HR Articles: Sep-10 (Part-4)

For more article, Visit at : www.amreshanjan.co.cc   A Stable Hiring Scenario In August-10: Says Naukri Job Speak A spurt in the economic growth and improved business confidence resulted in a 28% growth in hiring activity in the month of August as against the same period a year ago. The trend shows that recruitment is back on track and most sectors are on a continued hiring momentum. A detailed analysis of the job index reveals that 5 out of the top 10 industry sectors and 9 out of the top 10 functional areas registered positive monthly growth. Chennai witnessed the strongest hiring trend among all cities with its index at 905 being the highest in the last one year. All other cities were on a stable hiring mode. With the inflation figures hovering around all time highs, this positive hiring scenario would surely lessen the stress of the jobseeker as the probability of finding the right job increases manifold. Source : 03-09-10   Naukri.com   Compiled by Amresh Anjan The New Infy Chairman Might Be From Within, Hints Mr Gopalakrishnan Infosys Technologies is apparently set on having an insider as its chairman after Mr Narayana Murthy retires in August next year. Though the final call will be taken by the board in January, Infosys Managing Director and CEO Mr S (Kris) Gopalakrishnan hinted that the company has enough "depth of leadership". Mr Gopalakrishnan said that "if there is somebody coming from outside, either there is a failure inside in identifying the right leaders, or it's a new area where we don't have the expertise inside". Source : 01-09-10   Business Standard   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Buzz Over BSNL's Top Job Begins As the search for the next Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) chief begins, the names that have emerged as frontrunners for the post include Mr Arun Sarin, ex-Vodafone CEO, Mr Gopal Das, acting chairman and managing director (CMD) of BSNL, Mr RK Upadhyay, CMD of Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL), Mr Subodh Kumar, additional secretary in Department of Telecom (DoT), Mr K L Dhingra, CMD of Indian Telephones Industries (ITI) and Mr Sanjiv Gupta, former CEO of Coca Cola India. According to a source, the state-run telecom company has received 132 applications. Source : 31-08-10   DNA   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Good News For The Salaried The Direct Taxes Code will surely bring a smile on the faces of salaried employees. First and foremost, medical reimbursements of up to Rs 50,000 a year will be exempt from tax, as against the ceiling of Rs 15,000 at present. Besides this, income tax department said that leave travel allowance (LTA) will continue to get the same tax treatment that is available at present. So, in case an employee presents a bill, he or she will be able to claim tax breaks every second year. The norm is that an employee can claim two LTAs in a block of four years. However, the way the same is presented in your tax return will change once the DTC becomes effective from April 2012. Instead of the current system, where it is completely exempted from tax, in the new regime LTA will form part of your total income but qualify for deduction. Source : 01-09-10   Business Standard   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Ms Indra Nooyi Does Not Want To Be A Part Of The Race To Succeed Mr Ratan Tata PepsiCo chairman and chief executive officer, Ms Indra Nooyi, who is in the list of the possible candidates to succeed Mr Ratan Tata as chairman of the Tata Group, has ruled herself out of the race saying she "loves" her present job. "Ratan is an unbelievable person. He has got an incredible stable of people who can succeed him. I am running one of the greatest companies in the world, PepsiCo. I love my job," Ms Nooyi answered when asked about the speculation linking her to the top job at the $71 billion Indian salt-to-software conglomerate. Source : 29-08-10   DNA   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Centre To Appoint New Chiefs For ONGC, BPCL And IOC The government will soon begin the process for appointing new chairmen and managing directors for Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), whose heads are scheduled to retire early next year. The Public Enterprise Selection Board (PSEB) will conduct interviews to select the next Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of ONGC on October 19. Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry sources the list of possible candidates includes: Mr Sudhir Vasudeva, Director (Offshore), ONGC; Mr D.K. Saraf, Director (Finance), ONGC; and MrR. S. Butola, Managing Director, ONGC Videsh. Acting Director General of Hydrocarons Mr S. K. Srivastava and OIL Director (Exploration) Mr B. N. Talukdar have also applied for the job. Source : 03-09-10   The Hindu Business Line   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Andhra Bank, UCO Bank, Canara Bank And Corporation Bank Name New CMDs Four public sector banks appointed new chiefs last week, including Canara Bank Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Mr S. Raman and UCO Bank chief Mr Arun Kaul. While the term of the new CMD of Canara Bank comes to an end in September, 2012, the UCO Bank chief will retire after five years. Besides this, Central Bank of India Executive Director Mr Ramnath Pradeep assumed office as the new CMD of Mangalore-based Corporation Bank, the bank informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. In the meantime, Executive Director Mr R. Ramachandran of Syndicate Bank has assumed charge as CMD of Hyderabad-based Andhra Bank Source : 03-09-10   The Hindu Business Line   Compiled by Amresh Anjan US Jobless Claims Fall Further New claims for US unemployment benefits dropped last week, but were still too high to indicate a change in fortune for the disturbed labour market. According to data from the Labour department, initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped for a second straight week, slipping 