Tuesday, March 13, 2012

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Lawmakers question sharp rise in denial of H1B, L1 visas

Voicing concern over increasing rates of denial of H-1B and L1 work visas, that are popular among Indian professionals, top US lawmakers and corporate bigwigs have questioned the Obama administration over the issue, warning this would hurt American business interests.

Officials at a Congressional hearing cited last year's figure of 26 per cent denial to H1B visa applicants, that was the highest in recent years, and also pointed out instances where the visas were denied for flimsy reasons.

Elton Gallegly, chair of the Immigration Policy and Enforcement Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, said figures obtained from US Citizenship and Immigration Services show a rise in denial in certain categories of visas between the years of 2008 and 2010.

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Ericsson lays off 22 execs in India; to transfer another 100 to sister units

The Indian arm of the world's largest telecoms gearmaker, Ericsson, is trimming and redeploying staff as it faces lukewarm operator spends in a fiercely competitive market.

Nearly 22 executives across categories have been fired on performance grounds and another 100 are likely to be transferred to sister organisations like Ericsson India Global Services, Ericsson Supply Site Jaipur, R&D centres and the regional technical centres (RTCs) to boost efficiencies, a top company executive aware of the development.

The Swedish vendor, which nearly doubled its India workforce last year to 12,000, is also undertaking a major "people competence" mapping exer-cise in the country to weed out non-performers.

AOL cutting 40 more jobs

AOL Inc (AOL) is firing as many as 40 people in the group that includes its AOL Instant Messenger service, while executives Eric van Miltenburg and Jason Shellen depart, three people with knowledge of the matter said.

David Tempkin, who now runs the mobile group, will become head of the consumer applications division, which includes mobile, AIM, e-mail and about.me, an online profile application, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the changes haven't been announced. He replaces van Miltenburg, they said. Shellen was head of AIM, the instant messaging service.

AOL, based in New York, has 5,660 employees and is trimming costs amid declining sales. AIM's staff cuts are related to the division's underperformance, the people said. AOL, led by Chief Executive Officer Tim Armstrong, could eliminate more staff in other departments, these people said.

Siemens CFO blasts NSN job cut plan

Siemens finance chief Joe Kaeser has blasted the way joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks was handling planned job cuts in Germany and called on it to hold talks with labor.

NSN, in which Nokia holds 50 per cent plus a "golden share", is run from Finland by Indian executive Rajeev Suri, who has called 3,000 job cuts in Germany unavoidable. NSN staff in Germany have reacted with outrage.

NSN is cutting 20,500 of its overall 74,000 jobs, and Kaeser acknowledged it had no choice but to consolidate. He said NSN's restructuring was not a matter of requiring more money because it already had enough capital and liquidity.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

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TCS pips Infy as the most valued IT company in India

Country's top software exporter TCS today toppled its main rival Infosys Technologies as the most valued IT company in the country.

Shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) rallied over 6 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange, taking its market capitalisation to Rs 1.62 lakh crore, higher by Rs 3,470 crore than Infosys' Rs 1.59 lakh crore valuation.

The Tata Group company TCS is now the fourth most valued company in the country. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries is the most valued firm with market valuation of Rs 3.47 lakh crore as of today, followed by state-run ONGC and NTPC in that order. Infosys is at the fifth place in the top group.

TCS's over 24 per cent rise in April-June quarter profit at Rs 1,906 crore saw it shares surging on BSE. The counter closed up by a whopping 6.16 per cent, the highest among Sensex stocks.

TCS looks to generous variable pay to keep staff

The country’s biggest software exporter, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which competes with rivals Infosys Technologies and Wipro for talent, will bank on a generous quarterly variable pay linked to the company’s performance to retain talent, a senior executive said.

TCS battles rising employee churn as demand for IT services revives, and unlike Infosys and Wipro, does not have the benefit of Esops as a tool to retain employees. “We have the variable option, which we pay out at the end of the quarter. Last year, in three quarters, we paid more than 100%. Two quarters (Q2 and Q3), we gave out 150% and in the fourth quarter we gave 125% of the variable.

In the first quarter of 2010-11, we have given 100%, which is the full variable. That is one kind of lever that we have which peers don’t,” Ajoy Mukherjee, global head, (HR), TCS, told ET.

The Tata group firm does not have an Esop policy and instead compensates senior executives with higher pay. Last month, Infosys issued five equity shares to every employee and one more share for every year in the company to its lakh-plus staff to ring in its 30th anniversary.