Employee Retention Becomes A Key Challenge For IT, BPO Cos According to an industry expert, information technology (IT) companies and BPOs are seeing large-scale attrition of talented employees, making retention of critical manpower resources a key challenge going forward. Fidelity National Financial India Country Head Mr Sameer Dhanarajani says IT companies and BPOs are witnessing a major talent crunch. "The macro effect is balanced by one company losing its critical staff to another and a company getting critical resources in return. But aligning them to the organization still remains a challenge," he said, adding there are hiring, training and maintenance costs associated with a new inductee, irrespective of the place in the hierarchy that the person assumes.
Source : 31-01-11 news.oneindia.in Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Bank Of America Chief Gets $10 Million Pay Though it was a tough year for Bank of America, what with the foreclosure mess and a sagging stock price, its chief executive, Mr Brian T. Moynihan, received $10 million in his first year on the job. Mr. Moynihan will get a bonus of $9.05 million in the form of restricted stock, along with a base salary of $950,000, bringing his total pay to $10 million for 2010. In 2009, before Mr. Moynihan took over as chief executive, he received a total of $6.1 million in compensation. His base salary did not go up, however, and he received no cash bonus, a reflection of Bank of America's slow recovery from the financial crisis, when it received two bailouts from Washington totaling $45 billion.
Source : 31-01-11 nytimes.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Attrition Levels To Haunt Firms In Bangalore, Says A Survey The attrition levels in Bangalore are set for a steep hike during this quarter (January to March, 2011). This is possibly an indication of the hiring picking up in the city. Hiring in IT/ITeS, heathcare and pharma sectors has been more than that in the other sectors. The attrition today stands at 17.24 points, as per the Employment Outlook Report for the January-March quarter of 2011 brought out by the TeamLease Services Private Limited, a staffing company. On the other hand, the report said, there is no significant difference in hiring, except for the IT and ITeS sectors, as employers are still cautious despite the improvement in business outlook. The Employment Outlook for the quarter has moved up 1 per cent and stands at 69 per cent. The Business Outlook Index has risen by 2 per cent to 73 index points.
Source : 01-01-11 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Increase In Black Money To Increase Hiring At Enforcement Directorate (ED) The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which keeps account of overseas transactions and money laundering deals, is ready for a major organisational expansion. The move aims at enabling the ED to cast its net wider for money allegedly stashed away in secret bank accounts in overseas tax havens. The department, whose importance had ebbed in the 1990s after India did away with a host of forex-related restrictions, is now brimming with new vigor. ED's staff strength is set to nearly triple from the current 813 to about 2,100 over the next year, government sources said. ED, which is under the administrative control of the finance ministry's revenue department, is tasked with investigations of alleged violations in Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002. It monitors remittances of Indians through non-banking channels, illegal acquisition of foreign currency, non-repatriation of export income, unauthorised maintenance of accounts in foreign countries, manipulation of export income and import payments, siphoning off of foreign exchange against fictitious and bogus imports and hawala transactions among others. Around 1,300 additional posts will be created at all levels in the directorate to widen its staff network. The number of special directors will be doubled to six. The directorate will operate out of 32 zones in the country, instead of the current 10. This will ensure ED's presence in almost all state capitals.
Source : 01-02-11 Hindustan Times Compiled by Amresh Anjan
World Cup And Party Time At Firms! For India Inc, corporate HR or customer retention now includes box seats or club house tickets for the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup. That's not all, it also includes airport pickups, drops, star accommodation and even some cricket merchandise. Move over Indian Premier League (IPL), cricket's biggest carnival is hitting the subcontinent in less than three weeks. And our corporates are lapping up tour packages that are centered around the tournament. From MNC food and beverage companies to Indian cricket crazy banks, from Microsoft to HDFC Bank, from Citibank to Coca Cola, Pepsi, Castrol or Canon, these are either incentives for their senior and mid level managers or gifts for key clients that can each come with a cool Rs 50k tab. "These companies are buying tickets to incentivise their senior managers, sales target achievers and distributors, too. Few companies have also bought tickets for their VIP guests," said an agent who is doing bulk booking for these companies.
