Tuesday, June 25, 2013

,

Wipro wins large technology outsourcing contract worth Rs 2,900 crore from Citigroup

Wipro has won a large technology outsourcing contract, potentially valued at close to $ 500 million (Rs 2,900 crore) from Citigroup, according to people familiar with the development.

The large contract comes at a time when such multi-hundred-million dollar technology contracts have become few and far between. Large corporations in the United States and Europe have been cautious on technology spending and following a practice of breaking up outsourced contracts into smaller projects, which are given out to multiple service providers.

Rupee depreciation: Indian IT cos like Infosys, TCS and Wipro finally have something to cheer about

The Indian technology sector, hobbled by concerns over the US immigration bill, margin pressure due to rising employee and visa cost, lower growth, and deprecation of the rupee, may finally have something to cheer.

The rupee has depreciated 9.87%, or Rs 5.35, against the dollar since April this year. According to analysts, this might translate into gains in operating profit by 100 to 250 basis points for the Indian technology companies.

Former employees say TCS abused Australia visa

Former employees have accused Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) of abusing Australia's migrant worker visa designed to import talent to fill skills shortages.

According to a report Friday by the Australian Broadcast Corporation (ABC), TCS, which is India's biggest outsourcer by revenues, flouted rules outlined under the 457 visa scheme and imported cheap, foreign workers without first attempting to recruit local talent.

An anonymous former TCS employee told the ABC that if the Indian company needed a new developer, they would not perform the required step to advertise for an Australian worker. "We just contacted the local area manager and he would send a developer on the next plane from Mumbai," the employee said.

TCS, which holds multi-million dollar contracts with Australia's biggest companies, refused to comment on the allegations.

Another former employee of TCS, Hasan Mahboob, said the 457 visa scheme was overused.

"I'd certainly seen heavy use of 457 visa, starting from the very top management-level people, ro relationship managers, account managers, service delivery managers, project managers, program managers, and business analysts--all of which I question should be done by 457 visa," Mahboob said.

Sources:
http://www.zdnet.com/in/former-employees-say-tcs-abused-australia-visa-7000017191/
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-20/workers-accuse-indian-it-giant-of-457-visa-abuse/4769482

HCL Tech gains after multi-year engagement with Vestas Wind Systems

Vestas is a global leader in manufacturing, selling, installing, and servicing of wind turbine power-plants.

HCL will provide application development and management and IT-consultancy services to applications run by Vestas as part of this engagement. The services will be delivered to Vestas primarily from India, but also from the Philippines and across locations in Denmark. Besides cost reduction, Vestas IT expects to gain increased flexibility in terms of skills, scale, knowledge and experience and achieve higher quality by using the HCL's best in class processes and services.

Expanding the H1B Foreign Work Visa Quota Would Help Small Businesses Most

A sweeping immigration reform bill was introduced to the Senate in April, and legislators are poised to begin debate over one of the most contentious issues in the country.

Besides the most important issue of illegal immigration, another key provision of the bill is the expansion in the number of H1B temporary work visas for workers with college degrees or in skilled occupations from the current cap of 65,000 a year to 110,000.

As is true of illegal immigration, the issue of legal work immigration is contentious, with many voices supporting the plan to expand the number of H1B visas granted each year, and many others opposing it.

Read more at http://www.minyanville.com/business-news/politics-and-regulation/articles/Expanding-the-H1B-Foreign-Work-Visa/6/12/2013/id/50294#ixzz2XBNPHkqy
, ,

Narayana Murthy effect: Infosys plans high salary for top performers

Infosys is drawing up plans to tilt the scales in favour of top performers, part of efforts to revitalise the workforce after NR Narayana Murthy returned as its chairman on June 1.

According to company executives briefed about Murthy's thinking, the emphasis on employee performance as a vital differentiator is linked to a broader effort to revive a culture of meritocracy in the company that has underperformed the industry for two years. "The differential between high-performers and non-performers will increase. Variable pay will be one mechanism through which this will be achieved," said a person aware of Murthy's plans.

Murthy, 66, returned as executive chairman of Infosys following a request from the company's board, which was under pressure from investors and analysts fretting about the company's troubles. Infosys grew at half the pace of the broader industry in 2012-13 and has admitted that it will lag rivals this year too.

