The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals has announced the world's best outsourcing service providers in 2008.
The Global Outsourcing 100 list has 6 Indian companies among the top ten. In the global 100 ranking, Infosys is ranked third, followed by Capgemini and TCS at fifth and sixth positions, respectively.
'Global Outsourcing 100' is an international list of companies that provide the full spectrum of outsourcing services. The selection criteria include the size and growth of the company, customer experience, depth and breadth of competencies and management capabilities.
Following are the top 10 global outsoucring companies, excluding the Indian firms in the list:
The Top 10 global outsourcing companies
Accenture (Rank 1)-- Key strength: Customer testimonials
IBM (Rank 2) -- Key strength: Size & growth
Sodexo (Rank 4) -- Key strength: Global presence
Capgemini (Rank 5) -- Key strength: Achievement recognition
Hewlett Packard (Rank 8) -- Key strength: Outsourcing experience
EDS (Rank 12) -- Key strength: Outsourcing experience
ACS (Rank 13) -- Key strength: Balanced performance
CGI group (Rank 14) -- Key strength: Customer testimonials
SPi (Rank 17) -- Key strength: Customer testimonials
Colliers International (Rank 18) -- Key strength: Global Presence
Friday, February 20, 2009
Cost cutting, Recession
Payday will hurt, 5% cut in salary hikes likely
Survey of 480 companies in India brings grim news: Survey by Hewitt Associates
Source: IBNLive.com
The slowdown-hit Indian corporate sector will reduce annual salary hikes by about five percent, a survey by human resource consultants Hewitt Associates released on Thursday said.
Companies are looking at an average 8.82 percent hike in salaries as compared to 13.3 percent last year, the survey of 480 companies across India said.
"Countries worldwide are experiencing the burden of slow economic growth. However, with a 7 percent-plus growth rate, India still has one of the highest salary hike structures in the world along with China," Sandeep Chaudhary, head of the performance and rewards consulting division at Hewitt India, told reporters.
On a cautious note, he, however, added that the 8.82 percent figure was reached at in December and January - when the survey was conducted - when many companies were in the process of revising their respective appraisal structures, due to which a further 1-1.5 percent hike in the structure was possible.
While the average salary hike has come down, Chaudhary said a few organisations are also reviewing salary cuts, especially that of the top management.
"Many organisations are looking at further revising their pay increase structure, while some may even postpone the appraisal date by a few months," he said.
Among the sectoral pay hikes, the pharamaceutical sector was projected to get the highest increase of 13 percent, while IT and retail would see the lowest hikes: 6.7 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively.
Realty and infrastructure firms were kept out of the scope of the survey completely, Chaudhary said, explaining that the "dismal performance" of these sectors would have kept the pay hike projections to nil or even negative.
The survey gave a rather positive outlook on the job market, saying over 63 percent of the companies were still open for fresh hiring and with only 16 percent considering downsizing.
"Only 37 percent of the companies have frozen fresh recruitments. However, mass hiring is something which the job markets won't see for some time to come," he said.
According to him, the average retrenchment rate stands at over 51 percent in the US and about 31 percent in China.
Companies are looking at an average 8.82 percent hike in salaries as compared to 13.3 percent last year, the survey of 480 companies across India said.
"Countries worldwide are experiencing the burden of slow economic growth. However, with a 7 percent-plus growth rate, India still has one of the highest salary hike structures in the world along with China," Sandeep Chaudhary, head of the performance and rewards consulting division at Hewitt India, told reporters.
On a cautious note, he, however, added that the 8.82 percent figure was reached at in December and January - when the survey was conducted - when many companies were in the process of revising their respective appraisal structures, due to which a further 1-1.5 percent hike in the structure was possible.
While the average salary hike has come down, Chaudhary said a few organisations are also reviewing salary cuts, especially that of the top management.
"Many organisations are looking at further revising their pay increase structure, while some may even postpone the appraisal date by a few months," he said.
Among the sectoral pay hikes, the pharamaceutical sector was projected to get the highest increase of 13 percent, while IT and retail would see the lowest hikes: 6.7 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively.
Realty and infrastructure firms were kept out of the scope of the survey completely, Chaudhary said, explaining that the "dismal performance" of these sectors would have kept the pay hike projections to nil or even negative.
The survey gave a rather positive outlook on the job market, saying over 63 percent of the companies were still open for fresh hiring and with only 16 percent considering downsizing.
"Only 37 percent of the companies have frozen fresh recruitments. However, mass hiring is something which the job markets won't see for some time to come," he said.
