Wednesday, November 6, 2013

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Top global IT firms have more staff in India than home nations

It's a measure of India's strength in software services and the number of engineers it produces that some of the world's largest IT companies have more employees in India now than in their home countries.

And increasingly, these foreign companies are shifting their consulting base to India, thanks to the talent coming out of the country's business schools.

IBM, the biggest in the business, has been steadily reducing its US employee numbers and has simultaneously increased sharply its Indian ones. The company does not officially break up its employee numbers by geography, but the IBM employee organization Alliance@IBM puts the US figure for 2012 at 91,000, down from 127,000 in 2006. The last time IBM provided figures for India was in 2007, when it said it had 73,000 employees here. Since then, all estimates suggest that the company has added another 50,000 to 60,000 employees, taking the total count to about 1.3 lakh.

That puts the India number at more than 40% of the US figure. It also means — given IBM's global headcount of 4.3 lakh — that one in almost every three IBM employee is in India.

Read more at TimesOfIndia.

Panasonic to cut chip division workforce by half: Reports

Panasonic is set to cut its chip division workforce in half, axing thousands of jobs as the electronics giant overhauls its battered balance sheet after record losses, Japanese media reports said.

The plan to shrink Panasonic's money-losing semiconductor business could also see it sell off some chip manufacturing plants, the leading Nikkei business daily said, without citing sources.

Panasonic, which has chip factories both in Japan and overseas, would axe 7,000 jobs from the unit by March 2015 from a total of 14,000 employees, through an unspecified number of layoffs, early retirements and moving workers to other divisions, the Nikkei said.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

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10 Most Difficult Tech Firms For Interviews

Interviews can be hard for anyone, but several companies tend to make the interview process difficult in order to separate the wheat from the chaff. Technology companies are particularly notorious for making the interviews tough, posing difficult questions to assess how applicants fare on various criteria.

Professional networking website Glassdoor has released the list of companies with the most difficult interview processes. We bring to you the technology with the toughest interviews, as well as details like average span of the interview process and the kind of experience that the interviewees have. Click to find out the 10 tech companies with the most difficult interviews:

1. ThoughtWorks
ThoughtWorks grabbed the top spot among technology companies when it came to the most difficult interview process, with an average difficulty rating of 3.9. Seventy three percent of the interviewees surveyed by Glassdoor reported a positive experience, while 14% had a bad experience.

The typical interview process at ThoughtWorks lasts 43 days, with interviewees giving it an employee satisfaction rating of 4.1 out of 5.

2. Google
Google has an average difficulty rating of 3.6 out of 5, with a typical interview lasting 37 days. Sixty four percent interviewees had a pleasant experience, while 23% had a negative experience, with the company getting an average employee satisfaction rating of 3.3.

3. Hubspot
Software maker HubSpot has an average difficulty rating of 3.5 and employee satisfaction rating of 4.1 out of 5. The interview process takes 20 days on an average and 62% people had a good interview experience, while 27% had a bad one.

4. Avaya
Avaya takes the fourth spot in the list, with average difficulty rating of 3.4 and employee satisfaction score of 2.9. Eighty six percent interviewees had a good experience, while 10% experienced a bad time, with the average process time being 30 days.

5. Microsoft
Software titan Microsoft secured an average difficulty rating of 3.4, while its employee satisfaction score is 3.7. The average interview process lasts 29 days, with 70% respondents having a positive experience and 14% reporting a negative time.

6. Sapient
With an average difficulty rating of 3.4 and employee satisfaction score of 3.8, Sapient takes the sixth spot in the list. Average interview process at Sapient takes 12 days, with 76% respondents having a good experience and 13% having a negative time.

7. Citrix
Citrix grabs the seventh position in the ranking, with an average difficulty score of 3.4 and employee satisfaction rating of 3.8. The overall interview process on an average takes 29 days at the company, and 56% people report a positive experience and 26% have a negative time.

8. Nvidia
Nvidia gets an average difficulty rating of 3.4 and employee satisfaction score of 3.8. The company on an average takes 22 days to complete an interview; 81% people in the survey had a positive experience, while 7% had a bad one.

9. Informatica
Informatica scores 3.4 in terms of average difficulty of the interview and 3.9 in employee satisfaction. In the survey, 83% of the respondents said they had a positive experience, while 11% had a negative time; average length of interviews at the company is 19 days.

10. Facebook
Facebook has a difficulty score of 3.3 in the survey and employee satisfaction rating of 3.9; interview process goes for 30 days on an average. Seventy two percent of the respondents reported a positive experience and 14% had a bad time.

Old list:
Below is  Glassdoor’s list of the 25 Companies That Give the Toughest Job Interviews(as per Aug 2013):

1. McKinsey & Company

2. ThoughtWorks

3. The Boston Consulting Group

4. Gartner

5. Bain & Company

6. Rolls Royce

7. ZS Associates

8. Google

9. Stryker

10. HubSpot

11. Paycom

12. Vistaprint

13. Teach For America

14. Procter & Gamble

15. Avaya

16. Microsoft

17. BlackRock

18. Sapient

19. Citrix

20. Nvidia

21. Informatica

22. Facebook

23. Guidewire

24. Caterpillar

25. Rackspace
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8 hottest IT skills for 2014

Wonder what are the most-sought after IT skills for 2014. ComputerWorld's annual IT skills survey uncovers the skill-sets that IT managers will be looking for in 2014. From 'Networking' to 'Project management', here is a list of the hottest skills that will work in your favour in 2014.