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 472,000 in the week ended August 28. Source : 02-09-10   DNA   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Citigroup Plans To Triple Its Workforce In China Citigroup Inc plans to almost triple its staff strength in China by hiring up to 7,500 people in the next three years, according to an executive of the company. Citigroup, which has 4,500 employees in China, will recruit more in that country that in any other Asia-Pacific market. The hiring plans will assist Citigroup's efforts to grow in the region and compete with HSBC Holdings PLC and Standard Chartered PLC. Source : 02-09-10   DNA   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Men Are Paid More Than The Women To Stay In The Job In Australia: Survey According to a new survey, employers of banking and financial staff are willing to pay men more than women to stay in the firm. A survey of 2,095 accounting and finance professionals by recruitment firm Marks Sattin Australia revealed that 360 had resigned at least once in the last six months and of those 31% had received a counter offer from their employer to stay. A similar 2009 survey showed that only 22% of those quitting had been offered more money to stay. The 2010 survey found that the number of men and women offered more money to stay was about equal. However, of those, 25% of the men were offered 20% or more to stay compared to just 15% of the women. Mr Scott Stacey, managing director of Marks Sattin Australia, said while the research indicates employers were willing to pay more to keep male staff, it did not reveal why. Source : 02-09-10   DNA   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Foster's CFO Quits, Takes Over As Asciano CFO Foster's Group's Chief Financial Officer Mr Angus McKay resigned after more than two-and-a-half years in the position. Mr McKay, who has been CFO since January 2008 after starting with the maker of Foster's Lager, Pure Blonde and Victoria Bitter six years ago, will depart from the company later this year to take over as CFO at ports and rail operator Asciano Group. Source : 02-09-10   DNA   Compiled by Amresh Anjan TechM CEO Steps Down Mr Sanjay Kalra, chief executive officer of Tech Mahindra, has resigned from the company. He will step down from his position on September 15. After that, Mr Vineet Nayyar, vice chairman and managing director, will take direct charge of operational responsibilities. Source : 28-08-10   Business Standard   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Mr Srivats Ram Appointed As CP In ACMA Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) named Mr Srivats Ram, Managing Director of Wheels India, as the President for 2010-11. It also appointed Rico Auto Industries' Managing Director Mr Arvind Kapur as Vice-President of the industry body. Source : 01-09-10   The Hindu Business Line   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Mr Amit Chatterjee Named As MD Of Microsoft Centre Microsoft appointed Mr Amit Chatterjee as the new Managing Director of its India Development Centre (MSIDC) in place of Mr Srini Koppolu, Corporate Vice-President and MD, who is leaving the company after spending 21 years. Mr. Chatterjee, who is the General Manager for the Visual Studio Test and Lab Management team at MSIDC, will now expand his responsibilities to lead MSIDC. Source : 01-09-10   The Hindu Business Line   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Singapore's GIC Appoints India Real Estate Head The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) has announced the appointment of Mr Kishore Gotety, who was most recently at RREEF, as country head for India real estate. The appointment suggests that GIC believes the opportunity is ripe to start investing in real estate in India. Source : 01-09-10   FinanceAsia   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Mr Shravin Mittal Joins Bharti Airtel Mr Shravin Mittal, son of Bharti Group's head Sunil Mittal, has joined the group's flagship company Bharti Airtel. He will play a key role in expanding the company in the African market. "Shravin Mittal has been appointed as manager with Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV. He will be part of Bharti Airtel's international operations. His current remuneration will be euro 50,000 annually," according to a company statement. Source : 03-09-10   The Hindu Business Line   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Mr Rishad Premji Appointed As New Chief Strategy Officer Of Wipro Wipro announced that Mr Rishad Premji, the eldest son of Chairman Mr Azim Premji, has been named as the Chief Strategy Officer with effect from September 1. Prior to this, he was General Manager, Treasury and Investment Relations. Senior Vice President (HR) Mr Saurabh Govil said Mr. Rishad "brings diversified experience" in the fields of consulting, finance, treasury and operations. Source : 03-09-10   The Hindu Business Line   Compiled by Amresh Anjan JP Morgan Names Mr Colin Fenton As Global Head JP Morgan Chase & Co, the second-biggest US bank, named Mr Colin P Fenton, previously the chief executive officer of Curium Capital Advisors, as global head of commodities strategy, a new position. He will report to Mr Tom Schmidt, head of global commodity research and America's equity research, Mr Kimberly Weinrick. Source : 01-09-10   Business Standard   Compiled by Amresh Anjan KKR Indian Hires Mr Heramb Hajarnavis KKR India Advisors has announced the appointment of Mr Heramb Hajarnavis as the director of the firm. He joins KKR from Goldman Sachs where he served as managing director (principal investment area) for India. In his new role, Mr Hajarnavis will work closely with Sanjay Nayar, member and CEO of KKR India, to grow the company's private equity business in India, as per a company statement. Source : 03-09-10   The Financial Express   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Mr Dipak Jain Appointed As Non-Executive Independent Director At Hindustan Media Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd has appointed Mr Dipak Jain as non-executive independent director and Ms Priyavrat Bhartia as non-executive director on the board of the company. The company has also announced the appointment of Mr Ajay Jain as chief financial officer with effect from September 1, 2010, the company said. Source : 03-08-10   The Financial Express   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