Source : 31-01-11 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan
IBM Staff To Receive $1000 Stock Bonus As part of its centennial celebrations, IBM said it will offer $1,000 worth of shares to its over-one-lakh employees in India. The technology giant, which will celebrate a hundred years of existence on June 16 this year, will give each of its employees globally a $1,000 stock bonus. IBM employees globally, except those at the executive level, will receive $1,000 in stock bonuses, according to an IBM spokesperson. He refused to comment on IBM's India headcount, since the company does not disclose country-level employee numbers. Industry analysts peg the firm's India strength at over a lakh. IBM has 4 lakh employees globally. "The company is still working on the eligibility criteria for the bonus. However, one of the criteria is that the person has to be an employee (full-timers and part-timers included) of IBM or its wholly-owned subsidiaries before December 31, 2010," he said.
Source : 01-02-11 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan
German Jobless Rate Plunges To Lowest Since 1992 Joblessness in Germany dropped more than expected in January to leave the unemployment rate at its lowest level since March 1992, data showed, fuelling hopes that consumer spending will help underpin the country's economic recovery. "Jobs paying into the social security system and overall employment increased considerably and the demand for workers continued to increase," said Mr Frank-Juergen Weise, the head of the Federal Labour Office said. Unemployment dropped by a seasonally adjusted 13,000 and the rate to 7.4 percent, the Labour Office data showed. A poll by Reuters had forecast a median drop of 10,000, with the unemployment rate staying steady at 7.5 percent and jobless numbers at 3.3 million. Continued job growth plays a critical element in economists' forecasts for a consumer spending rebound in Germany this year, since recent data suggests already employed households are not confident enough yet to finance more purchases by dipping further into their nest eggs. Barring a sudden reversal in behaviour, economists expect consumption to rise in line with the number of new entrants into the German workforce.
Source : 01-02-11 reuters.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Campus Placement With A Difference - India Inc On Hiring Drive At Tihar Jail! The potential employees are prisoners in Tihar jail, who have received vocational and professional training while serving their terms, once they are released. In a first, ten top private firms and banks will conduct a recruitment drive at the jail to pick suitable persons from the shortlisted 50 inmates who will figure in the placement for jobs. Some of these inmates are highly educated with a few of them have MBA and MCA degrees. According to a jail official, a few of these inmates have been convicted for murder and rape and most of them are behind bars for petty thefts. The official said IDBI Bank, Vedanta Group, Sterlite Foundation, Agarwal Packers, Jindal Steel and Flex shoes are among the companies which will carry out the "campus selection" of prisoners, who have received technical and vocational training while serving their term at the jail. The jail authorities decided to go for the placement drive after they realised that even after reforming prisoners and making them professionally qualified, they do not get a job after release due to their criminal background. This job placement is being done to help the prisoners earn and live with dignity.
Source : 04-02-11 rediff.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Mr U K Sinha Named As SEBI Chief Three years ago, he had lost out in the race when the Finance Ministry had rallied its weight around Chandrasekhar Bhaskar Bhave for the job of securities market watchdog. However, this time U K Sinha was the preferred choice of the Prime Minister's Office which on Thursday formally announced his appointment as the 8th chairman of SEBI. Sinha, who at present is the Chairman and Managing Director UTI Asset Management Co Ltd, and also heads Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) as its chairman, will formally take charge of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on February 18, for a period of three years. However, the new norms allow him to be in office for five years till the time he retires at 65.
Source : 04-02-11 expressbuzz.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Barclays Axes 285 UK Jobs Transferring Back Office Roles To India Barclays is slashing another 285 jobs, on top of 1,000 announced last week, as a result of a decision to transfer call centre and back office roles to India. The roles are being shed by the Northampton-based credit card arm Barclaycard and prompted anger from officials at union Unite. Mr Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer said: "At this time of economic uncertainty why isn't this UK finance company doing all it can support its workforce in the UK, not telling them their work will now be done in India. Unite will now be challenging Barclays to ensure that the bank offers redeployment opportunities for all those impacted by the decision." Unions said the roles were spread across the country with 77 job losses in Northampton, 11 in Teesside and 197 in Wavertree, Merseyside. Barclaycard said the majority of the roles would be offshored to India, where the bank has operations in Chennai and Mumbai.