At present, employees with the top ratings receive 50-90% of their variable salary while the lowest-rated ones get only up to 30%. Typically, 10-25% of an executive's compensation can be variable, depending on seniority.

Besides individual performance, the relative performance of the business unit also becomes a key deciding factor.

1.4 crore people joined workforce as on Jan 2012

India added nearly 1.4 crore people to the workforce as on January 2012, up 3 per cent from the same month in 2010, official data showed on Thursday.

"...the workforce at the all-India level, was about 45.9 crore as on January 1, 2010 (NSS 66th round) which increased to 47.29 crore on January 1, 2012 (NSS 68th round), indicating a growth of about 1.39 crore of the workforce at the all-India level between 66th round and 68th round," a release by National Sample Survey Office said today.

The NSSO data was based on 68th round survey conducted during July 2011-June 2012, it said. Of the 47.29 crore people employed, 23.46 crore were rural males, 10.18 crore rural females, 10.92 crore urban males and 2.73 crore urban female, it said.
,

Google voted best workplace in India, followed by Intel and American Express

Flying in from all corners of the country, braving monsoon rains and traffic jams in Mumbai, the HR chiefs and CEOs of leading companies queued up at a suburban hotel last Friday, with one question in mind: How had they fared in the coveted list- India's Best Companies To Work For.

Given that India Inc is in the throes of a slowdown, talent management has become crucial as industries marshal resources against the tough times. So this year's The Economic Times and The Great Place To Work Institute study had special importance. For some years, the study has provided the industry with a much-needed barometer to judge how companies fare on the people front.

The 2013 study, one of the largest in the world, covered 550 companies spanning 22 industries, surveying 98,998 employees. So it was but natural for the 60 CEOs and some 300 HR chiefs to wait with bated breath as the list was read out. In the end it was Google which once again took the top honour of being the best workplace in India.
Source: EconomicTimes
,

Firms seek grads who can think fast, work in teams

They can get good grades, earn a diploma and breeze through that campus rite of spring, the job interview. But college graduates still might not land a decent job.

The world's top employers are pickier than ever. And they want to see more than high marks and the right degree.

They want graduates with so-called soft skills _ those who can work well in teams, write and speak with clarity, adapt quickly to changes in technology and business conditions and interact with colleagues from different countries and cultures.

``Soft skills tend to differentiate good college graduates from exceptional college graduates,'' says Joseph Krok, university research liaison at Britain's Rolls-Royce.

To find out what employers are seeking from university graduates around the world, The Associated Press talked to dozens of corporate recruiters, university career counselors, economists and students. What's clear is that companies increasingly want skills that don't show up in a college transcript or a sit-down interview.

``What the employers want is a well-rounded student,'' says Jean Manning-Clark, director of the Colorado School of Mines' career center. ``The ones that get 10 to 12 job offers are the ones who have strong soft skills.''

And companies are going to ever-greater lengths to identify the students who have the right mix of skills by observing them in role-playing exercises to see how they handle pressure and get along with others, relying more on applicants who have already proved themselves in internships and co-op jobs in which students work while attending school, and organizing contests that reveal how students solve problems and handle deadline pressure.

``It used to be that the interview itself was where you made or broke your chances with a company,'' says Dan Black, head of campus recruiting in the Americas for the accounting and consulting firm Ernst & Young. ``Now the assessment is a much longer and broader process.''
Read More at : EconomicTimes
,

47% graduates in India are unemployable for any job: Report

At least 47% of graduates in India are not employable for any industry role, according the latest report by employability solutions firm Aspiring Minds.

The report is based on a pan-India study of 60,000 graduates across colleges.

According to the report, 47% graduates are not employable in any sector of the knowledge economy. The employability of graduates varies from 2.59% in functional roles such as accounting to 15.88% in sales-related roles and 21.37% for roles in the business process outsourcing (BPO/ITeS) sector.

A significant proportion of graduates, nearly 47%, were found not employable in any sector, given their lack of proficiency in English and cognitive skills.

Since a graduation degree is considered a pathway to a job in the knowledge economy, substantive intervention at the school and college level is needed to improve basic skills of students. A renewed focus on vocational training should be re-emphasised, said the report.

The employability varies from role to role based on varying degrees of proficiency required in language and cognitive skills.