According to him, the average retrenchment rate stands at over 51 percent in the US and about 31 percent in China.
Layoffs in India, TCS
TCS places 1,000 workers under lens
Source: LiveMint
The proportion of staff on performance improvement plans for TCS, which employs 130,000, is a mere 0.8%
Bangalore: The country’s largest software services firm, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), has put at least 1,000 employees on so-called performance improvement plans, joining rival Infosys Technologies Ltd, which has around 2,000 employees on similar plans, as the perform-or-perish culture catches up with India in the wake of the economic slowdown that has crimped growth across businesses.
To be sure, the proportion of staff on such plans for TCS— which employs 130,000—and Infosys—which has 100,000 on its rolls—is a mere 0.8% and 2%, respectively, but such plans do get more stringent in tough times, says an expert.
“(Performance improvement) plans don’t get implemented with the rigour that they deserve during the boom times, so in challenging times like these, companies resort to not only implementing them more rigorously, but also raising the percentage. For example, f it is (identifying and putting the) bottom 2% (on performance improvement plans) in good times, it may become bottom 5% or 10% (in bad times),” says Hema Ravichandar, an HR consultant who was formerly the head of human resources at Infosys Technologies, commenting on such plans in general.
A spokesperson for TCS denied that the company’s performance improvement plan is any different this year than it was in previous years. “This is an annual exercise to ensure that we continue to drive delivery excellence for our customers. Less than 1% of our workforce has been put under the scanner in the current fiscal,” the spokesperson added in an email. Last year, TCS had asked 500 employees to leave after they showed no progress in their performance improvement plans.
Mint couldn’t immediately ascertain when these employees were put on the list at TCS and Infosys. Nor could it ascertain the deadline for the plans. Typically, performance improvement plans require employees to improve on specific performance parameters in a certain time frame, failing which they run the risk of losing their jobs. Performance criteria in TCS vary widely, depending on the role of the employee—for instance, criteria for a software developer would include learning and development and process compliance, whereas that for a sales executive would include parameters such as customer feedback and achievement of financial targets.
Companies across businesses in India are seeking to cut costs in an attempt to combat the economic slowdown that has resulted in a significant drop in demand. The US, the biggest market for large software services firms such as TCS and Infosys, is in the grip of a recession. Banking and finance firms, important customers for Indian software services firms, have been among the worst hit, with several having gone belly-up or been nationalized.
Nasscom, an industry lobby, said recently that it expects the software and back-office services business to grow by 16-17% in 2008-09. The growth estimate is a revision of an earlier projection of 21%, which itself had been revised from a 24% projected at the beginning of the year. In 2007-08, India’s software and back-office services business was worth $52 billion (Rs2.59 trillion today), a 31.6% growth over 2006-07. Of this number, exports, which constituted $40.4 billion, grew by 29% over the corresponding figure in 2006-07.
Business Standard first reported that Infosys had put 5,000 employees, or 5% of its workforce, on performance improvement plans. Nandita Gurjar, senior vice-president and head of HR, said: “The number (of employees on performance improvement plans) is typically around 2,000, so about 2%... The number never comes to 5%, of course, because we don’t have that many bad performers.”
The uncertain business environment will also mean that even those employees who are not on such plans can’t expect big raises this year. “This year, hikes will be lower, maybe in single digits (in percentage terms),” S.D. Shibu Lal, Infosys’ chief operating officer, had told PTI on Tuesday.
Ravichandar said it wouldn’t be easy for employees who are asked to leave to find other jobs in an environment where most software services firms are looking to cut costs and headcount.
The proportion of staff on performance improvement plans for TCS, which employs 130,000, is a mere 0.8%
Bangalore: The country’s largest software services firm, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), has put at least 1,000 employees on so-called performance improvement plans, joining rival Infosys Technologies Ltd, which has around 2,000 employees on similar plans, as the perform-or-perish culture catches up with India in the wake of the economic slowdown that has crimped growth across businesses.
To be sure, the proportion of staff on such plans for TCS— which employs 130,000—and Infosys—which has 100,000 on its rolls—is a mere 0.8% and 2%, respectively, but such plans do get more stringent in tough times, says an expert.
“(Performance improvement) plans don’t get implemented with the rigour that they deserve during the boom times, so in challenging times like these, companies resort to not only implementing them more rigorously, but also raising the percentage. For example, f it is (identifying and putting the) bottom 2% (on performance improvement plans) in good times, it may become bottom 5% or 10% (in bad times),” says Hema Ravichandar, an HR consultant who was formerly the head of human resources at Infosys Technologies, commenting on such plans in general.
