HR Headlines: Mar-09 (Part-1)

Civil Services Has Lost No Charm
Despite the popular belief that post-liberalization, there is declining interest towards Civil Services Examinations (CSE) or only rural candidates are interested in joining the bureaucracy, the Tenth Report of The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) shows that between 2003-04 and 06-07, the number of applicants for CSE has registered an increase of nearly 70,000. Also, more urban candidates have been successful in CSE than rural candidates. However, ARC has reported that the only worry is that the whole selection procedure takes more than a year. ARC is looking at ways to substantially reduce the time taken for completing the selection cycle.
Source: 23-02-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

EPFO Interest Rate To Remain 8.5% This Year Too
The Central Board of Trustees of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has decided that the previous year's interest rate of 8.5 per cent on provident fund will be retained for the current fiscal, not withstanding the demand of the trade union representatives in the board who had been asking for a 9.5 per cent interest rate.
Source: 23-02-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Highest Number Of H1-B Visas Being Issued To IT Firms
According to the latest data released by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Indian IT companies account for the largest share of H-1B work visas, which are primarily meant for tech professionals. More that 10,000 H-1B visas issued last year were claimed by just four Indian companies. Indian IT major Infosys received 4,559 visas, followed by Wipro (2,678) and the maligned Satyam (1,917). Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) got 1,539 H-1B visas. With 1,037 visas, Microsoft is the only non-Indian and also the only American company to get more than 1,000 H-IB visas issued. Cognizant (467), Larsen and Tourbo (403) and IBM India (381) too figured in the top ten of the list.
Source: 25-02-09 www.thehindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Job Losses Send 20,000 Expat Indians Back Home
Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Mr Vyalar Ravi has informed the Parliament that nearly 20,000 Indians have come back home from abroad after the economic crisis claimed their jobs. To a separate query, the minister said that the number of incidents of overseas employers keeping passports of Indian employees has come down by 50 per cent.
Source: 26-02-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

MSD India To Hire 300 People In India
In a bid to expand its presence in the Indian market, MSD India, a wholly owned subsidiary of US drug maker Merck & Co, is planning to hire 300 people this year. The firm is looking at introducing more vaccines in the Indian market. Currently, it has about 700 employees, which will be increased to 1,000 by December-end this year.
Source: 24-02-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Salary Bonanza Waiting For SC, HC Judges
The Parliament has approved the pending ‘The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2008’ basis which the salaries of the judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts are set to rise three-fold. In the new structure, the salary of the Chief Justice of India would be increased from Rs 33,000 to Rs One lakh per month and that of other apex court judges from Rs 30,000 to Rs 90,000 per month. The salary of the Chief Justice of High Courts would be raised from Rs 30,000 to Rs 90,000 per month and that of the HC judges from Rs 26,000 to Rs 80,000 per month.
Source: 24-02-09 news.in.msn.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

DA Bonanza For Government Employees
The Union Cabinet has approved a meaty six percentage point raise in the cost of living allowance, earlier called Dearness Allowance. Thus it has moved up from 16 to 22 per cent of basic pay and will be effective for 14 months from January 1 this year to February 2010. This will cost the government Rs 6,020 crore. Rs 4,100 crore will be on account of dearness relief to government employees and the remaining Rs 1,920 crore will be given to pensioners. This allowance will cover 8.3 million central government employees and pensioners.
Source: 27-02-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

30 Lakh Jobs To Be Created By PCPIR
With the government’s approval to set up the first three petroleum, chemicals and petrochemical investment regions (PCPIR), it is expected that 30 lakh new jobs would be generated in the country as it will attract investments to the tune of Rs 4,86,180 crore. A PCPIR is a specifically designated investment region of approximately 250 sq kms for manufacturing facilities for domestic and export led production. Three regions in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal have been identified to set up a PCPIR and these would be anchored by companies like Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, GMR, CALS Refinery and ONGC Petro Additions Ltd.
Source: 25-02-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

TCS Rules Out Salary Hikes; Job Cuts Likely
IT major Tata Consultancy Services has ruled out any salary hikes next year as a part of cost cutting measures to tackle the global economic slowdown. Also, it has said that job cuts are possible if the situation worsens. TCS has already frozen lateral hiring and is reviewing variable pay component on employee salaries, which differs between 22 per cent and 35 per cent of his/her gross salary. Variable pay represents eight per cent of the total revenue of TCS with a headcount of 130,000.
Source: 26-02-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

HCL To Add Staff At Jaipur Branch
HCL Infosystems is planning to increase its headcount in its Jaipur centre to strengthen its operations in the city. The IT major is also developing a new software with bi-lingual capabilities. Currently, the centre has a staff capacity of 400 and HCL is looking to double it within two years. The aim is to leverage the centre to serve its clients in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) segment by offering customised solutions.
Source: 24-02-09 www.ciol.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Hindustan Motors Cuts Compensation Of Managers, Executives
To tide over the dropping demand for its passenger cars and auto-component businesses, Hindustan Motors (HM) has cut the salaries of its managers and executives by 10-12.5 per cent. For the workers, the salaries have been reduced by Rs 400 per month.
Source: 26-02-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Yahoo Management Shake-Up: CFO To Leave
Within just six weeks of Yahoo Inc.'s new chief executive Ms Carol Bartz taking over, a management shake-up has been announced in a bid to revive the company. Yahoo has announced that CFO Mr Blake Jorgensen will be leaving and the overhaul will expand the responsibilities of Yahoo's chief technology officer, Mr Ari Balogh, and the company's top advertising executive in the United States, Ms Hilary Schneider. Two new jobs have also been created. Ms Elisa Steele will join Yahoo as chief marketing officer while Mr Joel Jones will become Ms Bartz's chief of staff.
Source: 26-02-09 www.marketwatch.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

