Zynga to cut 30 jobs in India

Online gaming company Zynga is laying off at least 30 of its over 400 employees in India as part of a global restructuring. Globally, Zynga , creator of the once wildly popular FarmVille and City-Ville games, is laying off 520 employees, about 18% of its 3,000-strong workforce.

Zynga had not responded to a mail sent by TOI at the time of going to print, but company founder Mark Pincus's letter to employees said the layoff impact would be felt across every group in the company. The word in Zynga India is that at least 6% of the employees here would be impacted. Zynga's Bangalore centre, started in 2010, has rapidly expanded to become the company's second largest operation in the world, after its San Francisco centre. It started as a centre doing core R&D for the company. A year later started a studio that now manages multiple games, developing new content and creating new features for them.

On his first visit to India in April this year, Pincus had said India had been "a terrific investment and experience for us" . That experience and the lower costs may be the reason why the layoffs in India are limited, compared to the global cuts.

Wipro wins deal worth $500m from Citigroup

Wipro is said to have won a $500-million (Rs 2,900 crore) outsourcing contract from Citigroup. The win will come as a boost for the Bangalore-based company that has been going through a lean patch.

Wipro will provide application development and maintenance, and infrastructure services for Citi's global operations. The five-year engagement requires Wipro to set up an offshore delivery centre in Bangalore, said sources familiar with the development. When TOI contacted Wipro, the company said it does not comment on market speculation. Citi too declined to comment on what they call market speculation.

Citigroup had called for bids for a $1 billion IT contract. TCS, HCL, Infosys, Wipro and Cognizant were said to have put in bids along with IBM, Accenture, Dell and others for this contract. Citi already has large outsourcing deals going with TCS and Wipro. Wipro had acquired Citi Technology Services for $127 million in 2008. Wipro and Citibank had signed an agreement to take over the operations and management of Citi's data centre in Meerbusch, Germany, a suburb of Dusseldorf, in 2010. Wipro had intended to use the site to support other outsourcing clients too. The Meerbusch centre was Wipro's first data centre facility in Europe and enabled the company to offer a full portfolio of infrastructure management solutions to its global clients. TCS had won a $505 million outsourcing contract from Citigroup to handle their core back office processes and customer transactions in 2008.
Source: TimesOfIndia

H-1B visa: Silicon Valley intensifies lobbying on US immigration bill

Eager to secure more visas for skilled foreign workers, tech companies have stepped up their lobbying this week in support of a comprehensive US immigration reform bill.

Human resources executives from Adobe, Broadcom, Intel, Motorola Solutions and other corporations met with dozens of lawmakers and senior advisers on Wednesday from the congressional committees in charge of immigration laws. They also spoke to a wide array of Democratic and Republican senators including some on-the-fence Republicans, such as Mark Kirk of Illinois and Rob Portman of Ohio, and some who have voiced opposition, including Mike Lee of Utah.

Lawmakers who favor the bill "have been urging us to work with them to make sure that the bill gets passed with the highest number of votes possible," said Robert Hoffman, senior vice president with the Information Technology Industry Council trade group.
Source:EconomicTimes

Finding good job not easy for skilled migrants in Australia: Study

Securing a suitable employment can be a long, difficult and disappointing process for migrants coming to Australia, who often take up jobs that are low-paid and not commensurate to their skills, according to a new study led by an Indian-origin psychology professor.

At the time of being surveyed, over 50 per cent of the participants were unemployed, said the study by the University of Western Sydney (UWS).

While some participants (seven per cent) had secured jobs prior to their arrival, approximately 42 per cent reported spending between 1-6 months looking for jobs and others (23 per cent) reported spending 7-12 months or more than one year (26 per cent) job-searching.

The study report titled 'Apply Apply Negative Reply: Understanding Job-Seeking Experiences of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Job-Seekers in Australia' was led by Renu Narchal from the School of Social Sciences and Psychology.
Source: EconomicTimes

Cisco to open new centre in Israel

US technology giant Cisco plans to open a new research and development center in Israel, the company's CEO John Chambers said during his meeting with Israel's Minister of Finance Yair Lapid.

The new centre is expected to offer 100 jobs, to be added to about 2,000 employees already working at Cisco center in Israel, reported Xinhua.

