Thursday, December 22, 2011

HR Articles: Dec-11 (Part-5)



                   For more article, Visit at : www.amreshanjan.co.cc


 

Post The Festive Season Lull, Hiring Activity In Nov-11 Witnessed A 30% Increase Over Oct-11: Naukri Job Speak The Naukri Job Speak index for Nov-11 saw hiring activity move up across all sectors when compared to Oct-11; however the three month moving index indicates stability and a more consistent measure in the overall environment. The bounce back in the November index is indicative of a seasonal spike.In November most industries increased their recruitment numbers, post the festive season lull. Therefore, while we do witness a double digit percentage hike in hiring numbers in Nov-11 over Oct-11, but when compared with earlier months the indices are mostly steady. Hiring activity in the Construction, Auto and Banking sectors was similar to Sep-11 but was 20% , 34% and 21% higher than Oct-11. IT- Software, BPO and Telecom sectors on the other hand exhibited strong hiring trends with the job speak indices moving up by 29%, 18% and 14% in Nov-11 over Oct-11. The three month moving average index however indicates a more stable scenario.

Source : 13-12-11   Naukri.com   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

RBI: Manufacturing Policy Will Create More Jobs Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn said national investment and manufacturing zones under the new manufacturing policy would create more jobs. He was speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry's Manufacturing Summit. The incremental security provided in labour reforms could be coupled with a degree of differentiation between old and new workers, Gokarn said. The ability to distribute the impact of business cycles across sectors was crucial. He pointed out the need to look at the long-term role of manufacturing and the challenges involved in creating an environment conducive for the sector. The country was a middle-income economy, owing to the massive shift from agriculture to industry.

Source : 15-12-11   Business Standard   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

HSBC To Cut Jobs In India Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) is likely to cut jobs in India, as part of its plan to lay off 30,000 employees globally, according to sources. The move is aimed at reducing costs and improving efficiency.While the exact number of people who would be asked to leave is not known yet, as the restructuring would begin in January. Sources said most of the layoffs are likely to take place in the commercial banking business.An HSBC spokesperson confirmed there could be some impact in India because of restructuring of the bank's global operations. "HSBC is going through an efficiency programme globally, as was set out by the HSBC Group chief executive, Stuart Gulliver, at the Investors' Day in May. All businesses across the world are undergoing a strategic review, and India would not be left out of this," the spokesperson said."A variety of roles may be impacted. But we have been clear India remains a key market, and we would continue to invest in our businesses here, as we sharpen our strategic focus on financing the country's top domestic and international companies and supporting its economic growth," she added, declining to offer more details.

Source : 20-12-11   Business Standard   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Firms Take To ESOPs Amid Globalization With globalization, Indian companies have increasingly adopted the practice of awarding employee stock options (ESOPs) to their staff. IT and IT-enabled services comprised 61 percent of all ESOP grants since 2003, according to a survey by Esop Direct, a company offering ESOP solutions. Some companies are opting for the trust route, purchasing their own shares from the open market and granting these to employees. Godrej, Siemens, Lupin and Nicholas Piramal, among others, have adopted this method. Around 140 members of senior management are covered under the Lupin Employees Benefit Trust scheme, which is linked to the pay of employees. Lupin gives an interest free loan to the trust to acquire the shares, which have to be held by the trust for three years. After the expiry of the period, shares are sold and the appreciation in the value is given to eligible employees after deducting tax.

Source : 19-12-11   Business Standard   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

HCL To Add 10,000 Jobs In U.S., Europe By 2015 With Europe battling against the economic crisis, IT companies in India are being forced to trim budgets, says Vineet Nayar, vice chairman and CEO of HCL Technologies. He says growth can only happen on successfully renewing existing contracts. The number of companies shutting down business in December on the pretext of holiday, health, snow, etc., is increasing and, in fact, is more than in 2008. A large number of firms anticipate de-growth in IT budgets, saysMr. Nayar. "There will be de-growth in IT budgets and transformation budgets are going to be frozen for some time. The only way for HCL to grow is by eating somebody else's lunch," he adds. On the company's hiring plan, "we will create 10,000 new jobs by 2015 in U.S. and Europe". HCL will look keep adding jobs in the local market as well, says Mr. Nayar.