Source : 02-02-11 guardian.co.uk Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Expat Hiring At CXO Level Rises In The Alternative Energy Space Expat hiring at the senior management level has increased significantly in the alternative energy industry. Increasing focus on green jobs, dearth of skilled local professionals, more investment in these sectors and competitive compensation are driving the trend, according to industry experts. "We are hiring expats, mainly at CXO level for solar energy, environment safety, and sustainability sectors. Good CXOs are in short supply in Indian market. In markets outside, there is more sophistication on environmental issues," said Mr K Sudarshan, international managing partner (India) at global executive research firm EMA Partners. "In businesses such as alternative energy, airlines, infrastructure and insurance, which are still relatively new to the private sector in India, the dependence on expatriate talent is high and will continue to be so in the near future," Mr Sudarshan said. In the Indian market, the salary offered to expat CXOs for green jobs would be typically in the range of $300,000 - $400,000, according to an industry expert.
Source : 02-02-11 mydigitalfc.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Novatium Gets New CEO IT company, Novatium has appointed Mr Anurag Agrawal as its Chief Executive Officer (India operations) with immediate effect. Mr Agrawal will be responsible for driving overall growth of Novatium in India, a company statement said. "Novatium's cutting edge products and superior technology have made it a runaway success. I am delighted with the opportunity to lead Novatium in this exciting and dynamic new age business and look forward to working with the team", Mr Agrawal said.
Source : 03-02-11 news.in.msn.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Ms Sonia Lal Is Mudra Max VP – OOH, South Mudra Max (Integrated Engagement & Experience), a part of the Mudra Group, recently named Ms Sonia Lal as the Vice President for its Outdoor division- South India. Before this, she was with the Bangalore based company Serve & Volley- Media Division as Business Head. Announcing the appointment, Mr Mandeep Malhotra, President, Mudra Max-OOH, said, "Sonia brings on board business experience and market understanding. She also carries the confidence of media owners which is essential for this business. Her passion and well understanding of business makes her a strong OOH person at Mudra Max."
Source : 03-02-11 bestmediainfo.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan
CSS Corp To Get On Hiring Mode Next Fiscal IT major CSS Corp is all set to go on a hiring spree in the next financial year. The firm plans to hire about 1,500 employees in FY12. Presently, the company has around 5,000 employees, serving at various locations, report mentioned. "The company has also announced its global expansion with the setting up of a new unit in Mauritius on February 9," it added. CSS Corp is already operational in four countries which are India, US, Philippines and Poland.
Source : 04-02-11 moneycontrol.com Compiled by Amresh Anjan
RBI Announces The Appointment Of New ED The Reserve Bank of India announced the appointment of Mr S Karuppasamy as executive director. As executive director, he will look after department of expenditure and budgetary control, department of information technology, legal department and urban banks department.
Source : 03-02-11 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Nivea India Names Mr Rakshit Hargave As MD FMCG firm Nivea India said it had appointed Mr Rakshit Hargave as managing director of its Indian operations with effect from January, 2011. Mr Hargave was previously the Chief Operating Officer of Lakme Lever and has also worked with Jubilant Foodworks (Dominos Pizza) and Nestle India.
Source : 02-02-11 Business Standard Compiled by Amresh Anjan
Mr Sandeep Asthana Appointed As Sun Life Financial India's New Country Head Sun Life Financial Inc named Mr Sandeep Asthana as the country head of Sun Life Financial India. He takes over from Mr Venky Mysore who recently took over as IPL cricket team Kolkata Knight Riders' CEO and Managing Director, according to a press release. In the new role, Mr Asthana will be responsible for managing the relationship with Sun Life's Indian joint venture partner, the Aditya Birla Group, the release said.
Source : 31-01-11 news.oneindia.in Compiled by Amresh Anjan