HR Articles: Sep-10 (Part-3)

For more article, Visit at : www.amreshanjan.co.cc   IT Companies Lure Ex-Employees If you are an ex-employee of some top IT firm in India, you can expect your former boss to call you back again. Not so long ago, driven by the economic slowdown, organisations had hit the panic button, cutting down on people, their salaries, their travel costs, etc. Now that the economy is on recovery mode once again, these firms are facing the worst talent crunch, mostly of experienced people, to manage their projects, liaise with clients, etc. So what do these firms do? Mr Mohandas Pai, executive board member and director - global human resource for Infosys Technologies, said, "We launched this fast-track employee hiring programme, Green Channel, about three months ago. The aim is to hire former employees. That helps us because they will take less time to acclimatize in Infosys." Though he did not give details of the extent the company went to in luring back former employees, he agreed that for those who rejoined, the offer made was very 'attractive'. Bangalore-based Mindtree Ltd has also been tracking alumni for quite sometime. "We have always had programmes targeting Mindtree alumni who might have left for reasons such as seeking to work on different technology, moving to an area where we were not present, etc," said Mr Krishnakumar Natarajan, MD and CEO, Mindtree. Source : 26-08-10   DNA   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Supreme Court Favors Creation Of A Nodal Agency The Supreme Court supported creation of a nodal agency to manage implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), in view of the allegation that benefits of the scheme were not reaching the intended beneficiaries. A Bench comprising Chief Justice Mr S.H. Kapadia and Justice Mr Swatanter Kumar said there was a need for a nodal agency at the Centre for assuring that the guidelines required to be followed for implementation of the scheme is not given a go-bye. It said it will help in bringing lucidity in the project as well as accountability for violating the provisions of the scheme. Source : 27-08-10   The Hindu   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Slowdown Brings Change In The Campus Recruitment Of Engineering Colleges In Pune Post the slowdown, there seems to have been a noticeable change in the campus recruitment trends of engineering colleges in Pune. Unlike previous years when students from even core engineering branches such as mechanical, production or civil would opt for a job in the IT industry, the current trend has been of students opting for core branches to which they belong. "The trend is obvious in the campus placements of almost all city engineering colleges in 2009-'10," said Mr Sheetalkumar Ravandale, convenor of Federation of Training and Placement Officers. "Though the number of jobs remains to be higher in the IT industry, the shift to core engineering branches is definitely visible. There was a trend when students of mechanical or production also used to opt for IT jobs. However, the IT sector was the one that was affected the worst during recession and students are now aware of it. This is one of the major reasons for the shift," he added. Source : 26-08-10   Indian Express   Compiled by Amresh Anjan There Is A Discrepancy In The Employment Exchange Programme, As Per Finance Ministry The initiative of the government to revise employment exchanges across the country has hit a roadblock. It has been learnt that while appraising the project, the department of expenditure in the finance ministry has pointed at a mismatch between the labour ministry's proposal and the Planning Commission approval. The employment exchange modernisation programme, at a cost of over Rs 2,000 crore, was recently identified as a mission mode project under the national e-governance plan. The Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC), in the expenditure department, has found that the 'sharing pattern' proposed by the labour ministry for the employment exchange modernization plan is not as per the the Planning Commission's approval. The ministry of labour has been asked to consult the Planning Commission on the matter. Source : 25-08-10   DNA   Compiled by Amresh Anjan PMO Looks For Review Of Two Bank CMD Appointments For top posts in public sector banks, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) has expressed reservations on some appointments. Consequently, the prime minister's office has referred back the appointment files to the cabinet secretariat. As per sources, the department has raised objections regarding two banks, one a large government bank and the second a smaller bank. A large government bank was supposed to get an executive director of another large bank as chairman. According to the practice for large government banks, an existing chairman of a smaller bank is moved laterally. The government's decision to promote an executive director as chairman of a large bank has led DoPT to express its reservation. In the other instance, DoPT has objected because a small government bank was to get a chairman who has less than two years of service left. As per government norms, an executive director is eligible for promotion if the candidate has two years of residual service and has spent one year as ED. Source : 26-08-10   Business Standard   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Flight Crews Work For 40 Hrs A Week Until the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) comes up with new Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs), flight crews will have to continue to put in 10 extra hours of work every