staff across various levels in the country.
Source: 20-02-09 The Statesman Compiled by Amresh Anjan

RBI Staff Observe Strike
Officers and employees of the Reserve Bank of India went on mass casual leave on Friday leading to a virtual paralysis of operations in the money market. The strike was observed by staff across all offices, as reported by the United Forum of Reserve Bank Officers.
Source: 20-02-09 The Statesman Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Maytas Infra On A Job Cutting Spree
In the last two months, Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties have axed 600 and 200 jobs respectively. Maytas has closed down a number of its operations and the people working there were asked to leave without any prior notice. These people were paid salaries only till December. Also, it has been learnt that some senior Maytas employees have voluntarily opted out from taking their December as well as January salary because the company is running under financial pressure.
Source: 18-02-09 www.moneycontrol.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

No Salary For Past 5 Months For 15,000 Subhiksha Staff
Reeling under huge losses, distressed retailer Subhiksha has admitted that its 15,000 employees have been unpaid since October last. Employees Provident Fund Organisation has directed it to pay the assessed dues at the earliest. One of Subhiksha’s major shareholders, ICICI Venture, has reportedly sought an inquiry into the affairs of the company and also an independent audit.
Source: 19-02-09 Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

1.09 lakh Export Jobs Lost In The Last Five Months
There have been over one lakh job losses in the export sector in the last five months due to the global downturn. The current financial slowdown has affected businesses particularly in the US and European countries badly impacting India's exports. In a sample survey of 402 exporting units spread over 17 different sectors, job losses to the tune of 1,09,513 were revealed during the period August 2008 to mid-January. The most affected sectors include gems and jewellery, leather, textiles, handloom, carpets and handicrafts.
Source: 18-02-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Leyland Slashes Staff Salary
In view of the slowdown in the industry, Ashok Leyland is undertaking cost-cutting measures including a 20 per cent reduction in wages across the board compared to last year. The company is looking at cutting down the capital expenditure from around Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 800 crore.
Source: 14-02-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Satyam Board To Downsize Senior Team
With a view to make Satyam Computer Services viable for investors, its government constituted board is looking at reducing the number of senior managers. This has already led to the company's two senior vice-presidents, Mr Anil Kumar and Mr Subu D Subramaniam, putting in their papers in the past few days. However middle-level employees will not be retrenched.
Source: 17-02-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Obama Is Hiring
There has been a huge rush of applications to fill ‘several thousand’ politically appointed positions in the Executive Branch of the President Barack Obama-led government. The White House has already received more than 3,50,000 applications hinting at an intense competition. In a posting on its official blog, the White House has said that it has been interviewing many for the upper level positions, but the final decisions will be taken only over the next few months. Also, it has noted that the selection process would be very competitive and rigorous. In the application form, a candidate is required to furnish details including background information, work experience, resume, education, management experience, private sector experience, government experience, non-profit, academic and political experience, international experience, desired positions in the Obama-Biden administration and references.
Source: 15-02-09 Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

No Onsite Recruitment At CapGemini
Paris-based IT services and consultancy firm CapGemini has retracted its target of hiring 40,000 employees in India by the end of 2010 in the wake of the current economic slowdown. Currently, it has a headcount of 24,000 in India. Also, a few businesses in CapGemini will grow their headcount despite the overall drop in hiring. In India, the company will continue to hire in the infrastructure management, BPO and consulting businesses. Globally, the company has either reduced its hiring or has completely put a freeze on the numbers.
Source: 17-02-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Employees, Tata-JLR Reach Agreement To Save Jobs
In a significant development, employee unions have reached a temporary key framework agreement with the beleaguered Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover that would prevent compulsory job losses in the near future. The latest agreement would safeguard the shop-floor jobs of over 800 hourly-paid workers and 300 salaried staff at JLR plants at Castle Bromwich, Solihull and Halewood. The deal aimed at offsetting costs will now be recommended for acceptance in a workforce ballot of around 12,000 workers over the next three weeks.
Source: 17-02-09 www.dnaindia.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

