HR Headlines: Aug-09 (Part-4)

Indian Executives More Satisfied With Their Jobs Than US Counterparts

According to an executive quiz by global executive recruitment firm Korn/Ferry International, nearly 50 per cent of the Indian executives surveyed are either extremely satisfied or satisfied with their current job positions. In the US, this figure stands at just 37 per cent. The report says that in India, executives have high employee morale and trust for corporate leadership. In terms of employee morale within their company, 79 per cent of Indian executives said it was 'good' or 'outstanding', followed by 'fair' by 21 per cent but no one said it was poor. In comparison to this, 45 per cent of employed executives in the US said the morale was either 'fair' or 'poor' and 55 per cent said it was 'good' or 'outstanding'.

Source: 19-08-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Govt Asks EPFO To Invest 3-5% Funds In Stocks

The finance ministry has asked the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to invest three to five per cent of its subscribers’ retirement funds in stocks to generate better returns than investments with negligible risk. The EPFO, with 4.5 crore subscribers, has a corpus of Rs 2.57 lakh crore.

Source: 18-08-09 News Paper Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Air India To Slash Salaries By 30-50%

Amid mounting losses, the national carrier Air India has decided to cut wages, allowances and performance-linked incentives of its employees by 30-50% starting September. The decision has been taken in view of instructions issued by the government under Department of Public Enterprise (DPE) norms. The cut will be implemented across the board. However, there will be no retrenchment or lay-offs as of now.

Source: 20-08-09 www.dnaindia.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

No HRA For Govt Employees Living With Spouse In Official Accommodation

Delhi High Court has ruled that a government employee will not be entitled to House Rent Allowance (HRA) if he or she is residing with the spouse who has been allotted a government accommodation.

Source: 19-08-09 Hindustan Times Compiled by Amresh Anjan

BoB To Add 3,500 Staff By March 2010

The booming public sector banking industry in India is hiring briskly. Bank of Baroda (BoB) will recruit 3,500 people including officers during the current financial year. This will include 2,000 clerks and 1,000 probationary officers. The bank will also conduct campus hiring at institutes like IIMs and IITs. As many as 200 management students and engineers would be hired during the year. In addition to this, the bank will recruit 250 agriculture officers.

Source: 18-08-09 www.business-standard.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

SBI to hire 11,000 This Fiscal

Expanding its operations, State Bank of India (SBI) will hire 11,000 people in the current financial year. SBI is looking to open 1,000 branches this year.

Source: 21-08-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

1,500 Sales Managers To Be Hired By Aviva

In a bid to drive business growth, Aviva Life Insurance plans to hire about 1,500 sales managers and 13,000 agents by the end of current fiscal. Currently, there are about 37,000 advisers and the employee base of the company is 7,000.

Source: 19-08-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Hiring Back On Track In The Auto Industry

After a slump of many months, hiring in the auto industry is again warming up. With expansion plans of auto-makers, movement into new segments including the small car, and lower interest rates on vehicles, the auto industry is seeing some revival which, in turn, is fueling the recruitment drive. According to a survey on hiring trends by Iris, recruitments in auto and ancillary units were up 11% in July 2009, compared with June 2009. Toyota Kirloskar Motors Ltd has announced plans to hire around 2,000 employees over the next one and a half years. General Motors will take in 300 employees when the second shift for its Talegaon plant begins. Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) is planning to set up a new R&D division in Haryana and plans to ramp up the number of engineers at its Gurgaon plant form 760 to 1000 by the year end.

Source: 20-08-09 www.dnaindia.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

StanChart To Double Its Team Of Relationship Managers

Standard Chartered Bank, country’s largest foreign bank, plans to double its team of relationship managers (RM) in India in the priority banking function over the next 12-18 months, to over 1,300 RMs. Currently, the bank employs 660 managers in its priority banking space in India. Standard Chartered is rolling out the new priority banking proposition in India besides China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea and United Arab Emirates.

