Dell's net income dips 48 pct; may cut jobs

IT giant Dell reported an 48 per cent decline in net income and said it could cut jobs in the Asia-Pacific region as its plans to save USD four billion to tide over the economic slowdown.

Without specifying the quantum of job cuts and the geography, Dell President (Small and Medium Business) Steve Felice said in a teleconference, "The job cuts were minor in South Asia as this region has a professional talented pool and going ahead though I can't comment on the exact number, I anticipate it to be minimal."

Asked if the company was looking at cutting workforce at its Bangalore facility, Felice said, "I cant comment on the specifics. The Bangalore facility has the second largest population (headcount) globally."

The US-based firm's net income dipped 48 per cent to USD 351 million for the quarter ended January 31, 2009, against USD 679 million in the same period last year.

The company's revenue stood at USD 13.42 billion in the quarter ended January 31, 2009 as against USD 15.98 billion during the same period a year ago, a decline of 16 per cent.

For the fiscal ended January, Dell's revenue stood at USD 61.10 billion, down from USD 61.13 billion a year ago.

With the IT industry facing turbulent times globally, Dell has also raised its fiscal 2011 cost-reduction goal to USD four billion from USD three billion.

Syntel expected to lay off 1,500 people in India(chennai and pune centres)

Sytnel, a mid segment IT and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) firm that caters to the banking, financial servcies and insurance (BFSI), healthcare, retail and automotive sector is expected to lay off around 1,500 people from the firm's Chennai and Pune centres.

These employees constitute as much as 15% of the company's employee strength of 10,500 in India, say sources close to the development. Globally, Syntel has around 12,300 employees.

When contacted, Shrikanth Karra, global HR head, Syntel, said that there were no major layoffs this year and things were routine.

He says, "Every year we lay off poor performers during March -April. These are about 5-7% of our total employee strength and the number was around 600 people last year. We haven't laid off such a huge number this year but just 50 people that were scanned as poor performers." Karra also added the firm has transferred around 300 people from IT services to KPO as the bench strength had grown and the company wanted to reduce these numbers.

"We have transferred around 300 trainees to KPO because we have had a huge bench with us. We wanted to reduce the bench and as well provide cross training with domain skills to these employees." He adds, that the company will continue to evaluate non-performers and that they are expecting to reduce the employee count by another 50 people under the process.

However, exigencies from the business side are expected to force the management to take this step. Already, the new project order flow has plateaued, despite there being encouraging enquiries.

Karra says, says that its US clients are coming back and the firm is experiencing similar number of enquiries as it was last year. "Like the entire industry, we too are seeing an increase in adoption of off-shoring. However, decisions are being delayed by at least a few months."

Currently, banking and financial services contribute as much as 56% of the company's revenue while insurance contributes around 19%, healthcare 14% and automotive 4%.

Karra reiterates saying, "We don't project on how many number of employees we may add during the year but we would just look at the 'just in time' hiring way."

Hence, with the project order flow slowing down, the management is expected to look at downsizing the staff strength, say sources.

Currenlty, Syntel hasaround 4,500 employees in Mumbai, 2,500 in Chennai, 3,500 in Pune and its US based office has 1,500 employees.

Stats:
-Syntel has around 12,300 employees globally
-Transferred around 300 people from IT services to KPO
-Banking, financial services contribute 56% of company's revenue
-Insurance contributes around 19%
-Healthcare 14% while automotive contributes 4%

Laid-off Spansion employees outraged over execs' pay increases

Earlier this week, as 3,000 employees of Spansion, the Sunnyvale semiconductor company, were being laid off, many of their bosses were getting pay increases.

That juxtaposition — against the backdrop of the deteriorating economy and nationwide anger about greedy executives — has triggered outrage among the workers who have been let go.

Scores of the laid-off workers jammed a West San Jose pizza parlor Thursday to join two class-action lawsuits against the firm and to vent their anger. Click here for complete story.

Software Paradigms Infotech plans to hire 200 people

Even as the world is wailing about the deepening recession and the resultant job cuts, Mysore based Software Paradigms Infotech (SPI) is planning to open a new IT Development and BPO center in Mangalore and employ up to 200 resources in the field of IT and ITeS during the first year of operation. An IT and BPO player, SPI will be setting foot in Mangalore by starting operations in the incubation center provided by STPI.

Limited Brands layoffs 400

Lower-than-expected holiday sales have led Limited Brands to lay off 400 workers, 230 of them at its Columbus headquarters. Of the 400 jobs, 230 are in Columbus and 90 are in New York, said spokeswoman Tammy Roberts Myers. She declined to spell out where the rest of the workers are employed. The layoffs are effective March 7, but do not include any hourly store or hourly distribution workers, she said. Severance packages were offered based on time employed with the company and include health coverage during the severance period, as well as outplacement services, Myers said.

Sub-Zero to lay off up to 350 workers

Slow sales are forcing Sub-Zero Freezer/Wolf Appliance to lay off up to 350 workers on or after May 1. The company builds high-end refrigerators, freezers and cooking appliances. In January, 79 workers were laid off at the Wolf Appliance Division in Madison.

Dave Goodspeed, representing Local 565 of the Sheet Metal Workers Union, confirmed the layoff report. He said the union would be working to help retrain the soon to be laid off workers and assist them in obtaining unemployment benefits.