For an analyst's role, close to 84% graduates were found to lack the right levels in cognitive ability, while 90% graduates did not have the required proficiency in English communication. As a result, less than 3% of India's graduates remain unemployable across different job profiles. These numbers change dramatically for a teaching role or a sales or support role in the industry.

Over 40% employable graduates are beyond the top 30% colleges and have no way to signal their employability to potential recruiters.

41% of graduates employable in accounting roles hail from colleges beyond the top 30% colleges, whereas for the IT services sector this percentage is 36%.

Despite being employable, these students have no way to signal their employability to recruiters who end up recruiting only from reputed colleges and universities.

"This study is a first of its kind for three-year degree graduates across India evaluating employability for major roles being offered by industry. The alarming statistics of nearly half of the country's graduates not being employable in the knowledge economy needs great attention with interventions at both the school and higher education levels," Varun Aggarwal, co-founder, Aspiring Minds said in a statement.
Source: Aspiring Minds

Friday, June 21, 2013

,

16 Indian companies in emerging top 100 software vendors list

As many as 16 Indian companies have made it to the list of top 100 software vendors in the emerging markets, commanding a combined revenue of $797 million, says a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report.

The latest PwC global 100 software leaders report also says that in terms of revenue, India was ranked fifth among the emerging markets in 2011.

In terms of software revenue among emerging markets China topped the list with $2,738 million, followed by Israel $1,174 million (2nd), Russia $1,015 million (3rd), Brazil $945 million (4th) and India $797 million (5th).

Meanwhile, Geodesic was ranked 14 on the list of software services revenue, followed by OnMobile (21), Subex (26), Infosys (27), TCS (29), FT India (35) and Tally Solutions (39).

Among other Indian firms, Cranes Software was placed in the 44th position in the list, followed by 3i Infotech (60), Newgen Software (62), Ramco Systems (64), Persistent (65), KLG Systel (71), Polaris Software (72), Educomp Solutions (85) and Teledata Technology (89).

"Emerging markets are poised to play an increasingly pivotal role in the global software industry. Focus on innovation, growing talent pool and government support are just some of the advantages of this market segment," the report said.

Meanwhile, the number of software product firms has grown over the last decade from a little over 100 in 2000 to nearly 2,400 in 2013, it said.

According to the industry body NASSCOM, the revenue from the software product segment currently stands at $2.2 billion and is expected to reach $10 billion by 2020.

The PwC report noted that software-as-a-service is gaining traction. Moreover, industry consolidation and increasing globalisation are also transforming the software sector.

"The Indian IT industry has been primarily identified with software services and this focus has relegated the software products segment to the background. However, of late, we are seeing a change in the fortunes of this segment due to significant growth," PwC India Leader Technology Sanjay Dhawan said.

Emerging technologies such as Social media, Mobility, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) are driving the growth in the software product segment and helping it move to the next level, Dhawan added.
Source: PWC Report
, ,