Source: 19-08-09 Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Ranbaxy Reduces CEO’s Pay

Ranbaxy has proposed an annual pay package of Rs 6 crore for its new CEO and MD Mr Atul Sobti. The proposed remuneration is less than one-third of what his predecessor Mr Malvinder Mohan Singh drew. Mr Sobti’s remuneration would include a salary of up to Rs 1.5 crore per annum and various allowances and perquisites worth Rs 4.5 crore. He would also be entitled to company-maintained cars with drivers, telephones at residence, company's contribution to provident fund and superannuation fund, gratuity and other retirement benefits and leave encashment.

Source: 16-08-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Management Restructuring At Shoppers Stop

The multi-format retail company Shoppers Stop has restructured its top management. Current managing director, Mr B S Nagesh will move into a non-executive position as vice-chairman of the company. Mr Nagesh will play the role of strategic advisor to the management of Shoppers Stop. He will also be mentor to the management team. Incumbent chief executive Mr Govind Shrikhande will take over as president and CEO of the company.

Source: 18-08-09 Business, Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Blackstone's CEO Highest Paid In US

Blackstone's chief executive officer, Mr Stephen Schwarzman, has topped the list of 10 highest-paid executives in the US in 2008. His pay package stood at whopping $702 million according to reports from the Corporate Library. The bulk of the compensation, $699.8 million, came from the vesting of equity grants he received when Blackstone went public in 2007. Oracle Corp. CEO Mr Larry Ellison came second on the list pocketing nearly $557 million.

Source: 14-08-09 www.ibtimes.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

US Jobless Claims Rise To 576,000

With the US labour market still turbulent, the number of people in the US seeking unemployment benefits increased by 15,000 to 576,000 for the week ended August 15. The four-week moving average was 570,000 for the week ended August 15, as compared to the previous week's revised average of 565,750.

Source: 20-08-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

500 Jobs Lost At S Kumars-Owned US Clothier

Hartmarx, the US suit maker that was recently sold to Emerisque and its Indian partner, S Kumars Nationwide Ltd, is shutting down three US plants resulting in the loss of over 500 jobs. Hartmarx will shut factories in Rock Island in Illinois, Anniston in Alabama, and Hamilton in Ontario. Hartmarx employed 3,000 people nationwide and 1,000 in Chicago.

Source: 15-08-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Freddie Mac Hires Mr Witherell As COO

Freddie Mac has hired Mr Bruce M Witherell as chief operating officer. Mr Witherell has been the global co-head of the residential mortgage business at Morgan Stanley since 2006. He has also spent 15 years at Lehman Brothers Holdings. At Freddie Mac, he will receive a base salary of $700,000 a year.

Source: 20-08-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

New CEO At Alcatel-Lucent Network

Alcatel-Lucent Network Management Services India Ltd. (ALNMSI), a joint venture between Alcatel-Lucent and Bharti Airtel has appointed Mr Arnaud Soubelet as its CEO.

Source: 20-08-09 www.hindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr T Sankaralingam To Join BGR Energy As MD

The former chairman and managing director of NTPC, Mr T Sankaralingam is joining Chennai-based BGR Energy Systems Ltd as managing director. He is likely to take charge from September 2009.

Source: 18-08-09 Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Britannia Appoints Mr Nasser Munjee On Company Board

Britannia Industries has appointed Mr Nasser Munjee as the director on the board of the company. He has been appointed to replace Mr Stephan Gerlich who resigned from the board.

Source: 18-08-09 Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr Ajay Bodke Quits IDFC MF

Mr Ajay Bodke has quit IDFC Mutual Fund as senior fund manager. Last month, Mr Tridib Pathak was hired to replace Mr Bodke as fund manager of IDFC Classic Equity Fund and IDFC GDP Growth Fund.

Source: 19-08-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr Sanjaya Baru Is New Business Standard Editor

Mr Sanjaya Baru will take charge as the editor of Business Standard from January 1, 2010. Mr Baru has been media advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and is former editor of Financial Express. The incumbent editor of Business Standard Mr T Ninan would assume a new role of editorial director.