week. These CARS are regulations that look at duty hours of pilots and other crew members. Replying to a petition filed by the Indian Pilots Guild, Additional Solicitor General Mr Darius Khambata said that that the DGCA would have to prepare a draft CAR, publish it on its website, call for objections and suggestions and decide the same before issuing final CARs. The Indian Pilots Guild challenged DGCA's decision to allow Air India and Jet Airways to dispense with implementing part of the July 2007 CARs that deal with duty hours of flight crews. The decision that was taken in May 2008 brought 1992 CARs back into force for the two airline flight crews resulting in hiking their flight duty from 30 hours to 40 hours a week. Source : 25-08-09   Hindustan Times (Mumbai)   Compiled by Amresh Anjan US Jobless Claims At 9-Month High Last week, the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits jumped unexpectedly to the sensitive 500, 000 level, the highest in nine months, the government said, up sharply from the previous week's revised figure of 488, 000 and well above most economists' expectations of 475, 000. Source : 20-08-10   Hindustan Times   Compiled by Amresh Anjan UK Migrant Cap Likely To Boost Job Export According to a study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the accounting giant KPMG, almost one in 10 private sector companies plan to relocate jobs abroad in the next year —and mostly to India. Companies are looking to export call-centre, IT and finance jobs, the study said. Two-thirds of those putting work offshore plan to take jobs to India, a third to China and three out of 10 to eastern Europe. Source : 21-08-10   Hindustan Times   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Demand Of Teachers Increases Exponentially The Right to Education Act needs 508, 000 teachers and 244, 000 head teachers, respectively, in elementary education. Besides this, posts of around 523, 000 teachers are vacant in various states, Minister of State for HRD Mr D Puradeswari said in the Rajya Sabha. As per the RTE Act of 2009, the government has three years to hire them to achieve the student-teacher ratio as prescribed under the Act. Source : 21-08-10   Hindustan Times   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Fees Of H-1B, L1 Visa Rises: US The sharp hike in H-1 B and L1 visa fees, which would cost Indian IT companies an additional $250 million (Rs 1, 164.5 crore) annually, has come into effect from August 14, the US said. The move comes in the midst of protests by India that the increase incorporated in the Border Securty Bill is discriminatory against Indian companies and needs to be amended. Source : 21-08-10   Business Standard   Compiled by Amresh Anjan First Micro-Finance IPO Makes Its Employees Millionaires Ms K Nirmala, 31, will prepay her home loan shortly, thanks to the stock she held in SKS Microfinance, where she has been working from last 13 years. Ms Nirmala, now a senior lead manager (training) in India's largest micro-finance institution, sold 1,500 shares for Rs 17.38 lakh. She is not alone. Just five days after the company was listed, many of her colleagues are finding themselves in the league of millionaires and are planning to use this money to invest in homes or their children's education. There has been a lot of activity from employees at the SKS counter, as the stock price has risen over 23 per cent to Rs 1,211 on the BSE. Disclosures made to the exchanges reveal that over 50 employees sold part or entire holdings. And the data is only for transactions over Rs 5 lakh in value, or sale/purchase of 5,000 shares. Source : 21-08-09   Business Standard   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Unicon Financial Appoints Mr Puneet Gupt Unicon Financial Intermediaries has named Mr Puneet Gupt as the head of internet business. In this role, Mr Puneet will be responsible for developing and executing strategies to accelerate growth of Unicon's internet business and drive operational effectiveness. Mr Gupt joins Unicon from hCentive Inc., a US based company dedicated to creating solutions that simplify healthcare. Source : 27-08-10   The Financial Express   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Welspun Names Mr Barry Leonard As President And CEO Welspun's US-based unit, Welspun USA Inc, has named Mr J Barry Leonard as president and CEO, with effect from September 6. In the new role, Mr Leonard will assist in fortifying company's relationship with the world's top retail giants and successfully positioning it amongst the largest and most valued home textile companies in the world. Source : 27-08-10   The Financial Express   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Fujitsu Appoints New CEO Fujitsu Technology Solutions has announced the appointment of Mr Rolf Schwirz as chief executive officer with effect from November. Mr Schwirz will report to Mr Richard Christou, Fujitsu corporate senior executive vice-president. Source : 27-08-10   The Financial Express   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Mr Chetan Patni Joins HSBC Sales Global banking major, HSBC said that it has appointed Mr Chetan Patni as MD, head of execution and sales trading, in India. Mr Patni will be jointly responsible for HSBC's Indian equities business with Mr Haresh Shivdasani, managing director, head of equities. He will report to Mr Rakesh Patel, managing director, Head of Equity Sales and Trading Asia-Pacific. Source : 27-08-10   The Financial Express   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Mr Arun Sawhney Appointed As Ranbaxy MD Ranbaxy Laboratories named Mr Arun Sawhney as managing director of the company. He has replaced Mr Atul Sobti, who resigned on August 12. Mr Sawhney, who was earlier president, global pharmaceutical business of the company, has been appointed managing director for a period of three years, the company said. Source : 21-08-10   The Financial Express   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Apple iPhone Executive Steps Down An executive of Apple Inc. whose responsibilities include iPhone hardware is resigning from the company in the wake of antenna problems with the latest version of the smart phone. After consumers complained and numerous media outlets reported a problem with dropped calls, the company was forced to offer a free fix. Mr Mark Papermaster, Apple's senior vice president of iPhone and iPod hardware engineering, is leaving the company, said Apple spokesman Mr Steve Dowling. Source : 25-08-10   livemint.com   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

