HR Headlines: Mar-09 (Part-3)

India Better Than Other Nations In Terms Of Employment Outlook
As per the latest survey on hiring trends by Manpower, India fares better than other nations, particularly the developed countries, in terms of employment outlook despite the global economic slowdown. Indian employers have positive plans for the next fiscal thus making it the most optimistic economy for hiring. The survey reports that 25 per cent of employers in India have positive hiring plans for April-June 2009, though a majority of big companies have adopted a wait-and-watch policy. However, for January-March 2009, India reported the worst-ever net employment outlook of 19 per cent. The survey was conducted across 3,600 employers across seven industry sectors. Globally, employers in Singapore, New Zealand and Taiwan expect the deepest cuts in their payrolls.
Source: 12-03-09 www.thehindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

More IIT, IIM Pass Outs Accepting PSU Jobs
With revised pay structure and a proposed 50 to 60% increase in salaries of PSU employees, PSU jobs have become more attractive for young graduates from the prestigious IITs and IIMs. Public sector undertakings are back in the spotlight as preferred job destination for young aspirants at a time when the private sector, reeling under the heat of the global financial meltdown, is cutting salaries and reducing jobs. This was evident from the fact that Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel) has been invited for campus placement by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) after a gap of almost a decade. The company has already picked up 400 engineers from different IITs through campus placement.
Source: 08-03-09 www.livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Headhunters Look For Laid Off People At A Bargain
Companies looking for the right people within a budget are now looking to hire those who have been laid off as they can be hired for lower wages and are immediately available for work. Select hiring is still happening at companies in the retail, construction and IT sectors and people who have lost their jobs are being increasingly considered for these positions. However, companies are still putting importance on reference checks to be sure of hiring the right people. Meanwhile, industry veterans have warned that hiring laid-off workers at lower salaries may boomerang when the market revives.
Source: 07-03-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Kerala Housewives Demand Pay For Looking After Families
Housewives in Kerala are peeved that they are paid no remuneration for going through the daily grind of looking after their children and families. Thus, they have formed a trade union now demanding that the government pay them a fixed salary and old-age pension for their services. The union would also work against the concept of polygamy and divorce. Citing the Venezuelan model where housewives are given minimum wages and social security, the union has pointed out that housewives spend at least 273 minutes a day looking after their children and they deserve being paid for it.
Source: 08-03-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Companies To Turn To Flexible Employee Benefits
A survey by global HR consultancy Mercer says that companies may soon be looking at offering flexible benefit programmes to employees, among other measures, for managing costs and attracting the right talent. In emerging markets like India, China and Vietnam, flexible benefits programmes that allow employees to choose a mix of health insurance and other benefits as per their needs have been gaining importance, reports the Marsh/Mercer Indian Flexible Benefits Survey 2008. Nearly 48 per cent employers surveyed are upbeat about flexible benefits and most of them want to implement it within the next one or two years. Also, 73 per cent of the respondents want their employee benefit programmes to be more relevant to employees' needs and give choice to staff.
Source: 09-03-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Women Stare at Glass Ceiling As Men Rule Board Rooms
A study by Grant Thorton has shown that globally there has been no change in the average presence of women in senior management roles since 2007. Only 24% of senior positions are occupied by women currently, a figure identical to 2007. 34% of privately owned businesses have all-men senior management. In Philippines, 47% of senior positions are held by women, the highest percentage across the world, followed by Russia (42%) and Thailand (38%). India ranks poorly in the bottom five globally as its percentage share of women in senior management stood at 15% in 2008. Japan is at the bottom most with only 7% senior management positions being held by women.
Source: 07-03-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