KFC To Expand In UK; Create 9,000 New Jobs
Fast food chain KFC is expanding operations in the UK by pumping in £150m to open 300 new outlets over the next three to five years. Also, this will lead to the creation of 9,000 new jobs in the region. The chicken chain is reporting good business during the recession as people are drawn to cheaper food.
Source: 16-02-09 news.bbc.co.uk Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Vacancies At Buckingham Palace
Even as unemployment in the UK hit a 10-year high with the number of unemployed nearing the 2.0 million mark, there are a few vacancies up for grabs at the most coveted address- Buckingham Palace. The job vacancies have been posted on the official website of Queen Elizabeth II. The jobs include that of trainee butler and housekeeping assistant. Aspiring candidates would have to submit their applications and book interviews with Buckingham Palace online.
Source: 19-02-09 www.forbes.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Global Economic Downturn Claims Further Jobs
The unyielding global economic downturn is claiming more and more jobs worldwide with companies announcing layoffs to reign in mounting costs. America’s two auto majors— General Motors and Chrysler — have decided to cut 50,000 jobs. The biggest US tyre maker Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plans to cut 5,000 jobs this year. US-based Smithfield Foods Inc. plans to cut 1,800 jobs and close six factories. German car maker BMW AG is cutting around 850 jobs at its Mini plant in Oxford. Car parts firm GKN is cutting 564 jobs in the UK. Foster’s Group Ltd, Australia’s largest brewer, will axe nearly 300 jobs. Mining major Anglo American will be slashing 19,000 jobs in 2009. The state of California in the US has notified 20,000 state workers that their jobs may be eliminated. Brazil's Embraer plane maker has decided to cut its work force by about 20 per cent amid declining revenues. Walt Disney Co. will lay off an unspecified number of workers as it restructures its US theme parks. Hindalco's foreign subsidiary Novelis will be slashing as many 10% jobs across locations.
Source: 17-02-09 Financial Express, Business Standard, www.dnaindia.com, www.livemint.com, news.bbc.co.uk Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr Alan Rosling To Quit Tata Sons
Mr Alan Rosling, executive director of Tata Sons, is quitting the firm. Joining the Tatas in 2004, he had been the face of some of the Tata group’s early global forays, including the much-publicised Bangladesh plan that envisaged setting up four major projects, including steel, power and fertiliser plants. He is also a director of Tata AutoComp Systems and Tata International.
Source: 16-02-09 www.telegraphindia.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Jet Group CEO Quits
Jet Airways group CEO Mr Ravi Chaturvedi has put in his papers at the company. Mr Chaturvedi had joined Jet Airways in October last year from FMCG major Procter & Gamble. The past two years have witnessed exits of several top management personnel from the company.
Source: 18-02-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Sony CEO Quits
Mr Kunal Dasgupta, CEO, Multi Screen Media, which operates the Hindi general entertainment channel Sony has resigned from the company. He joined Sony Entertainment Television in 1995 and has quoted personal reasons for his resignation. Mr Man Jit Singh has been appointed the interim CEO.
Source: 20-02-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

New CEO At The London Stock Exchange
The London stock Exchange has named Mr Xavier Rolet as its new chief executive. Mr Rolet, the former head of Lehman Brothers in France, will take over on May 20.
Source: 14-02-09 Business Standard

Compiled by Amresh Anjan

HR Headlines: Feb-09 (Part-2)

GDP Growth Gets A Fillip Through The Pay Commission
The Rs 28,505 crore bonanza doled out by government for more than five million central government by way of higher wages has ensured that community, social and personal services grew at a robust 9.3 per cent, way above last year’s 6.8 per cent growth. The pay arrears of government employees would contribute a whopping 75 per cent of the sub-group’s growth in 2008-09. However, growth in six of the remaining sub-sectors is expected to drop sharply. Manufacturing growth is expected to fall to 4.1 per cent from 8.2 per cent last year, agriculture 2.6 per cent against nearly 5 per cent last year.
Source: 12-02-09 www.hindustantimes.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

1,650 Temporary Workers Hired At Tata Motors
In a positive indication for the Indian automobile industry, the country’s largest commercial vehicles maker, Tata Motors, is hiring over 1,650 workers in temporary positions for its Jamshedpur plant. Last year, over 700 temporary employees were disengaged from the same plant as production fell badly. The hiring comes on the heels of company recording healthy commercial vehicles sales in January, although lower by 43 per cent as compared to the same month last year.
Source: 08-02-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

PSU Bank Employees To Get Pension Benefit
There is good news for employees of PSU banks as they will now be entitled to a comprehensive pension benefit. Currently, 2.5 lakh employees covered under the provident fund do not enjoy pension benefits. The new move to cover them under the pension benefit could mean an additional cost of Rs 6,000 crore for state-owned banks.
Source: 10-02-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

South Indian Bank To Hire 3,000 People
As part of its aggressive expansion plans, Thrissur-based South Indian Bank will recruit as many as 3,000 employees over the next two years for its 40 new branches. The bank already has over 500 branches, mostly in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Source: 12-02-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

