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The New Year is likely to see some more sad faces than smiling ones among the UK employees, for majority of companies are either planning wage freezes or pay cuts. A huge 63 per cent of the employees surveyed by the British Chambers of Commerce are planning to freeze pay or cut the salaries of employees. Other 18 per cent are considering the "removal of benefits, such as bonuses and gym membership". Suffering from the global financial meltdown, the nation is mired in recession and millions of jobs have vanished as companies embarked on various cost cutting measures.
Source: 28-12-09 rediff.comCompiled by Amresh Anjan
600 AAI Staffers In Mumbai Getting Paid For No Work
In Mumbai, there are 600 employees of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) who draw their pay with no work. These employees were associated with Mumbai Airport prior to its privatisation three years earlier. There were 2,500 employees when the airport was handed from AAI to Mumbai International Airports Ltd (MIAL), the private operator. MIAL was to offer jobs to 60% of them to join it; only 200 accepted. AAI was supposed to get the rest redeployed over the next three years. But that period ended in May this year. Some of the employees opted for voluntary retirement and others were transferred to airports at Pune, Goa and Aurangabad. But 600 of them still remain. They report to the AAI in Mumbai and draw a salary, but have no work.
Source: 26-12-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Dubai Properties Replace Top Executives, Including CFO
Dubai Properties Group has replaced several executives including its chief financial officer and has pledged better corporate governance to improve operations. Changes at the property firm include new chiefs of financial affairs, marketing, legal affairs, operations and property development.
Source: 27-12-09 DNA Compiled by Amresh Anjan
HC Says Managers Can't Be Workmen, Law Must Change
The Bombay high court says that managers cannot be termed workmen in a significant verdict that throws light on a vexed issue on who constitutes a workman in the post-liberalisation era. Considering that Industrial law must keep pace with times, the court also held that managerial organisation today is radically different from the pre-liberalisation era. "Managers do not become workmen because their decisions are structured by processes and approvals. Absolute autonomy is not a norm in managerial decision-making. Nor does a law insist on absolute discretion or absolute automony for a person to be a manager", observed Justice D Y Chandrachud.
Source: 28-12-09 rediff.comCompiled by Amresh Anjan
Hyderabad: IT firms Take Measure To Keep Staff Safe And Secure
Two business process outsourcing (BPO) companies have moved their employees to nearby hotels with the political crisis over the Centre's announcement of creating a separate Telangana state casting its effect on the state capital. Other information technology (IT) companies have beefed up security for their staff. The companies have adopted these measures to ensure safety of their employees and also for business continuity of their international clients.
Source: 28-12-09 rediff.comCompiled by Amresh Anjan
CEOs Eased Out Left And Right In The US But Citi CEO Continues To Stay
The financial meltdown in the US has pushed many a top executives out of their corner rooms in 2009, but Citigroup's Mr Vikram Pandit, continues to steer the once financial colossus out of its biggest crisis. Weathering the storm of discontented investors, dissatisfied regulators and bifurcation, India-born Mr Pandit continues to tell the tale of Citi. The tenure of Mr Vikram Pandit at Citi's top has been strewn with brickbats and even the tag of being named one of the worst CEOs in America by a publication. The tide seems to have turned now, with the company swinging into profits earlier this year.
Source: 26-12-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Insiders Perform Better Than Outsiders As CEOs, Reveals A Survey
According to a recent survey, insiders who have been chosen as chief executive officers (CEOs) of companies, like Mr Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries and Mr Steve Jobs of Apple, have fared better than those who have been brought in from outside. As per a list of best performing CEOs prepared by Harvard Business Review, 38 of the world's top 50 CEOs were promoted from inside the companies. "CEOs who were promoted from inside the company tended to have stronger performance than those brought in from the outside," the survey revealed. The top four CEOs, US IT majors Apple's Mr Steve Jobs and Cisco Systems' Mr John Chambers, South Korean Samsung Electronics' Mr Yun Jong-Yong and Russian gas behemoth Gazprom's Mr Alexey Miller are all insiders.