15 best-paying companies for software engineers

Wonder which are the best paying companies for software engineers? Online jobs and career community Glassdoor’s recent survey claims to reveal just that. The figures collated by Business Insider ranks companies on the basis of the average base salary of their software engineers. Here are the top 15 companies from the list.
  1. Juniper Networks: Juniper Networks makes networking equipment, security products and network operating system. The company offers average base salary of $128,378 to its software engineers, says the survey, the highest in the industry.
  2. Google: Google is a tech titan that is known throughout the world for products like Search, Android, Gmail, Nexus smartphones and tablets, Picasa and online advertising platforms. Software engineers working at the company are paid average base salary of $124,520, according to the Glassdoor survey.
  3. Twitter: Twitter is the microblogging website where users can type messages with only 140 characters; the company claims to have over 500 million registered users. Software engineers earn average base salary of $120,768 at the company, says the survey.
  4. Facebook: Facebook is the biggest social network in the world and has over a billion registered users. As per the Glassdoor survey, the company pays $118,857 as average base salary to software engineers.
  5. Apple: Founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Apple is a US technology company that makes gadgets like iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac series of computers etc. Software engineers earn average base salary of $118,192 at the company, the survey shows.
  6. LinkedIn: LinkedIn is the most popular professional networking website in the world, with over 200 million active users across the world. As per respondents in the Glassdoor survey, average base salary of software engineers at the company is $116,375.
  7. Brocade Communications: Brocade Communications is a US technology company that offers data and storage networking products, such as LAN and Wi-Fi switches, routers, network security appliances etc. The company pays average base salary of $111,858 to its software engineers, the survey reveals.
  8. eBay: eBay is one of the biggest online marketplaces where retailers as well as individuals can sell their goods to consumers; it also operates an online auction platform on its website. According to the Glassdoor survey, average base salary of software engineers at eBay is $108,461.
  9. Bloomberg LP: Bloomberg LP, which is well known for its media publications, takes care of data acquisition, distribution and management of enterprises. Software engineers working in the technology arm of the company earn $108,430 as average base salary.
  10. Zynga: Zynga is a social game making company that is best known for hits like Farmville and CityVille that took Facebook by storm. The software engineers employed at the company take home average base salary of $107,242.
  11. PayPal: A unit of online retailer eBay, PayPal is the world’s biggest online payment company. The Glassdoor survey reveals that software engineers at the company are paid average base salary of $106,920.
  12. VMWare: Palo Alto, California- based VMWare makes cloud and virtualisation software and services. According to respondents in the Glassdoor survey, the company’s software engineers get average base salary of $106,568.
  13. Oracle: Oracle, the third biggest software maker in the world, makes database management systems, computer hardware system as well as ERP, CRM and SCM software. The average base salary of software engineers at Oracle is $105,660, as per the survey.
  14. Nvidia: Nvidia is a Santa Clara, California-based company that manufacturers system-on-chips and graphic processing units for mobile devices. The Glassdoor survey says it pays an average base salary of $104,717 to its software engineers.
  15. Microsoft: Microsoft is the biggest software company in the world, best known for its Windows operating system for computers. Other Microsoft products include Surface tablets, Xbox gaming console and Windows Phone mobile operating system. The company offers its engineers average base salary of $103,563, according to the survey.


Source: GlassDoor

Thursday, June 20, 2013

,

Mid-tier IT companies Tech Mahindra, MindTree may raise salaries by 7-12%

Mid-tier IT firms such as Tech Mahindra and MindTree may raise salaries by 7-12% this fiscal to ensure they do not lose talent to top players TCS, Infosys and Wipro, according to HR service providers.

The larger players have announced wage hikes ranging between 6% and 10% for this fiscal.

"Current environment is challenging and companies are looking at preserving their bottomline. Despite that, keeping employees' interest in mind, organizations have given hikes ranging from 8-12%, which is a good development."

"In general, we can expect 7-12% hikes for employees working with mid-tier IT companies," Randstad India president (staffing) and director (marketing) Aditya Narayan Mishra told. He added that as the demand for IT services increases in the coming quarters, one can expect above-average hikes.

Last week, Infosys said its employees in India will get on an average 8% increase, while Wipro said it has raised salaries by 6-8%. Onsite employees have seen salaries going up by 2-3%. India's largest software services exporter Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has increased wages by 8-10% in India and 2-4% for overseas workforce. HCL Technologies has started its appraisal process and is expected to make an announcement by July-end. Most Indian IT firms give increments around April or May.

"IT sector has been fairly conservative in terms of pay hike. We recently did a survey, where we asked some of our customers on increments this year and almost 46-47% of the respondents said they are looking at wage hikes between 6-15%," HeadHonchos.com CEO Uday Sodhi said.

IT firms are also looking at the global economic scenario, which still has not been very promising and it plays an important role in determining the hike percentage, he added.
Source: TimesofIndia
, ,

What is keeping India's engineers unemployed

Somewhere between a fifth to a third of the million students graduating out of India's engineering colleges run the risk of being unemployed. Others will take jobs well below their technical qualifications in a market where there are few jobs for India's overflowing technical talent pool. Beset by a flood of institutes (offering a varying degree of education) and a shrinking market for their skills, India's engineers are struggling to subsist in an extremely challenging market.

According to multiple estimates, India trains around 1.5 million engineers, which is more than the US and China combined. However, two key industries hiring these engineers -- information technology and manufacturing -- are actually hiring fewer people than before.