TCS Freezes Hiring Of Experienced Professionals; Asks 1,300 To Leave
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has put a freeze on the recruitment of experienced professionals unless they are approved by the respective business heads for project-specific skills. The biggest Indian IT major has decided to re-train its experienced professionals within the company to take on these roles. Also, the company has asked the operating units to raise the performance bar and utilise resources in the most effective manner. Promotions for the current fiscal year have also been deferred. All these measures are being deployed to ensure that the company is well-braced to deal with the sharp decline in global economic activity. Meanwhile, around 1,300 employees of Tata Consultancy Services have been asked to resign following a routine bi-annual performance appraisal owing to poor performance.
Source: 11-03-09 www.thehindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Private Airlines Seek Cuts In Pilots’ Salaries
The booming aviation industry of a year ago is in a beleaguered state today and looking at measures to cut costs and stay in the skies. Troubled domestic airlines are looking at paring the salaries of pilots and engineers to rein in spiraling costs. Some airlines have already begun negotiating with pilots and engineers to lower their wages by 20-25%. However, National Aviation Co. of India Ltd, or Nacil, that runs Air India, has given a marginal raise to its pilots following the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. Kingfisher Airlines Ltd was the first to cut pilots’ salaries by around 15-20%in January. Kingfisher Airlines is also phasing out expatriate pilots and engineers to cut costs. Jet Airways had earlier asked pilots and engineers to accept pay cuts but the proposal was withdrawn in the face of stiff resistance from pilots. Meanwhile this has led to some West Asian carriers poaching Indian pilots and engineers. Qatar Airways, Oman Air SAOC, Emirate Airlines, Etihad Airways and Air Arabia PJSC are aggressively hiring pilots and engineers in India.
Source: 08-03-09 www.livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Infosys To Honour All Offer Letters
Despite going slow on hiring due to slowing business, software giant Infosys Technologies has announced that it would employ all those candidates to whom job offer letters have already been sent. Infosys, one of the biggest employers in the country, has put all general hiring in the company on hold as global economic slowdown cast its shadow on company’s business. Although the company has not quoted any numbers, it is believed that Infosys had made offers to 18,000 students of the 2009-10 batch from different campuses. These students will join the company in July.
Source: 13-03-09 www.livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Leyland Increases Number Of Working Days
Ashok Leyland, the flagship company of the Hinduja Group, has raised the number of working days at its manufacturing units from three to five. In the wake of dropping demand, the number of working days in a week was reduced from seven to three at its all six manufacturing units in November 2008. Now, the working days have been increased again after the company reported a 33 per cent increase in sales in February. Its sales in February stood at 3,245 units compared to 2,444 in January.
Source: 12-03-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

2,000 Officers To Be Hired At IDBI BAnk
IDBI Bank is in the process of hiring 2,000 supervisory officers in the next six months as the state-owned bank is expanding its branch network. The bank has obtained the licence from the Reserve Bank of India to add 200 branches by March 2009. This will take the total number of branches to 700.
Source: 12-03-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mercedes-Benz India To Increase R&D Headcount
Mercedes-Benz India plans to raise its headcount by up to four times at the research and development centre in Bangalore in the next few years. The luxury car maker will invest Rs 150 crore (Rs 1.5 billion) together with its partners for expanding its distribution network in the country. Currently, there are 200-220 engineers working at its Bangalore R&D centre and this number will be raised to between 500 and 1,000 in the next few years.
Source: 09-03-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

CEO Turnover At an All Time High
Recession and economic slowdown has led to much higher CEO movements in companies than ever before, as indicated by figures kept by recruiting firm Challenger & Gray. Last year, 1,484 US CEOs resigned, stepped down or were fired from the top post. The number comes down to six casualties per business day. As investors grew restive over dwindling share values, the axe was sharpened against the CEOs and resignation outpaced retirement as the leading reason for departure. CEOs at Carrefour, Lenovo, AIG, Merrill, UBS, among others saw the exit route last year. This has also led to executive recruitment firms providing temping service of CEOs, CFOs, chief marketing, human resources and information officers for short-term assignments.
Source: 07-03-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Bank Of America Withdraws Job Offers To Foreign MBAs
Bank of America has become the first US bank to repeal job offers made to foreign MBA students graduating from US business schools this summer. The bank has cited clauses laid out in its bail-out deal as the reason. The $787bn stimulus bill prevents financial institutions that have been bailed out by the government from applying for H1-B visas for highly skilled immigrants if they have made US workers redundant. The number of international students to be affected by this move of the bank is thought to be no more than 50 but business schools are concerned that other banks could follow suit.
Source: 10-03-09 www.financialtimes.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

