California technology firm NetApp has taken Google's crown as best company to work for in 2009, according to an annual Top 100 list published by Fortune Magazine. Google held the Fortune title of "Best Company to Work For" for two years, knocking biotech drug firm Genentech from the top spot in 2007.
Google sank to fourth place in rankings published in the February 2 issue of Fortune. St. Louis-based brokerage Edward Jones was second followed by Boston Consulting, a management consulting firm. Silicon Valley insiders speculated the sag in Google's status could be related to cost-cutting measures such as the cancellation of an annual ski outing for the northern California Internet giant's snow-loving employees.
The magazine noted that Google attracts 770,000 job applicants yearly, despite having done away with "frills" such as afternoon tea. Fortune praised NetApp for a "legendary egalitarian culture" and down-to-earth management ethos.
Rather than business plans, workers at the company specializing in data management and computer storage draft "future histories" describing their visions for coming years, according to Fortune.
Worker benefits reportedly include paid days for volunteer work, cash to supplement adopting children and medical coverage for family members with autism.
Veteran network-equipment company Cisco in the heart of Silicon Valley ranked sixth on the list, while its neighbor Adobe Systems was listed in 11th place.
The rankings are done by San Francisco's Great Place to Work Institute, which reportedly surveyed more than 81,000 employees from 353 companies.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Satyam
Larsen & Toubro(L&T) has tripled its stake in Satyam Computer Services to 12%
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has moved a step closer to acquiring scam-hit Satyam Computer. The engineering major on Friday bought 3.9 crore Satyam shares at a price of Rs 34.52 per share in a bulk deal estimated at around Rs 135 crore on the NSE. With this, the total shareholding of L&T in Satyam has increased from 4.48 per cent to 12.04 per cent.
Layoffs in USA
California jobless rate hits 9.3%
California's unemployment rate jumped to 9.3% in December from 8.4% in November and 5.9% a year earlier as job cuts swept across most industries, with recession tightening its grip on the most populous U.S. state, officials said Friday.
California's December jobless rate marked a 14-year high for the state and was significantly higher than the month's national average of 7.2%, underscoring a surge in job losses over the last three months of 2008, said Patti Roberts, a spokeswoman for the state's Employment Development Department.
California's December jobless rate marked a 14-year high for the state and was significantly higher than the month's national average of 7.2%, underscoring a surge in job losses over the last three months of 2008, said Patti Roberts, a spokeswoman for the state's Employment Development Department.
Layoffs in USA
Compass Bank to cut 10 percent of staff
Compass Bank says it is cutting 1,200 workers, or about 10 percent of its staff, as part of an overall reorganization.
The company said Friday the job cuts will spread across all of its business units in six states. Compass said the workers who will lose their jobs will be notified within the next few days and will receive severance.
The cuts include management and non-managment positions. The bank is the U.S. unit of Spain-based Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, which bought Compass for $9.6 billion in 2007.
The company said Friday the job cuts will spread across all of its business units in six states. Compass said the workers who will lose their jobs will be notified within the next few days and will receive severance.
The cuts include management and non-managment positions. The bank is the U.S. unit of Spain-based Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, which bought Compass for $9.6 billion in 2007.
Layoffs in USA
Microsoft Layoffs: Big Cuts At Flight Simulator Studio
Microsoft has confirmed the closure of ACES Studio. Former ACES developer Phil Taylor claims in a blog post that six employees were retained to fulfill contractual duties, and Flight Simulator may continue to exist as a franchise in some other form.
Redmond, Washington-based ACES Studio, the Microsoft-owned internal group behind the venerable Microsoft Flight Simulator series, has been heavily affected by Microsoft’s ongoing job cuts.
A large portion of the dev house’s staff has been let go - with multiple reports indicating that the entire Flight Simulator team has been axed.
Redmond, Washington-based ACES Studio, the Microsoft-owned internal group behind the venerable Microsoft Flight Simulator series, has been heavily affected by Microsoft’s ongoing job cuts.
A large portion of the dev house’s staff has been let go - with multiple reports indicating that the entire Flight Simulator team has been axed.
Cost cutting
Yahoo suspends employee pay raises
Yahoo has frozen employee salaries.
The company told employees Wednesday that it would stop all annual pay raises in 2009. Yahoo is trying to turn its fortunes around while it faces internal struggles, as well as the external challenges presented by the current economy. Despite the freeze on annual raises at Yahoo, employees who are promoted to higher positions within the company could still obtain increases.
Yahoo isn't alone in turning to salary freezes as a means to tighten spending. Several other companies, including Microsoft, are halting pay raises to reduce payroll costs. Others have come up with alternative means for reducing their payroll. For instance, media company Gannett has mandated its employees take one week of unpaid vacation. Google announced a new stock option plan for its employees this week. The methods won't necessarily halt layoffs.
Yahoo laid off about 1,500 people in December, and several blogs reported rumors that there may be more to come. However, those rumors are based on an anonymous inside source.
The company told employees Wednesday that it would stop all annual pay raises in 2009. Yahoo is trying to turn its fortunes around while it faces internal struggles, as well as the external challenges presented by the current economy. Despite the freeze on annual raises at Yahoo, employees who are promoted to higher positions within the company could still obtain increases.
Yahoo isn't alone in turning to salary freezes as a means to tighten spending. Several other companies, including Microsoft, are halting pay raises to reduce payroll costs. Others have come up with alternative means for reducing their payroll. For instance, media company Gannett has mandated its employees take one week of unpaid vacation. Google announced a new stock option plan for its employees this week. The methods won't necessarily halt layoffs.
Yahoo laid off about 1,500 people in December, and several blogs reported rumors that there may be more to come. However, those rumors are based on an anonymous inside source.
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