US Jobless Figure Jumps To Five Million
With the worsening economy, it is becoming increasingly hard to find jobs in the US and this is apparent in the number of people drawing the unemployment aid. The figure jumped to a record high of nearly five million, the government reports. The factory activity in the country’s mid-Atlantic region has also contracted sharply in February.
Source: 25-02-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Global Job Losses Continue
The job market across the globe continued to wear a gloomy look as more cuts were announced in the wake of the deepening economic meltdown. In Britain, Royal Sun Alliance (RSA) announced 1,200 job cuts by the middle of next year. Insurance firm Legal & General is planning to cut between 250 and 450 jobs. Lonmin, the world's third-biggest platinum producer based in South Africa, is cutting up to 5,500 jobs at its mines. Mobile phone operator Vodafone has announced plans to cut about 500 jobs in the UK. Lenovo Group will eliminate 450 positions in China to cut costs. Telecom equipment giant Nortel Networks Corp will cut its global workforce by 3,200 in the coming months.
Source: 26-02-09 www.livemint.com, www.bbc.co.uk, www.dnaindia.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Eurozone Jobless Crisis Deepens
As more and more firms announce layoffs, unemployment across the nations that share the euro has risen to its highest level in more than two years. The eurozone jobless rate touched 8.2% in January, as per the latest official European Union data. The figure is up from a revised 8.1% in December and above the 7.3% figure in January 2008. Meanwhile, annual rate of inflation in the 16-nation area dropped to its lowest in nearly a decade in January, to 1.1%. Unemployment among Eurozone nations is highest in Spain, at 14.8%, and lowest in the Netherlands, at 2.8%.
Source: 27-02-09 news.bbc.co.uk Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Ford Executives Take Voluntary Pay Cuts
Top executives at Ford Motor Company have decided to voluntarily take 30 per cent cuts in their pay for the next two years. They have also suspended bonuses for salaried workers this year. Ford is offering another round of buyouts and hourly retirements to all its hourly workers.
Source: 25-02-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Top Management Restructuring At Godrej
Godrej Consumer Products has restructured its top level management and appointed Mr Dalip Sehgal as managing director. Mr Adi B Godrej has been re-designated as chairman. Earlier, he was chairman and managing director. Current executive director and president Mr H K Press has been appointed the vice-chairman.
Source: 24-02-09 Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Senior Appointments At Patni
Patni Computer Systems has appointed four new senior executives. The IT company is looking to expand its operation in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Mr Juergen Dillenberger has been appointed senior sales manager and Mr Georg Wagner has been appointed vice-president. Mr Gabi Schulte-Holthaus will be new sales director, SAP alliance while Mr Amit Luthra has come on board as senior sales manager, Life Sciences.
Source: 24-02-09 Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr Sandeep Sabharwal Resigns At JM Financial MF
Mr Sandeep Sabharwal has quit J M Financial MF as CIO and fund manager. Without citing the reason for his resignation, he said he will take a break of two weeks.
Source: 25-02-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr Maneesh Dhir Quits AOL
Mr Maneesh Dhir, who started and headed the India unit for AOL LLC, has left the Internet firm after a decade-long stint. He will start a new venture of his own. Mr Dhir was the executive vice-president (international) and managing director of AOL India. He was responsible for expanding AOL’s presence outside the US in two years from four to 38 countries. He will be replaced by Mr Phil Nelson, senior vice-president and general manager, to lead the India operations.
Source: 26-02-09 www.livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

New CEO At UBS
UBS has appointed Mr Oswald J Grubel as the new chief executive officer, replacing Mr Marcel Rohner. Mr Grubel is credited for the turnaround at the rival firm Credit Suisse.
Source: 27-02-09 Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Citi India Appoints New Equities Head
Mr Nikhil Nagele has been appointed as the head of the India equities team at Citi. He will be covering both sales and trading business. Earlier, he was leading Citi’s south Asian trading desk at Hong Kong.
Source: 27-02-09 Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Samsung India Gets A New CEO
Mr Jung Soo Shin is the new president and chief executive officer of Samsung South West Asia and Samsung India Electronics Ltd. He succeeds Mr H B Lee. Prior to this, he was head of marketing for the Digital Appliances business of the company.
Source: 27-02-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

New Chief Executive For CRISIL Subsidiary
CRISIL has appointed Mr S. R. Ramanujam as CEO of CRISIL Risk & Infrastructure Solutions following the retirement of Mr Hemant Joshi, the current MD and CEO. CRIS is a subsidiary of CRISIL and is engaged in providing infrastructure advisory services and risk solutions.
Source: 25-02-09 www.thehindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Honda Motor To Replace Its CEO
Reeling under falling sales in the wake of the global economic downturn, Japan’s second-largest automaker Honda Motor Co., has decided to replace its president and chief executive officer in June. Senior managing director Mr Takanobu Ito will replace Mr Takeo Fukui at the helm.
Source: 30-11-99 www.thehindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Essar Telecom Infra Appoints Mr Navin Kaul As CEO
The Essar Group has appointed Mr Navin Kaul as the chief executive officer of Essar Telecom Infrastructure. Earlier, he has worked with Spice Communications as CEO where he was responsible for the company’s development and growth.
Source: 26-02-09 www.thehindu.com


Compiled by Amresh Anjan