10% UK Firms Resorting To Pay Freezes
Nearly ten per cent UK companies are freezing salaries for their employees in an attempt to control costs during the ongoing recession. Incomes Data Services (IDS) reports that firms are also delaying decisions on wages. However, average pay is still increasing, but at a slower rate. Employers reducing the work hours of staff - and as a result their pay - has become an increasingly common feature of the recession as companies look to rein in costs while retaining skilled and experienced staff within the firm.
Source: 13-03-09 news.bbc.co.uk Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Australia Unemployment Rate At Four-Year High
According to official figures, Australia’s jobless rate hit a four-year high of 5.2% in February, its highest level since September 2004, with the number of full-time jobs down 53,800 and part-time jobs up 55,600. The Australian government has already pressed a 42 billion Australian dollar ($27.3 billion) stimulus package to help contain the effects of the global financial crisis.
Source: 12-03-09 www.livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

US Jobless Rate Touches 8.1%, Highest Since 1983
The US unemployment rate reached 8.1 per cent in February as recession-stricken employers slashed 6,51,000 jobs amid deepening economic turmoil. The figure is the highest since late 1983.
Source: 07-03-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Nissan Restructures Top Management In India
In a rejig of top brass in India, Nissan Motor Company appointed Mr Akira Sakurai as the managing director and CEO of Renault Nissan Automotive India Pvt Ltd (RNAIPL). Mr Sakurai is currently the general manager of the vehicle production engineering division. Also, Mr Kiminobu Tokuyama, current managing director and COO of NMIPL, has been appointed to the position of managing director and CEO of the company. Besides, Mr Shohei Kimura, current CEO of Nissan Motor India Private Limited (NMIPL) and Managing Director and CEO of RNAIPL will return to Nissan in Japan in capacity of corporate vice-president, new vehicle production development division.
Source: 13-03-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

New Vice Chairman At Credit Suisse
Zurich-based Credit Suisse has appointed former US ambassador to India Mr David Mulford as its vice-chairman international. In his new role, Mr Mulford will focus on government as well as corporate clients across the globe. Mr Mulford has served a five-year term as the US ambassador to India. He has also served the US government as under secretary and assistant secretary of the US Treasury for International Affairs from 1984 to 1992.
Source: 12-03-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Bharti Airtel Restructures Top Brass
In a major rejig at the top management level, Bharti Airtel has announced that Mr Manoj Kohli, CEO and Joint Managing Director, will now focus more on strategy development, governance and organisation development. Mr Sanjay Kapoor has been promoted from President-Mobile Services to a newly-created position of Deputy CEO, who will now lead the Mobile, Telemedia and DTH businesses. Mr Atul Bindal will replace him as President-Mobile Services, while Mr K. Srinivas, who was Executive Director (East) Mobile Services and in-charge of Sri Lanka operations, will take over as Joint President of Telemedia Services. Mr David Nishball will continue as President-Enterprise Services.
Source: 13-03-09 www.thehindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

American Megatrends Appoints New Director & CEO
Mr Sridharan Mani has been appointed as director and Chief Executive Officer for India operations of American Megatrends India Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Megatrends of the U.S.
Source: 13-03-09 www.thehindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Key Promotions At Timex
Timex Group India Ltd (TGIL) has promoted two of its key senior members. Newly-appointed Timex India president Mr G Kannan has been promoted to become the managing director. The erstwhile managing director Mr Kapil Kapoor has moved up as vice-chairman.
Source: 13-03-09 Business India Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Companies Extending Terms of Honchos
HDFC has extended the term of its chairman Mr Deepak Parekh, who was supposed to retire on March 01, 2009, till December 2009. Similarly, Anbuja Cement has extended the term of its managing director Mr A L Kapoor by one year from 30 April 2009 to April 2010.
Source: 13-03-09 Business India Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Coca-Cola India Hires Ms Sangeeta Pendurkas As VP
Coca-Cola India has hired Ms Sangeeta Pendurkas as vice-president (strategy). In her new role, she will lead the company’s strategic planning initiatives in India and will also spearhead the international business. Earlier, she worked with HSBC Bank, Middle East as chief marketing officer.
Source: 13-03-09 Business India Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Suzlon Energy Names New CFO
Suzlon Energy has appointed Mr Robin Banerjee as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with immediate effect. Prior to this, Mr. Banerjee has held senior leadership positions with responsibilities across global strategy, mergers and acquisitions, finance and treasury across industries such as FMCG, steel, auto components and travel.
Source: 14-03-09 www.thehindu.com



Compiled by Amresh Anjan