Chambers on Tuesday said the new project, whose main focus is information security, would be based on knowledge accumulated at NDS, an Israeli hi-tech company acquired last year by Cisco for $5 billion.
Source: CIOL

TCS non-Indian employee number crosses 21,000

Tata Consultancy Services, India's largest IT services company has more that doubled the number of its non-Indian employees during the last three years.

According to the company, as on 31 March 2013, it had 21,282 non-Indians on its rolls belonging to 118 nationalities. This is an increase of about 20% over the previous years. In 2009-10, the company employed 9,536 foreign nationals.

The company said the highest number of its non-Indian employees are Britishers with a share of close to 19% followed by Americans at 15.4%. About 10% of its non-Indian employees are from China where TCS has a strong presence, the Mumbai-based company said in its annual report for 2012-13.

TCS also said that the company has improved the ratio of women in its total workforce to 32.40% at the end of FY13 as compared to 31.60% as on March 31, 2012. "Our progressive policies and customised programmes such as executive education programme for women in mid-management, interactive forums and women discussion circles address the aspirations and needs of our women employees," it added in the report.
Source: Business-Standard

Big data to create 4.4 mn jobs by 2015

Worldwide IT spending is forecast to surpass $3.7 trillion in 2013, a 3.8 per cent increase from 2012 projected spending of $3.6 trillion, but it is the outlook for big data that is creating much excitement, according to Gartner.

"By 2015, 4.4 million IT jobs globally will be created to support big data, generating 1.9 million IT jobs in the United States," said Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president, Gartner and global head of Research. "In addition, every big data-related role in the US will create employment for three people outside of IT, so over the next four years a total of 6 million jobs in the US will be generated by the information economy."

"But there is a challenge. There is not enough talent in the industry. Our public and private education systems are failing us. Therefore, only one-third of the IT jobs will be filled. Data experts will be a scarce, valuable commodity," Sondergaard said. "IT leaders will need immediate focus on how their organization develops and attracts the skills required. These jobs will be needed to grow your business. These jobs are the future of the new information economy."
Source: CIOL

27 percent Indian staff set to switch jobs

Globally, the number of workers taking flight is expected to reach 161.7 million in 2014 - a 12.9 per cent increase in people leaving compared to 2012, says a Hay Group study.

Over the next five years, 49 million more employees as compared to 2012 are going to leave their current employers and switch jobs, global management consultancy, Hay Group's new research, in association with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), has revealed.
As far as India is concerned, it finds itself in the eye of the storm, with a predicted employee turnover of 26.9 per cent (in the organized sector) in 2013 - the highest attrition rate globally.

The study, Preparing for Take-Off, covers 700 million employees in 19 countries worldwide and is based on a unique Hay Group macroeconomic model that analyzes the main factors affecting employee turnover across the globe, stated a release.

TCS, HCL among front-runners for Pepsi outsourcing contract

Contract, held by HP, up for renewal later this year; may be split and handed out to more than one service provider. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) and HCL Technologies Ltd are among the front-runners to win an outsourcing contract from PepsiCo Inc. valued at about $500 million (around Rs.2,925 crore today), according to two people familiar with the development.

The contract, held by Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP), will be up for renewal later this year. It is likely to be split and handed out to more than one service provider mostly for handling infrastructure management services, the two people said, requesting anonymity as they are not authorized to discuss these details.

Pepsi had signed the contract with HP, the world’s largest computer firm, in 2006 for a total value of $100 million for managing its information technology (IT) and data centre operations, according to outsourcing advisory firm Everest Group. Pepsi also has outsourcing agreements with International Business Machines Corp., or IBM, which runs the finance and administration processes of the soft drink maker’s Indian arm.
Source: LiveMint

Syntel Named in IAOP's 2013 Global Outsourcing 100

Syntel, Inc. (Nasdaq:SYNT), a global information technology services and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) company, today announced that it has been ranked in The 2013 Global Outsourcing 100® by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP). Syntel has moved up seven places over the 2012 rankings to #31.

Syntel was named to IAOP's annual list of the world's best outsourcing service providers for the seventh consecutive year and was included on several sub-lists that recognize providers for their specialization in particular industry and service segments. Source: GlobeNewsWire

TCS boss' salary to rise by half

CEO and MD N Chandrasekaran will now get a monthly salary of Rs 15,00,000 with effect from April 1, 2014. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest information technology services firm, has decided to revise the monthly salary of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director N Chandrasekaran by half to Rs 15 lakh. The revised salary will be applicable with effect from April 1 next year.