Source : 19-12-11   Hindustan Times   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

McKinsey appoints India MD McKinsey has appointed Noshir Kaka as managing director of its India practice. He is currently a director in the firm and succeeds Adil Zainulbhai, who held the post for seven years. Mr. Zainulbhai will be India chairman till his retirement in end-2013

Source : 19-12-11   Business Standard   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Dr. Reddy's Labs Announces VRS For Employees In Mexico Pharma giant Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) has announced a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for employees of its Mexico subsidiary as part of cost-cutting measures, according to a top company executive. The move came after the drug-maker's successful VRS initiatives in India and Germany this year and last year, respectively.DRL CEO and Vice Chairman G V Prasad said the VRS scheme is aimed at trimming the overstaffing problem at the company."There has been a little bit of overstaffing in the organisation in the previous years. I do not think we have any particular number (extra staff). Industrias Quimicas Falcon de Mexico SA de CV, the company's subsidiary in Mexico, had announced an early retirement plan for its employees effective from October 1 to December 31, 2011.

Source : 19-12-11   Financial Express   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Morgan Stanley To Cut 1,600 Jobs On Revenue Loss Morgan Stanley is cutting about 1,600 jobs amid a fall in revenue from investment banking and trading. The figure represents about 2.6 percent of its 62,648-strong workforce. The decision to reduce staff comes as "we conduct our year-end performance-management process and evaluate the right size of the franchise for 2012," said Mark Lake, a company spokesperson. The cuts will occur in the first quarter of 2012 across all levels. Europe's debt crisis and slow economic growth in the U.S. is expected to reduce demand for trading and investment banking services. Morgan Stanley's revenue from those businesses dropped 36 per cent in the third quarter. The cuts in fixed-income trading will come primarily from businesses such as securitisation that the firm is looking to reduce in the face of new capital rules.

Source : 16-12-11   Business Standard   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Cisco Study: Gen Y Ignores IT Rules At Work A study by Cisco has found that next-gen employees will go to any extent for access to social networking sites with little regard to their own security or the company's. The study, termed the Cisco Connected World Technology Report, examined workers' demands and behaviour involving network access and mobile device freedom. Seven out of 10 young employees frequently ignore IT policies, and one in every four is a victim of identity theft before the age of 30. About 79 percent of employees surveyed in India flout their company's IT policy all the time – the highest percentage in all regions surveyed. The study, quoting V Gopalratnam, vice president of IT globalisation and CIO of Cisco India, says employees are used to being connected at all times and expect unfettered access to the Internet and freedom to use their own devices.

Source : 16-12-11   Hindu Business Line   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Sweden's SKF To Employ 400 For India Tech Centre Swedish bearings manufacturer SKF is planning to recruit about 400 permanent employees for its new Global Technical Centre in India (GTCI).The company opened the centre in Bangalore with an initial investment of Rs 50 crore. The decision was taken after SKF stopped renewing its contract with temporary employees. SKF President and CEO Tom Johnstone said, "We have reduced the overtime work done by many of our employees in many centres. Europe contributes about 41 percent of our total revenue. And the revenue from the Asia-Pacific region has doubled to 27 percent in the last 10 years." SKF Asia President Rakesh Makhija said the market in China was witnessing a slowdown. "At present, India has a share of 20 percent of what we get from Asia. We expect the market to grow a lot more for us."

Source : 15-12-11   Financial Chronicle   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Unemployment In U.K. Surges To 17-Year High The U.K. is feeling the heat of the debt crisis and economic slowdown as unemployment hit a 17-year high, Deccan Chronicle reports. The unemployment rate increased to 8.3 percent of the economically active population, up 0.4 percent from the previous quarter, the highest since 1996, as per data released by the Office of National Statistics. The number of Britons without jobs rose to 2.64 million, making the number of unemployed the highest since 1994. The data came on the back of news of hundreds of job losses as Thomas Cook announced plans to close down at least 115 stores in the U.K. after the company booked losses of up to £400 million. Concurrent with the job losses, the number of people claiming jobseeker allowance also increased for the ninth month in a row. The employment rate for the population between 16 to 64 years of age was 70.3 percent, down 0.2 percent on the quarter. Source : 15-12-11   Deccan Chronicle   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Carlson Wagonlit Names India CEO Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has appointed Geeta Jain as CEO of CWT India. The company specializes in business travel and meetings and events management.