1. Programming/application development
Topping the ComputerWorld's hottest skills for 2014 list is 'programming/application development'. The skill ranked at top position in last year's Hot skills survey too. According to the survey, 49% of respondents said that they plan to hire for this skill in the coming 12 months.

As per the survey, developer and programmer job openings are the most difficult to fill. The hottest specialties within this category are mobile development expertise and experience building secure applications.

2. Help desk/technical support
Ranked at no. 2, help desk/tech support has moved up one position from its last year's ranking. According to the survey, 37% of respondents said that they plan to hire for this skill in the coming 12 months.

The fact that many companies are bringing help-desk functions back in-house is contributing to the rise in demand for this skill, says the report.

3. Networking
Another sought-after IT skill in 2014 will be 'networking', ranked at no. 3 in the survey. As per the study, 31% of respondents said that they plan to hire for this skill in the coming 12 months. 'Networking' ranked at no. 8 in last year's ranking.

The spurt in demand for wireless connectivity is probably behind the interest in networking professionals, claims the survey quoting Scot Melland, CEO of Dice Holdings.

4. Mobile applications and device management
The fourth hottest skill for 2014 is 'mobile applications and device management'. Some 27% of survey respondents said that they plan to hire for this skill in the next 12 months. The increasing proliferation of mobile devices seems to have catapulted the skill to no. 4 from its last year's position of no. 9.

According to the survey, mobile expertise is the third most difficult skill to find, after development and BI/analytics skills.

5. Project management
'Project management' is next on the list of hottest skills for 2014. Some 25% of respondents surveyed said that they plan to hire for this skill in the next 12 months. While project management fell from its no. 2 position of last year, it still continues to be among the highly sought-after skills.

The demand for project managers is second only to that of software developers/engineers, says ComputerWorld report quoting Dice's CEO

6. Database administration
At no. 6 on the list is 'Database Administration'. Some 24% of respondents said that they plan to hire for this skill in coming 12 months. The growing enterprise interest in Big data appears to be fuelling the interest in the demand for 'Database Administration' professionals.

7. Security compliance/governance
Security Compliance/Governance ranks next on the list. Some 21% of respondents surveyed said that they plan to hire for this skill. The growth of ecommerce and increasing cases of malware and cyberattacks globally has led to a sharp rise in the demand for security professionals.

The demand for 'Security Compliance/Governance' professionals is up 23 percent according to the survey.

8. Business intelligence/analytics
Business intelligence/analytics ranks at no. 8 on the list. Some 18% of the respondents said that they plan to hire for this skill in the next 12 months, as per the survey.

One of the fastest-growing skills, the demand for business intelligence/analytics professionals has seen a 100% jump, says the report quoting Dice's Melland. BI professionals are also often reported to command high salaries.

Note: The results are based on the responses of IT executives who responded to ComputerWorld's survey.

Source: ComputerWorld
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US says Infosys blatantly flouted immigration laws

Federal prosecutors have alleged that IT major Infosys indulged in blatant violation of immigration laws by not only bringing its employee inside the country on a visa which does not permit work, but also issuing specific directions to its workers to mislead the immigration officials on their point of entry on their nature of work.

"To circumvent the requirements, limitations, and governmental oversight of the H-1B visa programme, Infosys committed visa fraud by knowingly and unlawfully using B-1 visa holders to perform skilled labour in order to fill positions in the United States for employment that would otherwise be performed by United States citizens or require legitimate H-1B visa holders, the US Attorney, John M Bales said.

Read more at TimesofIndia
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Yahoo laying off 500 under-performing employees: Report

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has begun firing as many as 500 under-performing employees, All Things D's Kara Swisher reports. After joining the company in July 2012, Mayer instituted new employee performance reviews one year ago.

Now, Swisher reports, Mayer is planning to let go any employees who were rated "misses" or "occasionally misses" at least twice during the past five quarters.

Swisher says as many as 500 employees could eventually be effected. She says that some Yahoo employees are already being let go.

Yahoo has many thousands more employees than many industry experts believes it needs to have.

Before Mayer took over Yahoo, top executives there had plans to cut headcount from approximately 15,000 down to 4,000 -- though that would have involved spinning out Yahoo's search business.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/careers/job-trends/Yahoo-laying-off-500-under-performing-employees-Report/articleshow/24980658.cms?intenttarget=no
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India's Best Small & Startup IT Companies To Work For

Bonus, travel allowances, sales commission, incentives all were the talk of the town in job market. Today, the game has completely changed and focus has shifted from monetary view point to complete engagement of the employees in the development of organization and themselves. Workplace recognition and revenue growth are not coincidental and is a reflection of one's belief that treating employees well is a good business. This has become a key driver of innovation in most of the organizations.

Companies are spending heavily for employee training, may it be onsite or offsite training, to provide them a better understanding of their core work functionality. With such huge investments being made on the employees, retaining them are one of the top priorities for any HR. Thus, different companies come up with various HR policies to not only retain them but to keep them motivated at all the touch points possible.
See the list here