HR Articles: Sep-10 (Part-2)

For more article, Visit at : www.amreshanjan.co.cc   U.S. Competes With India For Jobs In Call Centers A big outsourcing company, which has done a lot of work in India, is looking to staff up in the U.S., where call center workers can now be hired at a cheaper salary. "People in the U.S. are open to working at home and working at lower salaries than they were used to," Mr Pramod Bhasin, chief exec of Genpact, said. The firm intends to triple its U.S. workforce in the next two years — a plan rendered somewhat less impressive by the fact that it only has 1,500 employees in the U.S. right now. Other than that, Wipro, an outsourcing company based in Bangalore, has been staffing up in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; roughly half of the firm's employees will be non-Indians in two years, up from 39 percent now, an executive said. Source : 20-08-10   npr.org   Compiled by Amresh Anjan To Get Salaries Like Men In The UK, Women Need To Wait For Decades According to a Chartered Management Institute (CMI) survey, male managers in Britain earn £10,000 a year more than their female counterparts and it could be almost 60 years before that gap is filled. The institute's investigation revealed that salaries for women in charge were increasing slightly faster than those for male bosses — up 2.8% over the last 12 months — but some top-earning men were paid a quarter more than the fairer sex. "Girls born this year will face the probability of working for around 40 years in the shadow of unequal pay," said Ms Petra Wilton, CMI head of policy. "The prospect of continued decades of pay inequality cannot be allowed to become reality." The survey, which took data from 43,312 people in 197 organizations, revealed that the average salary for a male manager stood at £10,071 ($15,750) more than that of a female boss, with current rates of wage inflation pointing to a 57-year wait for equality. Source : 19-08-10   DNA   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Contract Style Recruitment Attracts RBI A government job usually means official accommodation, easy working hours and a wholesome retirement kitty, among other benefits. However, the perception seems to be changing now as state-run organizations increasingly tilt towards contract basis employment, where the benefits are limited to bare essentials such as medical benefits and salary. So it is at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which is right now looking for executive interns on a three-year contract. The hunt is on for 200 executive interns, a lot more than the number of direct recruit probationary officers (POs) the central bank takes in every year. These candidates would neither be entitled to company accommodation, pension, provident fund or gratuity, nor have any claim to seniority. In fact, if their performance is not up to the mark, they could get sacked even before the contract period ends. This is the first time the central bank has issued an advertisement for mass recruitment of entry level executives on contract basis. Source : 16-08-10   DNA   Compiled by Amresh Anjan US Puts Extra Charges Of $2,000 Per Annum On Skilled Workers From India After the US increased skilled-work-visa charges by nearly $2,000 (Rs93,000) per person per year, the Indian IT sourcing firms have been saddled with combined costs of around $200 million (Rs930 crore) a year. There are about 70,000-1,00,000 Indians in the US, nearly all of them IT professionals, working on 3-7 year visas in the US who will be impacted by the change. The move is aimed at bridging the cost difference between employing an Indian technology worker and a local worker. Source : 13-08-10   DNA   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Directors At HP Sued Over CEO Mark Hurd Exit Massachusetts pension fund has sued Hewlett-Packard Co's directors as it believes that they violated their fiduciary duties in connection with the abrupt departure of chief executive Mr Mark Hurd, causing the company's share to fall. The shareholder derivative lawsuit accused the directors of failing to properly disclose the existence of an internal probe into Mr Hurd's activities and failing to "police insider trading" by company executives. It also accused them for trying to give Mr Hurd tens of millions of dollars of severance he did not deserve. Mr Hurd resigned as chairman and chief executive after the investigation revealed that he had supposedly falsified expense reports to cover a relationship with a female marketing consultant. Source : 13-08-10   DNA   Compiled by Amresh Anjan US Jobless Claims At 9- Month High New US claims for unemployment benefits increased to a nine-month high last week, yet another setback to the weak economic recovery. According to the Labor Department, initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 500,000 in the week ended August 14, the highest since mid-November. Source : 19-08-10   moneycontrol.com   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Green Jobs Coming Soon For A Cleaner, Greener Environment When he was a child, Mr Jai Kumar Gaurav, now 24, wanted to be a superhero, an imaginary Captain Planet who fights pollution and greens the Earth. But unlike most other little boys, he actually lives his dream now. He works with Sindicatum Capital Management as a clean development mechanism (CDM) management officer to help firms reduce their Carbon footprint. "I could have chosen to do an MBA, but a clean environment is my priority," says