Source: 20-08-09 Hindustan Times Business Compiled by Amresh Anjan

HR Headlines: Aug-09 (Part-3)

Flu Scare Leads To Fall In Attendance At IT, BPO Firms In Pune

With the growing number of Swine Flu fatalities in the city, IT-BPO service providers in Pune are witnessing up to 20 per cent drop in attendance of employees. The fear of getting infected in buses or cabs is keeping employees from showing up at work. Many IT-BPO companies have allowed their people to work from home, if feasible. Some firms are hiring laptops to allow employees to stay at home and work.

Source: 14-08-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

172,000 Indian Jobs Lost Between April And June

The latest survey by the Union Labour Ministry has revealed that the economic slowdown claimed 172,000 workers jobs between April and June 2009. During the same time, the number of contract workers climbed by 40,000. Thus, the total job losses stood at 132,000 for the period. There was also a fall in earnings parallel to loss of jobs in various sectors. Only the gems and jewellery sector has witnessed earnings going up. The decline in regular workers was seen in textiles, metals, gems and jewellery, transport and IT BPO sectors.

Source: 08-08-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Ms Shikha Sharma’s Salary Check Pegged At Above Rs 2 cr At Axis Bank

Axis Bank managing director and CEO and a former ICICI Bank veteran, Ms Shikha Sharma will receive compensation in excess of Rs 2 crore a year, including all allowances and other perquisites. She will also be eligible for loan facilities totaling Rs 51 lakh by the bank, besides fully furnished accommodation, office car and telephone among other benefits. Ms Sharma will get over Rs1.75 crore as salary and allowances towards entertainment, house rent and upkeep of her residence. Besides, she will also get various perquisites amounting to more than Rs 90 lakh, taking the total package to about Rs 2.65 crore.

Source: 12-08-09 www.livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Key Appointments At Patni

IT and BPO services provider Patni Computer Systems has undertaken a restructuring of its business, classifying it into four key geographies. New appointments to its leadership team have also been announced. Patni’s regional business will now be structured into four key geographies-- the US, EEMA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), APAC (Asia Pacific) and SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation). The US business will be headed by Mr Naresh K. Lakhanpal, who has earlier worked with Deloitte and Touche as global practice director (Technology, Media and Telecommunications Practice), Navigational Sciences, Tandem Computers and Ericsson. The Asia Pacific region has been divided into APAC and SAARC. Mr V. Mathivanan has been appointed as president of the APAC region. Mr Deepak Khosla will lead the SAARC region.

Source: 11-08-09 www.livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Naukri.com Launches New IT Search

The new IT search launched by Naukri.com is a standalone, specialized search in Resdex for selecting IT candidates with particular IT skills. Recruiters looking for candidates with a specific set of IT Skills would be able to search on these skills with specified experience. Recruiters would be able to filter out candidates with certain IT skills and further refine the search using other criteria in the search form. The new IT Search allows users to choose from a list of more than 150 most-used IT skills and allows them to set an experience level for each set. There is an option to search on up to 5 IT skills. Also, there is flexibility to search for ‘All the skills’ vs ‘Any of the skills’.

Source: 09-08-09 www.naukri.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

UK Trade Union Proposes To Ban High Heels At Work

The Trade Union Congress in the UK has proposed to ban the stiletto heels from the workplace terming them sexist and a safety hazard. The proposal says that women at work should not wear heels more than an inch high to avoid injuries and long-term foot and back problems. This has sparked an outrage among high-flying women, who labeled the motion as patronising.

Source: 08-08-09 www.indianexpress.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Malaysia To Curb Foreign Workers’ Entry; Promote Local Hiring

Taking a serious note of rising unemployment, Malaysian government has decided that no fresh permits will be issued to companies for bringing in foreign workers. Instead, the employers have been asked to hire locals who have lost their jobs due to the global economic downturn. Malaysia relies heavily on foreign labour especially from India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal to help out at its construction, plantation and restaurant industry.

Source: 13-08-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

45% US Firms To Go For Temp Hiring

As per a report by staffing services provider Veritude, 45 per cent of American companies will hire temporary workers as IT and professional staff in the near future. 25 per cent of the organisations polled are looking to increase temporary IT and professional hiring in the near future. In this time of liquidity crunch and economic slowdown, companies believe that hiring qualified temporary knowledge workers will give them more flexibility as well as opportunities to reduce costs.