Source : 15-12-11   Financial Chronicle   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

PE Firms Alter Pay Structure To Retain Talent Private equity (PE) companies in India are changing the compensation structure of employees by raising base salaries and reducing bonuses. The aim is to retain talent and beat attrition. Base salaries on an average increased by 11.2 percent in 2011, the largest boost the PE industry has seen in the past six years, according to a survey by executive research firm Hunt Partners. The mix of base salary to bonus has also been strategically altered, or is under review in some cases. There is a movement towards higher base vis-à-vis lower bonus structure, similar to the trend in investment banking, the survey said. The compensation of PE professionals has three components: base salary, bonus and carry, which is the share of profits made on an investment, typically 20 percent. A major part of the compensation is linked to the carry, which has been affected with fewer investments being sold.

Source : 11-12-11   Mint   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Dell Appoints GM For India PLE Biz Dell has appointed Harsha Lal as general manager of its public-large enterprise (PLE) business in India. He was most recently vice president and head of Wipro's global process manufacturing industry vertical. Mr Lal will lead the company's efforts to continue to develop integrated solutions and execute go-to-market strategies for its public and enterprise solutions and services in India, Dell said in a statement.As part of this, he will also help drive the growth in enhancing Dell's position as a preferred provider of open, capable and affordable IT technology solutions and services, it added.

Source : 13-12-11   Hindu Business Line   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Auto Sector Set To Put Hiring On Hold The automobile industry could freeze hiring as production takes a hit, going by the latest index of industrial production figures. "Many companies have gone for production cut," said P Balendran, vice president, General Motors India. "No fresh hiring is taking place." According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers(SIAM), the industry may not be able to meet its 2011-12growth forecast of 2 percent to 4 percent. Car sales are marginally down so far this fiscal. Arvind Saxena, director marketing at Hyundai Motor, and Shashank Srivastava, chief general manager at Maruti Suzuki, say the next two quarters will be rough for the industry. Hiring will thus be affected. Despite the bleak scenario, requirement in the long term may be huge, says Prince Augustine, executive vice-president, human resources, Mahindra & Mahindra. The auto industry employs close to 15 million people and is expected to add at least 10 million by 2018.

Source : 12-12-11   Hindustan Times   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Firms Pare Medical Benefits As Costs Pinch More than 60 percent Indian companies have cut medical benefits given to employees to reduce the cost of group medical insurance in the past three years, according to a survey by insurance broker and risk adviser firm Marsh India. The Employee Benefits Study covered 5.49 lakh employees and 188 companies, including Britannia, Ernst & Young, Hyundai, Samsung, Wipro, Titan, KPMG and Kotak Group. Benefits such as medical cover for employees' parents and hospital room charge limits were curtailed. Co-payment on claims, where the insurer and employee share the medical expenses, was also introduced. Companies attributed the cuts to the high cost of healthcare. "The cost of employee benefits has more than doubled from 2 percent to 3 percent in 2008-09 to 6 percent to 7 percent this year. Health insurance accounts for 90 percent of this," said Sanjay Kedia, CEO of Marsh India.

Source : 14-12-11   Hindustan Times   Compiled by Amresh Anjan

Pantaloon Retail COO Exits Pankaj Tibrewal, COO of Future Group's Pantaloon Retail, has resigned. "Pankaj has quit to pursue better opportunities. We will replace him with an insider," said Chief People Officer Sanjay Jog. Before joining Pantaloon Retail, Mr. Tibrewal was an engagement manager with McKinsey & Company and founder and CEO at ACE Technosoft. Source : 12-12-11   Financial Chronicle   Compiled by Amresh Anjan



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