For example, India's IT industry, a sponge for 50-75% of these engineers will hire 50,000 fewer people this year, according to Nasscom. Manufacturing, too, is facing a similar stasis, say HR consultants and skills evaluation firms.

According to data from AICTE, the regulator for technical education in India, there were 1,511 engineering colleges across India, graduating over 550,000 students back in 2006-07. Fuelled by fast growth, especially in the $110 billion outsourcing market, a raft of new colleges sprung up -- since then, the number of colleges and graduates have doubled.

Read More @ TimesOfIndia

Zynga to cut 30 jobs in India

Online gaming company Zynga is laying off at least 30 of its over 400 employees in India as part of a global restructuring. Globally, Zynga , creator of the once wildly popular FarmVille and City-Ville games, is laying off 520 employees, about 18% of its 3,000-strong workforce.

Zynga had not responded to a mail sent by TOI at the time of going to print, but company founder Mark Pincus's letter to employees said the layoff impact would be felt across every group in the company. The word in Zynga India is that at least 6% of the employees here would be impacted. Zynga's Bangalore centre, started in 2010, has rapidly expanded to become the company's second largest operation in the world, after its San Francisco centre. It started as a centre doing core R&D for the company. A year later started a studio that now manages multiple games, developing new content and creating new features for them.

On his first visit to India in April this year, Pincus had said India had been "a terrific investment and experience for us" . That experience and the lower costs may be the reason why the layoffs in India are limited, compared to the global cuts.
, , ,

Wipro wins deal worth $500m from Citigroup

Wipro is said to have won a $500-million (Rs 2,900 crore) outsourcing contract from Citigroup. The win will come as a boost for the Bangalore-based company that has been going through a lean patch.

Wipro will provide application development and maintenance, and infrastructure services for Citi's global operations. The five-year engagement requires Wipro to set up an offshore delivery centre in Bangalore, said sources familiar with the development. When TOI contacted Wipro, the company said it does not comment on market speculation. Citi too declined to comment on what they call market speculation.

Citigroup had called for bids for a $1 billion IT contract. TCS, HCL, Infosys, Wipro and Cognizant were said to have put in bids along with IBM, Accenture, Dell and others for this contract. Citi already has large outsourcing deals going with TCS and Wipro. Wipro had acquired Citi Technology Services for $127 million in 2008. Wipro and Citibank had signed an agreement to take over the operations and management of Citi's data centre in Meerbusch, Germany, a suburb of Dusseldorf, in 2010. Wipro had intended to use the site to support other outsourcing clients too. The Meerbusch centre was Wipro's first data centre facility in Europe and enabled the company to offer a full portfolio of infrastructure management solutions to its global clients. TCS had won a $505 million outsourcing contract from Citigroup to handle their core back office processes and customer transactions in 2008.
Source: TimesOfIndia
,

H-1B visa: Silicon Valley intensifies lobbying on US immigration bill

Eager to secure more visas for skilled foreign workers, tech companies have stepped up their lobbying this week in support of a comprehensive US immigration reform bill.

Human resources executives from Adobe, Broadcom, Intel, Motorola Solutions and other corporations met with dozens of lawmakers and senior advisers on Wednesday from the congressional committees in charge of immigration laws. They also spoke to a wide array of Democratic and Republican senators including some on-the-fence Republicans, such as Mark Kirk of Illinois and Rob Portman of Ohio, and some who have voiced opposition, including Mike Lee of Utah.

Lawmakers who favor the bill "have been urging us to work with them to make sure that the bill gets passed with the highest number of votes possible," said Robert Hoffman, senior vice president with the Information Technology Industry Council trade group.
Source:EconomicTimes

Finding good job not easy for skilled migrants in Australia: Study

Securing a suitable employment can be a long, difficult and disappointing process for migrants coming to Australia, who often take up jobs that are low-paid and not commensurate to their skills, according to a new study led by an Indian-origin psychology professor.

At the time of being surveyed, over 50 per cent of the participants were unemployed, said the study by the University of Western Sydney (UWS).

While some participants (seven per cent) had secured jobs prior to their arrival, approximately 42 per cent reported spending between 1-6 months looking for jobs and others (23 per cent) reported spending 7-12 months or more than one year (26 per cent) job-searching.