Source: 12-08-09 www.rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

UK Jobless Total Highest Since 1995

The unemployment rate in the UK reached its highest level since 1995, according to official figures by the Office for National Statistics. The number of jobless people increased by 220,000 to 2,435,000 in the three months to June, taking the jobless rate to 7.8%. Claims for unemployment benefit increased by 24,900 in July to 1.58 million.

Source: 12-08-09 news.bbc.co.uk Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Allied Carpets Slashes 850 Jobs

Allied Carpets, the second-largest floorings retailer in the US, has closed down 142 stores making 850 employees redundant.

Source: 14-08-09 www.nytimes.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

US Payrolls Drop Less In July

For the first time in 15 months, the U.S. unemployment rate dropped in July as employers cut lesser jobs than expected. Employers slashed 247,000 jobs in July, according to the Labor Department data, taking the unemployment rate to 9.4 percent, down from 9.5 percent in June. This data defies the analysts’ forecast that had expected non-farm payrolls to fall by 320,000 in July and the jobless rate to hit 9.6 percent.

Source: 08-08-09 www.reuters.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

HP Reduces EDS Employees' Salary By 30%

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has announced a 30 per cent cut in the salaries of EDS employees. In April, HP had announced a one-month, 10 per cent pay cut for EDS workers in the US and Puerto Rico with salaries above $40,000.

Source: 08-08-09 www.ciol.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Hitachi Data Appoints New VP And GM

Hitachi Data Systems has appointed Mr Vivekanand Venugopal as vice president and general manager. Prior to this appointment, he worked with a storage integration company based in Bangalore.

Source: 11-08-09 www.thehindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Shoogloo Network Appoints Mr Sajal Gupta As CEO

Shoogloo Network, powered by UK-based Online Media Group (OMG), has appointed Mr Sajal Gupta as chief executive officer. Prior to this assignment, Mr Gupta was general manager and India head, business development at Regalix.

Source: 11-08-09 www.alootechie.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Sify Technologies Appoints Mr Natesh Mani As President

Sify Technologies Ltd, has appointed Mr Natesh Mani as the company’s President – Consumer Infrastructure Services. Mr Matni possesses experience spanning over 27 years. Prior to this appointment, he was with Xerox, as Director – Middle East & Africa, where he was responsible for a turnover of US$ 200 million per annum.

Source: 13-08-09 www.financialexpress.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Mr Giri Chandrasekar Jadhav To Return To O&M From Star TV

Mr Giri Chandrasekar Jadhav, executive vice president and general manager, STAR TV in India, will be re-joining Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific as regional director on the Unilever business. He will be based in Singapore and report to Ms Sophie Hoffstetter, Regional President - Client Growth.

Source: 11-08-09 www.exchange4media.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

GTL Infra Appoints Mr Talwar On Company Board

Telecom tower company GTL Infrastructure has appointed Mr Satya Pal Talwar as an additional director (non-executive independent director) on the board of the company.

Source: 14-08-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan

DSP Merrill Lynch Appoints Mr Farokh Pandole

Mr Farokh Pandole has been appointed as director in equity sales division of DSP Merrill Lynch. In this role, he would be responsible for enlarging the company’s equity franchise in India.

Source: 14-08-09 Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Eros International Appoints Mr AP Parigi To Head India Operations

Eros International Plc. has appointed Mr A.P. Parigi as the group chief executive officer of the Indian operations of the company. Currently, he is the managing director of Entertainment Network of India Ltd’s Radio Mirchi. He has been with the Times of India group for nine years.

Source: 14-08-09 www.livemint.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

India Cements Exec Director Quits

Mr. N. Ramachandran, executive director of The India Cements, has resigned from the firm. His resignation was accepted by the board of the company on August 12.

Source: 14-08-09 www.thehindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Appoints Mr H C Sehgal

Mr H. C. Sehgal has been appointed the Group General Counsel at Dalmia Cement (Bharat). In this role, he will head the legal function of the group. He will supervise all legal and indirect tax matters and issues across the businesses of the group. Prior to this, he was Executive Director for DLF Home Developers.

Source: 13-08-09 www.thehindu.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan