Monday, February 23, 2009

Web traffic in India grows by 50 per cent in 2008

India registered a 50-per cent growth in web site traffic, as the total subscriber base for broadband (net speeds exceeding 256 kbps) reached 5.45 million by the end of December 2008.

Net usage in India is expected to grow faster in the months ahead. The telecom ministry's figures reveal that in Januar 2009 alone, new broadband subscriber additions was 20 lakh, taking the total subscriber base to 5.65 million by the end of January 2009.

Rumor: Satyam plans to layoff 14,000; an email rattles Satyamites to no end

An unsigned e-mail doing the rounds since Friday is causing much apprehension among Satyamites. As per the mail circulated among the company's associates, the IT firm would soon be handing out pink slips to about 13,500 employees from across 50-60 domains in two phases over the next one month.

Though the authenticity of the mail could not be established by the staffers, it has become a matter of concern, especially for those on the bench. This is primarily because the mail includes information that is usually available only to senior HR and management officials. "The mail is rather elaborate and has data that only very senior employees have access to," said an associate. He added that such details regarding the number of domains and the headcount of employees working in each domain is available only on the 'Shine' database that can be accessed by just one group of very senior employees.

As per the mail some of the domains that would see maximum slashing of numbers are Microsoft that is expected to lose 900 associates, Java that would also lose close to 900 employees and Mainframe from where the company plans to fire 800 people. However, on receiving this mail when associates who are part on these domains approached senior managers and the HR department they were assured that the company was planning no such large-scale firing and that the content of the mails were absolutely bogus.

"The situation in the company is such that we really do not know who to believe and who not to believe. While we are trying hard to remain calm following assurances from our seniors we cannot ignore such mails," said another associate who has been serving the company for close to five years adding that "my friends and I have become more aggressive about our job hunt after reading this mail."

The air of distress and disturbance created by the mail has, however, not been able to affect some associates at all. Knowing well that it is rather difficult for them to land a job now keeping in mind the poor market condition, they are prepared to wait and watch. "Anyway we are sure that no management can send such a mail. So what is the point in panicking? Unless there is an official statement regarding this I don't think we should be bothered," said the employee.

Agreeing with possibility of the mail being bogus, one senior official of the company explained that with hundreds of people now leaving Satyam, there was no need for the company to fire people. "The firm still has enough work on its hands. And keeping in mind the number of people resigning from Satyam everyday, I don't see why the company would want to fire so many people. It doesn't make sense," he said.

HNTB Corp layoffs 6% of work force

HNTB Corp cut around 250 employess because of the weak economy. Sara Prem, HNTB’s public relations manager, said that the company laid off about 6 percent of its nearly 4,000 systemwide employees.

That equates to about 240 employees. Prem confirmed that the layoffs included Kansas City-area employees, but did not disclose how many.

JP Morgan Chase to close credit card service center, 700 jobs lost

JP Morgan Chase has confirmed it will close a credit card customer service center in Kennesaw by mid-2010, eliminating 730 jobs. The center was primarily being used for a credit card that Chase cobranded with Circuit City, the electronics firm that filed for bankruptcy in November and later said it planned to liquidate.

Chase said that employees at the Kennesaw center will be eligible to apply for jobs elsewhere in the company. The company didn't announce when the cuts would begin.

Vodafone Said to Plan Hundreds of Job Cuts at U.K. Division

Vodafone Group Plc, the world’s largest mobile-phone company, plans to cut hundreds of jobs in the U.K. to reduce costs and protect earnings amid the economic slowdown, two people with direct knowledge of the plan said.

The company aims to announce the measures tomorrow, said the people, who declined to be identified because the plans are confidential. The jobs will be eliminated at Vodafone’s U.K. operations, the people said, declining to give a precise number.

SAP buys Coghead to expand SaaS portfolio

Enterprise applications giant SAP has acquired Coghead, a company that enables developers to build cloud applications without code, for an undisclosed amount. But SAP will only use the new technology internally and has no plans to continue running Coghead solutions commercially.

SAP said it plans to use the acquired platform and people to drive its software-as-a-service (SaaS) development, a strategy that remains relatively underdeveloped by the firm. In terms of SaaS offerings for large businesses, SAP has only launched CRM on demand, although it talked last summer about developing on-demand components for integration with all its ERP software.