The study report titled 'Apply Apply Negative Reply: Understanding Job-Seeking Experiences of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Job-Seekers in Australia' was led by Renu Narchal from the School of Social Sciences and Psychology.
Source: EconomicTimes
,

Cisco to open new centre in Israel

US technology giant Cisco plans to open a new research and development center in Israel, the company's CEO John Chambers said during his meeting with Israel's Minister of Finance Yair Lapid.

The new centre is expected to offer 100 jobs, to be added to about 2,000 employees already working at Cisco center in Israel, reported Xinhua.

Chambers on Tuesday said the new project, whose main focus is information security, would be based on knowledge accumulated at NDS, an Israeli hi-tech company acquired last year by Cisco for $5 billion.
Source: CIOL

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

, ,

TCS non-Indian employee number crosses 21,000

Tata Consultancy Services, India's largest IT services company has more that doubled the number of its non-Indian employees during the last three years.

According to the company, as on 31 March 2013, it had 21,282 non-Indians on its rolls belonging to 118 nationalities. This is an increase of about 20% over the previous years. In 2009-10, the company employed 9,536 foreign nationals.

The company said the highest number of its non-Indian employees are Britishers with a share of close to 19% followed by Americans at 15.4%. About 10% of its non-Indian employees are from China where TCS has a strong presence, the Mumbai-based company said in its annual report for 2012-13.

TCS also said that the company has improved the ratio of women in its total workforce to 32.40% at the end of FY13 as compared to 31.60% as on March 31, 2012. "Our progressive policies and customised programmes such as executive education programme for women in mid-management, interactive forums and women discussion circles address the aspirations and needs of our women employees," it added in the report.
Source: Business-Standard
,

Big data to create 4.4 mn jobs by 2015

Worldwide IT spending is forecast to surpass $3.7 trillion in 2013, a 3.8 per cent increase from 2012 projected spending of $3.6 trillion, but it is the outlook for big data that is creating much excitement, according to Gartner.

"By 2015, 4.4 million IT jobs globally will be created to support big data, generating 1.9 million IT jobs in the United States," said Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president, Gartner and global head of Research. "In addition, every big data-related role in the US will create employment for three people outside of IT, so over the next four years a total of 6 million jobs in the US will be generated by the information economy."

"But there is a challenge. There is not enough talent in the industry. Our public and private education systems are failing us. Therefore, only one-third of the IT jobs will be filled. Data experts will be a scarce, valuable commodity," Sondergaard said. "IT leaders will need immediate focus on how their organization develops and attracts the skills required. These jobs will be needed to grow your business. These jobs are the future of the new information economy."
Source: CIOL
,

27 percent Indian staff set to switch jobs

Globally, the number of workers taking flight is expected to reach 161.7 million in 2014 - a 12.9 per cent increase in people leaving compared to 2012, says a Hay Group study.

Over the next five years, 49 million more employees as compared to 2012 are going to leave their current employers and switch jobs, global management consultancy, Hay Group's new research, in association with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), has revealed.
As far as India is concerned, it finds itself in the eye of the storm, with a predicted employee turnover of 26.9 per cent (in the organized sector) in 2013 - the highest attrition rate globally.

The study, Preparing for Take-Off, covers 700 million employees in 19 countries worldwide and is based on a unique Hay Group macroeconomic model that analyzes the main factors affecting employee turnover across the globe, stated a release.
, , ,

TCS, HCL among front-runners for Pepsi outsourcing contract

Contract, held by HP, up for renewal later this year; may be split and handed out to more than one service provider. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) and HCL Technologies Ltd are among the front-runners to win an outsourcing contract from PepsiCo Inc. valued at about $500 million (around Rs.2,925 crore today), according to two people familiar with the development.

The contract, held by Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP), will be up for renewal later this year. It is likely to be split and handed out to more than one service provider mostly for handling infrastructure management services, the two people said, requesting anonymity as they are not authorized to discuss these details.

Pepsi had signed the contract with HP, the world’s largest computer firm, in 2006 for a total value of $100 million for managing its information technology (IT) and data centre operations, according to outsourcing advisory firm Everest Group. Pepsi also has outsourcing agreements with International Business Machines Corp., or IBM, which runs the finance and administration processes of the soft drink maker’s Indian arm.
Source: LiveMint
,

Syntel Named in IAOP's 2013 Global Outsourcing 100

Syntel, Inc. (Nasdaq:SYNT), a global information technology services and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) company, today announced that it has been ranked in The 2013 Global Outsourcing 100® by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP). Syntel has moved up seven places over the 2012 rankings to #31.