“Taking into consideration, the increased business activities of the company and the responsibilities cast on N Chandrasekaran, the Board has revised his maximum limit of salary from Rs 10,00,000 a month to Rs 15,00,000 a month, with effect from April 1, 2014,” the company said in its annual report for 2012-13. It also said the proportionate increase would also be applicable to the other benefits he was getting.

Tech Mahindra appoints Milind Kulkarni as CFO

IT services firm Tech Mahindra today appointed Milind Kulkarni as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) replacing Sonjoy Anand, who decided to pursue opportunities internationally.

The firm also announced the appointment of Manoj Bhat as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer.

Milind Kulkarni has been Senior Vice President, Finance till now and will take charge as the new CFO with immediate effect, the firm said in a BSE filing.

Wipro to hire 1,000 employees in Germany over the next three years

IT services major WiproBSE 0.00 % Ltd on Wednesday said it will triple its headcount in Germany by hiring over 1,000 people over the next three years with an aim to expand its operations in the key European nation. According to industry estimates Germany's IT market size stood at around $80 billion last year.

"Wipro plans to triple its employee strength in Germany over the next three years, by hiring over 1,000 professionals," the company said in a release.

At present, the Bangalore-headquartered firm has over 500 employees in Germany, which serve more than 30 clients. It has 145,000 employees across 98 countries as on March 31, 2013.

Source: Economic Times

A million engineers in India struggling to get placed

A million engineers in India struggling to get placed in an extremely challenging market. Somewhere between a fifth to a third of the million students graduating out of India's engineering colleges run the risk of being unemployed. Others will take jobs well below their technical qualifications in a market where there are few jobs for India's overflowing technical talent pool. Beset by a flood of institutes (offering a varying degree of education) and a shrinking market for their skills, India's engineers are struggling to subsist in an extremely challenging market.

According to multiple estimates, India trains around 1.5 million engineers, which is more than the US and China combined. However, two key industries hiring these engineers -- information technology and manufacturing -- are actually hiring fewer people than before.

For example, India's IT industry, a sponge for 50-75% of these engineers will hire 50,000 fewer people this year, according to Nasscom. Manufacturing, too, is facing a similar stasis, say HR consultants and skills evaluation firms. Source:Economic Times

IBM’s Layoffs Exceed 1,600 People

According to employee group Alliance@IBM, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America union, layoffs at IBM have more than exceeded the initial estimates of 1,600 positions. These include at least 222 people from areas like marketing and 165 in semiconductor research and development.

IBM – one of the world’s largest computer services providers – has initiated a global restructuring plan, laying-off nearly 2,800 employees in North America alone. And more cuts are expected in nations like India as the company intents on spending $1 billion globally to trim its workforce.

According to the official national IBM employee’s union, the total number of lay-offs in the US as of June 15, 2013 was 2,792. But some grimly project the number of workers cut could hit upwards of 8,000 – roughly two percent of the company’s workforce. Others speculate the number to be closer to 5,000.
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/761676/ibms-layoffs-exceed-1600-people/#psDrpTAoKK5YTIRI.99

Rupee fall to cushion wage hike impact

Infosys announced an average increase of 8% for employees in India, while those in other geographies will get an average 3% hike.

Two of the largest Indian information technology (IT) services companies, Infosys and Wipro, have announced annual wage increases this year, the quantum of which are more in line with the industry average. While Infosys said it would give an average rise of eight per cent to its employees in India, Wipro has announced an increment of six-eight per cent.

Infosys usually gives rises to its employees with effect from April every year. In FY13, the company deferred the decision citing tough global economic environment. However, it later revisited the decision and announced a wage hike in October. This year (FY14), though the company management had indicated to restructure the employee compensation with an aim of increasing the fixed component in the salary, it was non-committal on giving a rise.

Apart from India, employees located in other geographies, who were not given wage hike in February this year, will be covered in this cycle, Infosys said in a statement today. They would be given an increase of about three per cent in average. The increments will be effective July 1. However, for its global sales force, the changes will come into effect from May 1.
Source: Business-Standard

IBM lays off undisclosed number of workers

IBM has laid off an undisclosed number of workers this week as the company intensifies its focus on some of some of the technology industry's hottest markets.