TCS To Go For Real-Time Talent Management
Tata Consultancy Services has changed its hiring strategy to focus on just-in-time hiring. Now, the company will hire in the last three months of graduation rather than a year before. The company is devising ways to reduce the two-month training period by half. TCS has already frozen lateral hiring and plans to hire only on a need to need basis.
Source: 13-02-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

March Calendar Of FORE School Of Management (FSM), New Delhi
FORE School of Management (FSM), New Delhi has announced the following Management Development Programmes to be conducted at its campus during March, 2009:

1. Advanced Financial Management - March 16-17, 2009
2. Effective Performance Management System - March 18-20, 2009
3. Determining Cost of quality - March 23-25, 2009

For registration / additional information, please contact : MDP Office, Fore School of Management, B-18, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi – 110016, Phone (011) 26856301 (Direct), 41242424 (Extn. 498); Fax: (011) 26520509, 26964229; E-mail: mdp@fsm.ac.in (Website : www.fsm.ac.in).

For complete details of individual programmes click at the relevant programme title .
For complete MDP Calendar (2008-2009) click here
For Response Sheet for MDP Calendar 2008-2009 click here.
For nomination form click here.

Source: 12-02-09 Fore School of Management Compiled by Amresh Anjan

DMA Seminar On Retaining Talent In Turbulent Economic Situation
Delhi Management Association (DMA), is organising a national seminar on Retaining Talent In Turbulent Economic Situation - Remedies & Solutions on 6th March ‘09 at India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi with a view to support organisational initiatives to beat the economic slowdown and continue winning.

Mr Hari Nair is Programme Director & Vice President – Human Resources at Sona Koyo Steering Systems Ltd. The faculty will include eminent experts from the cross section of various industries. The Seminar would provide the delegates an opportunity for networking with the best HR Professionals.

For further details/registration/sponsorship please contact: Rajan Pandhi, Deputy Director, DMA, Mobile 9810877615, 24629555 (D), 24649552 Email: info@dmadelhi.org or dmadelhi@sify.com Website : www.dmadelhi.org
Source: 13-02-09 DMA Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Indian Pilots Eye Gulf-Based Airlines
With more and more Indian airlines trimming their pilot headcount, many Indian pilots are eyeing jobs in West Asia as Gulf-based airlines are seen as financially more sound. Also, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Air Arabia and other carriers are in an expansion mode. On the other hand, in India, airlines are resorting to various cost-cutting measures such as phasing out expensive foreign pilots, cutting salaries etc.
Source: 09-02-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Jet To Phase Out Expat Pilots
As part of cost cutting measures, Jet Airway Board has decided to phase out excess foreign pilot over the next few months. Of the 1,300 pilots in the company, 250 are expats. The decision comes on the back of their Indian counterparts demanding axing of foreign pilots as the latter draw a 40% higher salary than Indian pilots. Three months ago, the company had asked the pilots to accept salary cuts, which created outrage among the pilots. Also, the company has decided to freeze hiring and no vacancies created due to attrition would be filled.
Source: 10-02-09 Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

United Airlines’ Indian Call Centre Closed
North American airline United Airlines is closing its call centre in India and moving 165 jobs to US call centres in Chicago and Honolulu, Hawaii. These jobs will be handled by workers who now handle reservations. United Airlines transferred these jobs to India three years ago as part of a trend in the US to move such functions to low-cost countries.
Source: 12-02-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

More International Job Losses
The tally of job losses across the globe is scaling new heights with each passing week. Hit by dropping sales and the surging Yen, Japanese automobile major Nissan is slashing 20,000 jobs or 8.5% of its workforce. General Motors Corp is mulling to fire up to 5,000 salaried employees. Swiss financial services major UBS will cut about 2,000 jobs this year. Sir Richard Branson-controlled Virgin Atlantic is planning to cut up to 600 jobs while Ryanair is cutting 200 jobs at its Dublin base.
Source: 10-02-09 Financial Express, Business Standard, Financial Times Compiled by Amresh Anjan

No Perks And Bonus For UK Bankers
British Prime Minister Mr Gordon Brown has warned the chief executive officers and bankers in Britain that the time of big bonuses and perks is over. He has particularly told the bankers that there would be no rewards for failure and only those who showed long term sustainable success would deserve rewards. He has told board members of UK's leading banks who have received state bailout they would not receive cash bonuses this year, nor would banks pay or receive dividends.
Source: 09-02-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