Mr Kumar Gaurav, about graduating in environmental studies from Delhi University, and later completing his masters in environmental science from the university run by The Energy Resources Institute (TERI). Like him, there are many youngsters today who are attracted to — and engaged in — what are known as 'green jobs'. Green jobs refer to work in agricultural, manufacturing, research and development or administrative activities that contribute to preserving environmental quality, and help in protecting the ecosystem and biodiversity. They may comprise architects designing energy-efficient buildings, organic farmers in villages, environmental engineers or even plumbers installing water-recycling systems. Source : 17-08-10   google.com   Compiled by Amresh Anjan 38 Per Cent Indians Agree American Jobs Being Taken Away By India, A Poll Reveals A huge number of Indians feel that Americans were justifiably angry at their jobs being off shored to India. As per a recent SMS poll, 38 per cent across Bangalore, Hyderabd, Mumbai and Delhi agree that American anger was justifiably directed at India for taking away their jobs. The response from Bangalore was the most surprising. Arguably the biggest technology outsourcing hub in the world, 46 per cent of Bangloreans who responded to the poll felt that Indians were taking jobs away from Americans, which had resulted in anger. Source : 13-08-10   domain-b.com   Compiled by Amresh Anjan B-School Pass Outs Of Indian Tier II Cities Prefer To Work In PSUs B-school graduates prefer banks/PSUs jobs over others as these ensure job stability and cause lesser mental strain. Whereas in metros, B-school pass outs pick job prospects in corporate sector in which growth prospects are comparatively quicker & faster, according to a survey conducted by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). ASSOCHAM Secretary General, Mr. D.S. Rawat said that as many as 85 percent of students who gave their views on the subject in tier II cities such as Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Jaipur, Indore, Kochi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune revealed that their first choice would be to join `Schedule A' PSUs. These include ONGC, NTPC, IOC, GAIL, HPCL,BPCL, SAIL, MTNL etc. and provide for better job prospects with 100 percent stability factor. Source : 19-08-10   siliconindia.com   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Only 4.22% Graduates Fit For A Job, A Study Reveals According to a study on employability conducted by Aspiring Minds, employability with regard to IT product firms is as low as 4.22 %. But with regard to IT services companies it is 17.84% (wherein an in-house training of 3-6 months is provided in the company). The report also revealed that KPOs find only 9.47% technical graduates worth recruiting. Meanwhile, the employability with regard to BPOs is 38.23%, it is 25.88% for the Technical Support Jobs (TSJs). The employability study of technical graduates is based on the results of a computer-based test called AMCAT, which is conducted for more than 40,000 engineering and MCA students (in the final year of graduation) across the country. Source : 17-08-10   indianexpress.com   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Mr Noel Tata Appointed As Additional Director Of Trent Tata-owned retail company, Trent informed the stock exchanges that it had appointed Mr Noel Tata as additional director of the company. He would be named as the company's non-executive vice-chairman. Source : 20-08-10   Business Standard   Compiled by Amresh Anjan BPCL Gets New CMD Mr S Radhakrishnan has been appointed as the additional charge of Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Pertroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL). Mr Radhakrishnan is Director (Marketing) in BPCL since November 2002. Source : 20-08-10   Business Standard   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Microsoft India Names Mr Sanket Akerkar As MD Microsoft India has named Mr Sanket Akerkar as the new managing director of its sales and marketing group in India. Mr Akerkar replaces Mr Rajan Anandan, who joined Microsoft in 2008. Source : 14-08-10   Business Standard   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Mr N Rangachary Appointed As CSDL Chairman The Central Depository Services Ltd (CDSL) has named Mr N Rangachary as chairman of the depository with effect from August 16. Prior to this, Mr Rangachary was the founding chairman of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). He succeeds Mr SS Thakur, who was the chairman of CSDL since 2001. Source : 20-08-10   The Financial Express   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Alcatel-Lucent Announces The Appointment Of New Country Head Alcatel-Lucent has announced the appointment of Mr Munish Seth as country head for its Indian business. Prior to this, Mr Seth had been in charge of customer solution and support at Alcatel-Lucent's Asia-Pacific region. Source : 20-08-10   The Financial Express   Compiled by Amresh Anjan PE Electronics Names Two COOs PE Electronics, a new business unit that brings together two premium brands, Philips and Electrolux, has named Mr Neeraj Sethi and Mr Sajeev R as chief operating officers. Mr Sethi will head the range of television products of brand Philips that includes LED, LCD and ultra slim CRT. Meanwhile, Mr Sajeev R will take charge of the range of home appliances of brand Electrolux which includes refrigerators, air-conditioners, washing machines and microwave ovens. Source : 20-08-10   The Financial Express   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Patni Appoints Chief Delivery Officer Patni Computer Systems has appointed Mr Manish Mehta as executive vice-president and chief delivery officer. Before this, Mr Mehta worked with Mahindra Satyam, the erstwhile Satyam Computer Services, as chief delivery officer for India, Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. Source : 20-08-10   The Financial Express   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