Syntel was named to IAOP's annual list of the world's best outsourcing service providers for the seventh consecutive year and was included on several sub-lists that recognize providers for their specialization in particular industry and service segments. Source: GlobeNewsWire

TCS boss' salary to rise by half

CEO and MD N Chandrasekaran will now get a monthly salary of Rs 15,00,000 with effect from April 1, 2014. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest information technology services firm, has decided to revise the monthly salary of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director N Chandrasekaran by half to Rs 15 lakh. The revised salary will be applicable with effect from April 1 next year.

“Taking into consideration, the increased business activities of the company and the responsibilities cast on N Chandrasekaran, the Board has revised his maximum limit of salary from Rs 10,00,000 a month to Rs 15,00,000 a month, with effect from April 1, 2014,” the company said in its annual report for 2012-13. It also said the proportionate increase would also be applicable to the other benefits he was getting.
,

Tech Mahindra appoints Milind Kulkarni as CFO

IT services firm Tech Mahindra today appointed Milind Kulkarni as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) replacing Sonjoy Anand, who decided to pursue opportunities internationally.

The firm also announced the appointment of Manoj Bhat as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer.

Milind Kulkarni has been Senior Vice President, Finance till now and will take charge as the new CFO with immediate effect, the firm said in a BSE filing.
,

Wipro to hire 1,000 employees in Germany over the next three years

IT services major WiproBSE 0.00 % Ltd on Wednesday said it will triple its headcount in Germany by hiring over 1,000 people over the next three years with an aim to expand its operations in the key European nation. According to industry estimates Germany's IT market size stood at around $80 billion last year.

"Wipro plans to triple its employee strength in Germany over the next three years, by hiring over 1,000 professionals," the company said in a release.

At present, the Bangalore-headquartered firm has over 500 employees in Germany, which serve more than 30 clients. It has 145,000 employees across 98 countries as on March 31, 2013.

Source: Economic Times
,

A million engineers in India struggling to get placed

A million engineers in India struggling to get placed in an extremely challenging market. Somewhere between a fifth to a third of the million students graduating out of India's engineering colleges run the risk of being unemployed. Others will take jobs well below their technical qualifications in a market where there are few jobs for India's overflowing technical talent pool. Beset by a flood of institutes (offering a varying degree of education) and a shrinking market for their skills, India's engineers are struggling to subsist in an extremely challenging market.

According to multiple estimates, India trains around 1.5 million engineers, which is more than the US and China combined. However, two key industries hiring these engineers -- information technology and manufacturing -- are actually hiring fewer people than before.

For example, India's IT industry, a sponge for 50-75% of these engineers will hire 50,000 fewer people this year, according to Nasscom. Manufacturing, too, is facing a similar stasis, say HR consultants and skills evaluation firms. Source:Economic Times

Monday, June 17, 2013

, ,

IBM’s Layoffs Exceed 1,600 People

According to employee group Alliance@IBM, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America union, layoffs at IBM have more than exceeded the initial estimates of 1,600 positions. These include at least 222 people from areas like marketing and 165 in semiconductor research and development.

IBM – one of the world’s largest computer services providers – has initiated a global restructuring plan, laying-off nearly 2,800 employees in North America alone. And more cuts are expected in nations like India as the company intents on spending $1 billion globally to trim its workforce.

According to the official national IBM employee’s union, the total number of lay-offs in the US as of June 15, 2013 was 2,792. But some grimly project the number of workers cut could hit upwards of 8,000 – roughly two percent of the company’s workforce. Others speculate the number to be closer to 5,000.
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/761676/ibms-layoffs-exceed-1600-people/#psDrpTAoKK5YTIRI.99
, , ,

Rupee fall to cushion wage hike impact

Infosys announced an average increase of 8% for employees in India, while those in other geographies will get an average 3% hike.

Two of the largest Indian information technology (IT) services companies, Infosys and Wipro, have announced annual wage increases this year, the quantum of which are more in line with the industry average. While Infosys said it would give an average rise of eight per cent to its employees in India, Wipro has announced an increment of six-eight per cent.