A spokesperson for TCS denied that the company’s performance improvement plan is any different this year than it was in previous years. “This is an annual exercise to ensure that we continue to drive delivery excellence for our customers. Less than 1% of our workforce has been put under the scanner in the current fiscal,” the spokesperson added in an email. Last year, TCS had asked 500 employees to leave after they showed no progress in their performance improvement plans.
Mint couldn’t immediately ascertain when these employees were put on the list at TCS and Infosys. Nor could it ascertain the deadline for the plans. Typically, performance improvement plans require employees to improve on specific performance parameters in a certain time frame, failing which they run the risk of losing their jobs. Performance criteria in TCS vary widely, depending on the role of the employee—for instance, criteria for a software developer would include learning and development and process compliance, whereas that for a sales executive would include parameters such as customer feedback and achievement of financial targets.
Companies across businesses in India are seeking to cut costs in an attempt to combat the economic slowdown that has resulted in a significant drop in demand. The US, the biggest market for large software services firms such as TCS and Infosys, is in the grip of a recession. Banking and finance firms, important customers for Indian software services firms, have been among the worst hit, with several having gone belly-up or been nationalized.
Nasscom, an industry lobby, said recently that it expects the software and back-office services business to grow by 16-17% in 2008-09. The growth estimate is a revision of an earlier projection of 21%, which itself had been revised from a 24% projected at the beginning of the year. In 2007-08, India’s software and back-office services business was worth $52 billion (Rs2.59 trillion today), a 31.6% growth over 2006-07. Of this number, exports, which constituted $40.4 billion, grew by 29% over the corresponding figure in 2006-07.
Business Standard first reported that Infosys had put 5,000 employees, or 5% of its workforce, on performance improvement plans. Nandita Gurjar, senior vice-president and head of HR, said: “The number (of employees on performance improvement plans) is typically around 2,000, so about 2%... The number never comes to 5%, of course, because we don’t have that many bad performers.”
The uncertain business environment will also mean that even those employees who are not on such plans can’t expect big raises this year. “This year, hikes will be lower, maybe in single digits (in percentage terms),” S.D. Shibu Lal, Infosys’ chief operating officer, had told PTI on Tuesday.
Ravichandar said it wouldn’t be easy for employees who are asked to leave to find other jobs in an environment where most software services firms are looking to cut costs and headcount.
Layoffs in USA
Best Buy cuts 40 jobs at headquarters
Best Buy Co. Inc. said Thursday that 250 workers at its corporate headquarters in suburban Minneapolis would lose their current jobs as the electronics chain pares its work force, though most might get new positions with the company. The company hoped the displaced employees would fill 210 new jobs being posted by the retailer, for a net loss of 40 jobs.
Layoffs in USA
Transcontinental cuts 10% of work force
A clampdown on ad spending further jolted the media industry, as Montreal-based publisher and printer Transcontinental Inc. slashed 10% of its North American workforce.
The company said clients have cancelled printing and direct-mail projects, as well as planned advertising in magazines, in a bid to cut costs during the recession.
The company said clients have cancelled printing and direct-mail projects, as well as planned advertising in magazines, in a bid to cut costs during the recession.
Cost cutting, HP
HP to Cut Salaries of All Employees, Executives
Palo Alto, Calif. - Attempting to avoid massive layoffs in the face of the ongoing recession, Hewlett-Packard (HP) (NYSE: HPQ) has announced pay cuts for all of its employees.
CEO Mark Hurd will take a 20% cut, members of the executive council 15%, other executives 10% and all other employees 5%.
The company, which late Wednesday announced a 13% drop in quarterly earnings, also plans to implement changes in its 401(K) and share ownership plans.
"At a company-wide level, I don't believe a major workforce reduction is the best thing for HP at this time," Hurd wrote, in a memo to employees obtained by AllThingsD.
"But we do have to do something...because the numbers just don't add up and we need to have the flexibility to make the right long-term investments for HP."
Hurd said that if the company performs better than expected, the reductions potentially could be made up in bonuses.
CEO Mark Hurd will take a 20% cut, members of the executive council 15%, other executives 10% and all other employees 5%.
The company, which late Wednesday announced a 13% drop in quarterly earnings, also plans to implement changes in its 401(K) and share ownership plans.
"At a company-wide level, I don't believe a major workforce reduction is the best thing for HP at this time," Hurd wrote, in a memo to employees obtained by AllThingsD.
"But we do have to do something...because the numbers just don't add up and we need to have the flexibility to make the right long-term investments for HP."
Hurd said that if the company performs better than expected, the reductions potentially could be made up in bonuses.
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