The cutbacks are part of a reorganization that IBM Corp. executives disclosed in April during a conference call discussing the Armonk, New York, company's first-quarter earnings. IBM said it would spend $1 billion reshuffling the types of jobs it needs in its workforce this year, with most of the changes coming before the end of June. The company indicated most of the layoffs would occur outside the US. Read More at Huff post.

Salaries for fresh engineers in IT companies may fall in coming years

For years, fresh engineering graduates have had it good because demand from the IT industry was robust. That's changing. Salaries for fresh IT engineers will be under major pressure in the coming years.

"Fresher salaries of Rs 2.75 lakh to Rs 3.25 lakh will remain unchanged or be lowered over the next few years," wrote Kawaljeet Saluja and Rohit Chordia of brokerage firm Kotak Institutional Securities in a recent report.

The trend is changing because the number of students graduating in engineering has shot up in the past few years, and the demand has slowed. Estimates by IT industry body Nasscom show the number of engineers graduating each year has more than doubled to 8.13 lakh from 2007-08 to 2011-12. Read More

Infosys announces wage hike, Wipro follows suit

NR Narayana Murthy has made his first significant move upon returning to Infosys by effecting an unexpected round of wage increases for the company's 1.5 lakh employees. By doing so, analysts said, the Infosys chairman is trying to kill several birds with one stone, displaying tactical finesse that has earned him a reputation as one of India's canniest entrepreneurs.

On Thursday, less than a fortnight after Murthy came back to helm the company, Infosys announced an average increment of 8% for India employees, effective from July 1. For employees outside India, the company said the increments will be 3%, albeit with some riders. The biggest push was reserved for its global sales force which will get a raise of 8% effective May.

Wipro, which announced increments in July last year, also sent a note about an hour after the news from Infosys. It said it is giving an average increment of 6-8% for offshore employees and 2-3% for onsite employees, effective from June 2013. For high-performers, the raise will be in double digits. A Wipro spokeswoman said the emailed note was in response to media queries.

"There have been serious issues with employee motivation levels at Infosys. Wipro rolling out wage hikes on the same day shows that it wants to ensure the company doesn't lose employees to Infosys," said Pradeep Mukerji, president and managing partner at outsourcing advisory firm Avasant. Infosys's populist move — a certain vote-winner among staff — could raise morale, enhance Murthy's stock of goodwill and send out a message to all stakeholders and rivals that the Infosys co-founder is back and means business. "By announcing wage hikes, Infosys wants to calm down anxiety among its employees and stabilize things within the organization. It is a smart move; however, we do not expect more bold moves from Murthy," said Manish Bahl, country manager at Forrester Research. "He will be focused on getting things aligned, talking to clients and creating expertise on the product innovation side." Read more

Rebuilding a 'desirable' Infosys will take 36 months

Recalled to ride out the bad times for Infosys, its Chairman N R Narayana Murthy today said the task of rebuilding a "desirable" Infosys would take at least 36 months and there would be some tough decisions resulting in "pain." "The challenge is daunting and the task is tough," said Murthy in a candid address to shareholders at the 32nd Annual General Meeting here, two weeks after he was recalled and made Executive Chairman of Infosys which has reported poor earnings disappointing investors. He said "the task of rebuilding a desirable Infosys will take at least 36 months, even with a high quality team and full dedication of every Infoscion. In the process, there will be some tough decisions resulting in pain as we move forward." Read more..

Ericsson hires 4,000 employees in India

Ericsson, the world's largest mobile network equipment maker, has increased staff headcount of its global services unit in India, buoyed by a sharp surge in its managed services business.

The Swedish vendor has hired more than 4,000 techies at Ericsson India Global Services, accounting for nearly 90% of its India workforce expansion in calendar year 2011, executives aware of the development told ET.

Latest employment numbers shared by Ericsson reveal its India workforce climbed nearly 72% last year to 11,535 from 6,710 reported in December 2010.

Infosys, TCS, Sify bag Postal Department's technology projects

The Department of Post (DoP) has issued Letters of Intent (LoIs) to Infosys, TCS, Sify and Reliance Communications Infrastructure for different technology advancement projects.