700 Merrill Employees Had a Windfall Before Sellout
In a stunning revelation, Mr Andrew M. Cuomo has disclosed how Merrill Lynch distributed its 2008 bonus pool, thereby creating millionaires out of a select group of 700 employees. Merrill moved up the bonus payments to December, just before the merger, instead of the usual time in January. As per the disclosure, the top four bonus recipients received a total of $121 million. Also, 20 people were paid more than $8 million and 53 people were paid more than $5 million.
Source: 13-02-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

No Bonus, $1 Salary For Citi CEO
Amid criticism over use of billions of dollars in government aid, Citigroup’s Indian American CEO Mr Vikram Pandit has decided to accept a token salary of $1 and no bonus till the bank retains to profitability. US lawmakers are grilling top executives from eight of America’s largest financial institutions for not lending despite collectively receiving $165 billion in capital.
Source: 12-02-09 www.ndtv.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Toyota Offers Buyouts To US Workers
Toyota Motor Corp has offered buyouts to nearly 18,000 U.S. workers. Also, it has decided to cut pay for executives and blue-collar workers in North America. Reeling under the global credit crunch that has sent auto sales sliding, Toyota has announced that it would shut down production for more days in April at plants in the United States, Canada and Mexico and would cut executive pay and bonuses.
Source: 13-02-09 www.reuters.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

200 Warner Jobs To Be Outsourced To India
The US entertainment giant Warner Bros has plans to outsource nearly 200 jobs to India. Though no formal announcements have been made so far, it is estimated that around 800 positions worldwide will be affected as the company prepares for layoffs, elimination of open positions and outsourcing. While about 300 employees will be sacked, other 300 positions will be outsourced, out of which 200 would go to India and Poland.
Source: 08-02-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

US Payrolls Will Soon Have More Women Than Men
The axe of recession has fallen on men as the lay offs have happened more in men-dominated sectors such as manufacturing and construction rather than women-dominated sectors such as education and health care. This has led to widespread speculation that women may soon outnumber men on US payrolls. Figures suggest that a full 82 per cent of the job losses have befallen men. The other side of the coin is that more and more women are now playing breadwinners in the family as men lose jobs.
Source: 07-02-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

$77 Mn Fine On Blackberry Bosses
A hefty fine of $77 million has befallen Blackberry co-CEOs and top executives in a case of stock option backdating. The honchos at Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM) were not directly involved in the fraud but were accused of showing negligence in letting option backdating take place.
Source: 07-02-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mphasis Appoints New Chairman
Mphasis has appointed Mr Andy Mattes as its new chairman replacing Mr Michael Coomer. Currently, Mr Mattes is senior vice president for applications services at EDS, an HP company.
Source: 10-02-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Nexus India Appoints Mr Pradeep Guha
Mr Pradeep Guha, former CEO of Zee Network, has joined venture capital firm Nexus India Capital as a Venture Advisor.
Source: 10-02-09 www.vccircle.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

New COO & EVP At Genpact
India’s BPO giant Genpact has appointed Mr N V Tiger Tyagarajan as chief operating officer, promoting him from the position of Executive VP and Head of Sales, marketing and Business Development and the Americas Operations. Also, Mr Bob Pryor has joined Genpact to fill the previous position of Mr Tyagarajan.
Source: 13-02-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr Dalip Sehgal Appointed As Godrej MD
Godrej Consumer Products has appointed Mr Dalip Sehgal as the new managing director of the company. Also, Mr Adi Godrej would now be the company’s chairman instead of chairman and managing director.
Source: 07-02-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

New CEO At Swiss Re
Swiss Re has appointed Mr Stefan Lippe as chief executive of the company replacing Mr Jacques Aigrain. Mr Lippe is a reinsurance expert with an experience of 25 years with the group. His appointment is inline with the company’s lower risk ‘back-to-basics’ approach.
Source: 13-02-09 Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

SBICAP Appoints New MD
Mr Satish Joshi has been appointed as managing director of SBICAP Securities. A 25-year veteran at State Bank of India, he possesses wide experience in credit policy and procedure cell.
Source: 11-02-09 Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

HSBC Gets New Head Of Equities
HSBC Asset Management (India) has appointed Mr Jitendra Sriram as head of equities. In his new responsibility, he will oversee day-to-day operations and fund management of the equity funds for HSBC Mutual Fund in India.
Source: 11-02-09 Financial Express

Compiled by Amresh Anjan