HR Articles: Sep-10 (Part-1)

For more article, Visit at : www.amreshanjan.co.cc     Obese Employees Take More Time Off Work Obese employees take more illness leaves than their slimmer colleagues, a new UK study has revealed. The results of the study showed that obese workers took four more sick days per year on average than those of a healthy weight. Since obesity is known to increase the risk of many chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, it is perhaps not surprising that fat individuals would need more sick leave, especially in the form of long-term absences. The researchers have hoped that the results may inspire employers to encourage their employees to lose weight. Source : 09-08-10   DNA   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Mr Ratan Tata Acknowledged As 'Businessman Of The Decade' Mr Ratan Tata, "personification of honesty, integrity and inspiring leadership" as described by Maharashtra Governor Mr K Sankaranarayanan, was conferred with the Businessman of the Decade Award. After presenting the award on behalf of the Federation of Indo-Israeli Chambers of Commerce in Mumbai, Mr Sankaranarayanan praised Mr Tata for putting the nation first and upholding ethics and trusteeship in businesses. Source : 07-08-10   ibnlive.in.com   Compiled by Amresh Anjan 8 Out of 10 Freshly Recruited In UK Were Born Out Of The Country According to the figures compiled by the British Government, foreign-born workers are snapping up jobs, even as Britons languish on benefits. The official statistics revealed that nearly eight out of 10 people starting a new job in the past three months were born overseas. The details came out as Britain was buoyed by its biggest jobs gain for 21 years, with the overall number out of work dropping 49,000 to 2.46 million. But the workers born in Britain are being left behind. Out of 188,000 extra people getting jobs in the three months to June some 1,45,000, or 77%, were born overseas. Source : 12-08-10   DNA   Compiled by Amresh Anjan US Unemployment Insurance Claims Increase To Half-Year High The number of workers in the United States registering new claims for unemployment insurance increased to its peak level in close to six months, thus indicating a weak job market. The new claims for jobless benefits rose by 2,000 to a colossal 484,000 in the week that ended on August 7, a second straight week of increase, data from the labour department revealed. The data came two days after the Federal Reserve downgraded its evaluation of the economy's health and said it would take steps to ensure its support to the fragile economic upturn. Source : 12-08-10   DNA   Compiled by Amresh Anjan NHAI Officials Stop Working After Office Hours After the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) unearthed a scam involving two top officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in May, the authority, which is responsible for the development, maintenance and management of the country's highways, has changed its way of working. Company officials now refrain from staying in the office beyond regular hours, which has adversely affected the process of awarding contracts, according to sources. Officials are scared that they may have to explain to the CBI the reasons for their working beyond office hours, so choose to avoid the situation. The investigations agency, during its frequent rounds of the NHAI headquarters in the last two months, has raised the issue of officials staying beyond office hours and advised them to avoid doing so. Source : 08-08-10   DNA   Compiled by Amresh Anjan TCS BPO Wins Six Awards For HR Leadership TCS BPO Services, the business process outsourcing arm of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has bagged six awards for terrific HR leadership at Asia's Best Employer Brand Awards 2010, in Singapore. The BPO was nominated across six different specialty areas of HR excellence and was recognised among the front runners across Asia Pacific in all six of these categories, receiving the award for talent management, excellence in HR through technology, continuous innovation in HR strategy at work, innovation in recruitment, innovative retention strategy and excellence in training, the company said. Source : 08-08-10   DNA   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Banks To Talk About HR Issues With FM Issues related to human resources (HR) management in public sector banks and implementation of the New Pension Scheme (NPS) will be the top agenda of bank chiefs' meeting with Union finance minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee. Other than the usual agenda on the financial performance of banks, the minister will seek an update on decisions taken at the zonal meetings with chief ministers. Due to high attrition and retirements, the top and middle levels in the system are now empty. Bankers are looking at personnel issues as a new risk factor in the sector. The issue will be discussed in the meeting. Source : 13-08-10   Business Standard   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Hewlett-Packard To Pay Mr Mark Hurd Millions To Walk Away Whatever Mr Mark Hurd did that cost him his job as CEO of Hewlett-Packard, it wasn't enough to cost him a payday that could top $40 million. In the meantime, with little still known about why an actress and HP contractor threatened Mr Hurd with a sexual-harassment lawsuit, stockholders took a $9 billion hit last Monday, and HP's 300,000 workers were left to think about its future. HP said that the problems it uncovered with the CEO's behavior were limited to falsified expense reports for his dinners and other meetings with Ms Jodie Fisher. Mr Hurd has settled with Ms Fisher for a secret amount, and both parties maintain that the relationship was not sexual. Mr Hurd said an assistant prepared all of his expenses. He has offered to reimburse HP for the errors. Meanwhile, the company says it is focused on finding a successor. Source : 10-08-10   Hindustan Times   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Hike