Source: 26-12-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan
China Mobile Vice-Chairman To Step Down From His Post
China Mobile's top executives, Mr Zhang Chunjiang will step down from his post, a notice posted on the Chinese Communist Party website revealed. The website said that Mr Zhang, vice-chairman of Hong Kong-listed China Mobile, and party secretary of the parent company, was under suspicion of involvement in "serious economic problems". Consequently, all of his responsibilities would be suspended. The world's largest mobile carrier by subscribers confirmed that its vice-chairman was under investigation for a breach of rules.
Source: 31-12-09 DNA Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Pension Reforms Still Remain Unresolved
Pension reform gave every citizen an option to get an old age safety for the first time but it is remains the unfinished agenda of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2009. However, in its second stint at the Centre without the support of the Left, the UPA government mustered enough courage to clear the revised Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, which as per sources is likely to be tabled in the Budget session of Parliament. The revised bill will give statutory powers to interim regulator Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority to make it on par with other financial regulators -- Securities and Exchange Board of India, Reserve Bank of India and IRDA.
Source: 31-12-09 rediff.comCompiled by Amresh Anjan
Stimulus Came As A Saviour After Job Woes
Year 2009 began on a gloomy note for the labour and employment ministry with the recession, resulting in a job crisis in the country, though the mid and later half showed promising signs of revival. Union Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Mallikarjun Kharge said Labour unrest and lockouts hit various parts, but the stimulus injected by the government proved to be a shot in the arm for the ministry as the July-September data of the Labour Bureau revealed signs of recovery and creation of 500,000 job opportunities. The stimulus increased liquidity in the economy, thereby giving a boost to both production and consumption sectors. Previous quarterly surveys said while employment declined by 491,000 during the October-December quarter last year, it increased by 276,000 during January-March quarter this year and again declined by 131,000 in April-June. A positive outcome in the year was when India signed an ILO-sponsored 'jobs pact' in July and put employment and social protection at the centre of crises responses. The year also saw setting up of National Skill Development Corporation by Finance Minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee to address the huge deficit of skilled hands, which the labour ministry said is evident in 20 high-growth industry sectors and the unorganised sector.
Source: 31-12-09 rediff.comCompiled by Amresh Anjan
PwC Tax Head And Others Leave To Join KPMG
PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC's) head of tax practice Mr Dinesh Kanbar, and close to a dozen other senior tax executives, are quitting the firm to join KPMG. The consulting firm said that Mr Ketan Dalal and Mr Shyamal Mukherjee would replace Mr Kanbar, who had joined PwC along with nearly two dozen partners after RSM Advisory Services merged nearly three years ago. However, executives at PwC said that the exits were "routine and not much should be made of them".
Source: 29-12-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Denim Companies Plan To Reduce Average Of Workforce To 32 Years
Over the few years, Arvind Limited, one of the leading manufacturers of denim in India, plans to reduce the average age of its workforce to 32 years, from 37.5. Mafatlal Denim has also been trying to get a younger crowd on its premises. "The company has brought down the average age of its employees to early 30s from late 30s," Mr Rajiv Dayal, 53-year-old chief executive of Mafatlal Denim, said. Mr Shobhit Tyagi, human resource head (Corporate and Denim) of Arvind Limited, explains that the move originated from the company's strategy to tap the young consumer. "A younger workforce can help us come up with better marketing strategies around the product. Denim has traditionally been the youth's product. Hence, we see a need to market it effectively for them, which can be done only if those strategising it are themselves young."
Source: 31-12-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Banks To Get New Chiefs In The New Year
With a dozen new vacancies coming up in state-owned financial sector entities, the finance ministry, which has often in the past left these posts vacant for extended periods, has got moving. It has asked all banks for information about their executive directors so that a list of candidates could be drawn. The interviews are likely to happen in February. The government is also planning to fill up the vacancies in the second rung.
Source: 31-12-09 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Zen Mobiles Appoint New CEO
Zen Mobiles announced the appointment of Mr Vaibhav Shastri as its CEO. Prior to this, he was heading the mobile business unit in wireless telecommunication firm Micromax.
Source: 29-12-09 The Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Luminous Tech Names New Sales And Marketing President
Luminous Power Technologies has named Mr Sushil Matey as President Sales and Marketing. "Matey's appointment will help drive our growth through the next expansion phase and significantly enhance the company's presence in the growing power technology business," Luminous founder, Mr Rakesh Malhotra said.
Source: 29-12-09 The Financial Express Compiled by Amresh Anjan