Infosys usually gives rises to its employees with effect from April every year. In FY13, the company deferred the decision citing tough global economic environment. However, it later revisited the decision and announced a wage hike in October. This year (FY14), though the company management had indicated to restructure the employee compensation with an aim of increasing the fixed component in the salary, it was non-committal on giving a rise.

Apart from India, employees located in other geographies, who were not given wage hike in February this year, will be covered in this cycle, Infosys said in a statement today. They would be given an increase of about three per cent in average. The increments will be effective July 1. However, for its global sales force, the changes will come into effect from May 1.
Source: Business-Standard
, , ,

IBM lays off undisclosed number of workers

IBM has laid off an undisclosed number of workers this week as the company intensifies its focus on some of some of the technology industry's hottest markets.

The cutbacks are part of a reorganization that IBM Corp. executives disclosed in April during a conference call discussing the Armonk, New York, company's first-quarter earnings. IBM said it would spend $1 billion reshuffling the types of jobs it needs in its workforce this year, with most of the changes coming before the end of June. The company indicated most of the layoffs would occur outside the US. Read More at Huff post.
,

Salaries for fresh engineers in IT companies may fall in coming years

For years, fresh engineering graduates have had it good because demand from the IT industry was robust. That's changing. Salaries for fresh IT engineers will be under major pressure in the coming years.

"Fresher salaries of Rs 2.75 lakh to Rs 3.25 lakh will remain unchanged or be lowered over the next few years," wrote Kawaljeet Saluja and Rohit Chordia of brokerage firm Kotak Institutional Securities in a recent report.

The trend is changing because the number of students graduating in engineering has shot up in the past few years, and the demand has slowed. Estimates by IT industry body Nasscom show the number of engineers graduating each year has more than doubled to 8.13 lakh from 2007-08 to 2011-12. Read More

Sunday, June 16, 2013

,

Infosys announces wage hike, Wipro follows suit

NR Narayana Murthy has made his first significant move upon returning to Infosys by effecting an unexpected round of wage increases for the company's 1.5 lakh employees. By doing so, analysts said, the Infosys chairman is trying to kill several birds with one stone, displaying tactical finesse that has earned him a reputation as one of India's canniest entrepreneurs.

On Thursday, less than a fortnight after Murthy came back to helm the company, Infosys announced an average increment of 8% for India employees, effective from July 1. For employees outside India, the company said the increments will be 3%, albeit with some riders. The biggest push was reserved for its global sales force which will get a raise of 8% effective May.

Wipro, which announced increments in July last year, also sent a note about an hour after the news from Infosys. It said it is giving an average increment of 6-8% for offshore employees and 2-3% for onsite employees, effective from June 2013. For high-performers, the raise will be in double digits. A Wipro spokeswoman said the emailed note was in response to media queries.

"There have been serious issues with employee motivation levels at Infosys. Wipro rolling out wage hikes on the same day shows that it wants to ensure the company doesn't lose employees to Infosys," said Pradeep Mukerji, president and managing partner at outsourcing advisory firm Avasant. Infosys's populist move — a certain vote-winner among staff — could raise morale, enhance Murthy's stock of goodwill and send out a message to all stakeholders and rivals that the Infosys co-founder is back and means business. "By announcing wage hikes, Infosys wants to calm down anxiety among its employees and stabilize things within the organization. It is a smart move; however, we do not expect more bold moves from Murthy," said Manish Bahl, country manager at Forrester Research. "He will be focused on getting things aligned, talking to clients and creating expertise on the product innovation side." Read more

Rebuilding a 'desirable' Infosys will take 36 months

Recalled to ride out the bad times for Infosys, its Chairman N R Narayana Murthy today said the task of rebuilding a "desirable" Infosys would take at least 36 months and there would be some tough decisions resulting in "pain." "The challenge is daunting and the task is tough," said Murthy in a candid address to shareholders at the 32nd Annual General Meeting here, two weeks after he was recalled and made Executive Chairman of Infosys which has reported poor earnings disappointing investors. He said "the task of rebuilding a desirable Infosys will take at least 36 months, even with a high quality team and full dedication of every Infoscion. In the process, there will be some tough decisions resulting in pain as we move forward." Read more..

Blog Archive