In US Visa Fee To Cost Indian Firms Extra Rs 920 Cr A Year Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Anand Sharma called the US government's proposal to hike visa fee as discriminatory and said it would erode the competitiveness of Indian firms, costing them an extra $ 200 million (about Rs 920 crore) per annum. "The Bill will have an (estimated) additional cost implication of over $200 million annually and an adverse impact on the competitiveness and commercial interests of Indian companies," Mr Sharma said in a letter to US Trade Representative Ron Kirk. The US Senate last week approved a huge increase in application fees for H1-B and L-1 visas, under which most software and information technology professionals work in the US. This increase is aimed at creating a $600 million (Rs 2,700 crore) fund for enhancing security along the Mexican border. Source : 10-08-10   Hindustan Times   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Tata Group Names Panel To Appoint New Successor The Tata group named a five-member panel to appoint a successor to chairman Mr Ratan Tata, who will retire by the end of 2012. The panel includes Mr N A Soonawala, Mr Cyrus Mistry and Mr R K Krishnakumar, who are directors at group holding firm Tata Sons. The other members include lawyer Mr Shirin Bharucha, and UK professor Lord Bhattacharya. The panel will search within the group as well as outside and overseas. Source : 06-08-10   ibnlive.in.com   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Toyota Axes 600 Workers Toyota has axed 600 workers at its Japanese factories as it gears up for a drop in local sales when incentives for green cars run out in September. Toyota Motor Corp appointed a total of 2,400 contract workers at the end of fiscal 2010, it said. Contract workers are appointed under different terms from other employees at Toyota, primarily to make it easier to increase or cut the numbers of workers in response to changing demand for cars. The contract workers are hired for up to two years and 11 months. When their term is finished, they are either laid off or get new contracts to become regular workers, who get better pay, promotion opportunities and lifetime employment. Source : 10-08-10   Hindustan Times   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Infosys To Look For Mr Murthy's Successor Infosys Technologies will start the work of finding a replacement for its chairman and chief mentor Mr NR Narayana Murthy from January next year. The company's nominations committee, including ICICI Bank's non-executive chairman KV Kamath and Cornell University professor Jeffrey Sean Lehman, has already begun discussions on the process, according to the sources. Source : 09-08-10   ibnlive.in.com   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Ranbaxy MD Steps Down After just a year in office, Ranbaxy's managing director and CEO Mr Atul Sobti will step down from next week. Mr Arun Sawhney, president of the company's global pharmaceuticals business, will replace Mr Sobti. "There are opinions to run a company. When you believe you don't have a consensus, you move out. The differences were substantial and basic, but there was no immediate trigger," Mr Sobti said. Source : 13-08-10   The Telegraph   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Ms Naina Lal Kidwai Joins HSBC's Global Board Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) — the world's fifth-largest bank by total assets — appointed Ms Naina Lal Kidwai as a director on board. This brings her on a par with achievers such as Ms Anshu Jain, Ms Indra Nooyi and Mr Ajay Banga — on the boards of global giants — Deutsche Bank, PepsiCo and MasterCard, respectively. Ms Kidwai, a Harvard MBA who joined HSBC India in 2002, was appointed the country head of the bank in 2006 and is now set to join the board with effect from October 1, 2010, subject to regulatory approval from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Source : 09-08-10   Hindustan Times   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Skoda Gets A New MD Skoda Auto India has announced the appointment of Mr Oliver Gruenberg as its new managing director – technical affairs. Mr Gruenberg assumes responsibilities from August 1, 2010, and has replaced Mr Jean Marie Lagey, managing director, technical affairs, who retired from Skoda Auto India after a distinguished tenure. Source : 13-08-10   The Financial Express   Compiled by Amresh Anjan PwC Appoints New Executive Director Mr Vivek Mishra, a former leader of indirect tax practice at E&Y, has bee appointed by PricewaterhouseCoopers as executive director in the indirect tax practice. He is expected to play an integral role in developing and expanding the market for indirect tax services for the firm. Source : 13-08-10   The Financial Express   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Madison Media Appoints Mr Ashish Singru As COO Mr Ashish Singru, an IIT Kanpur graduate with an MBA from University of Iowa, has joined Madison Media Plus as COO. Mr Singru has 14 years of experience in marketing, media and analytics. Prior to this, he was with Microsoft at Redmond, where he spent six years at corporate marketing group looking after strategic media planning, campaign evaluation and business analytics. Source : 13-08-10   The Financial Express   Compiled by Amresh Anjan Mr Sanjiv Sarin Appointed As Head Of Tata Global's South Asia Operations Tata Global Beverages, formerly Tata Tea, has named Mr Sanjiv Sarin as Regional President, South Asia. He will take on this responsibility with immediate effect. Mr. Sarin has been part of the Tata Global Beverages' integration and transformation journey from the beginning. Before his appointment, he led a number of key projects within the business and before joining Tata Global Beverages, worked with a number of other international organisations, including a significant period leading teams at Cadbury Schweppes in the Philippines, Egypt, India and the U.K. Source : 13-08-10   The Hindu   Compiled by Amresh Anjan