"Department is trying to induct technology in a big way. There are eight RFPs (Request for Proposal) we have floated and issued Letter of Intent in five (projects) to companies which include Infosys, TCS, Sify and Reliance," Secretary (Posts) Manjula Parasher told reporters here.

The Department has got approval of Rs 1,877.2 crore to be spend across these projects over period of two years and will seek additional funds when the need arises.

Dell to acquire Wyse Tech for $1bn

Dell Inc, the world's third-largest maker of personal computers, paid about $1 billion to buy closely held Wyse Technology Inc, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Purchasing Wyse, which makes desktop devices for cloud computing, will boost earnings in the second half of fiscal 2013, Dell said today in a statement, which didn't disclose terms of the deal. David Frink, a spokesman for Round Rock, Texas-based Dell, declined to comment, as did Wyse's Tim Smith.

India shows concerns to US over rejection of H1B, L1 visas

India has complained to the US about an increase in the rate of rejection of US visas for Indian professionals that resulted in a sharp decline in the number of visas issued to Indians last year.

Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma took up the visa issue with US commerce secretary John Bryson in a bilateral meeting on Monday.

Call centre jobs: All you need to know

Information Technology (IT), the greatest change agent of the twentieth century, is changing the way we live, work, communicate, shop and study - practically everything we do.

IT is also changing the way we do business. Not only does it remove the barriers of distance and geography, but it also dramatically alters 'how' business is done.
Click here to read more.

Google beats Facebook in employee satisfaction after 4 years

Google appears to have stolen the title of 'the best place to work' from Facebook this year, according to a survey on employee satisfaction.

Career website Glassdoor, which conducted the survey, noted this year is particularly noteworthy given Google has lagged behind Facebook in employee satisfaction for the past four years.

But the two tech giants are neck and neck in terms of what employees think of their CEOs, with Google CEO Larry Page earning a 94% employee approval rating, just 2% higher than that of Mark Zuckerberg, the Huffington Post reported.

Facebook offers Rs 1.34 cr package to Allahabad engineering student

Social networking giant Facebook has hired an engineering student here for a fat annual pay package of Rs 1.34 crore, one of the biggest offers made to alumnus of any technical institution of the country.

According to P Chakravarti, Director of the Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT), a B.Tech student from the institute, who has requested that his name be withheld for "security reasons", received a letter on March 27 from Facebook confirming his appointment and the annual pay package on offer was stated to be USD 262,500 (around Rs 1.34 crore).

Interestingly, the MNNIT Director said the recruitment process began with a mail from Facebook "in October last year which was followed by nine rounds of telephonic interviews" before he was finally selected for the plush job which would require the student, who hails from Kanpur, to move to Menlo Park in California after finishing his software engineering course at the institute.

TCS to provide banking solution for Malaysia's AmBank

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) today said Malaysia-based financial services group AmBank has decided to deploy the banking solution of the Indian software major.

This integrated banking suite, spanning conventional and Islamic banking, will support both retail banking and lending functionalities, TCS said in a statement .

By deploying 'TCS BaNCS', AmBank will see its banking business expand into new areas, while enabling flexible development and the scalability to meet market and regulatory needs, it added.

Adobe Systems to scrap annual appraisals

About 10,000 employees at Adobe Systems, including 2,000 in India, have just completed what could probably be their last performance review. The global product services company plans to scrap the age-old practice of being pitted against colleagues and measured up by the bosses once a year.

"We plan to abolish the performance review format," says Donna Morris, senior VPHR at the company. Still in its blueprint, the plan is to have managers give regular feedback to their teams to ensure a quicker and continuous selfactualisation, rather than wait for the year-end.

Adobe took the plunge after it entered the digital marketing space, which required a completely different gamut of customer base and marketing strategies that called for an overhaul of HR processes as well.

Yahoo layoffs, possibly this month, could reach thousands, report says

Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson may be close to announcing a major reorganization and sizable layoffs at the Sunnyvale Internet company, which has been grappling with falling revenue, dissident investors and a changing Internet landscape.


Thompson's plans could lead to thousands of layoffs being announced in coming weeks, according to two news reports Monday that cited unnamed sources.

But analysts warn that cutbacks alone won't solve the company's problems.

"I wouldn't say there is fat to be cut. I would say there has to be a transformation of the company," said Ben Schachter, who follows Internet companies for Macquarie Equities Research. "They cannot continue to conduct business as they have for the last 10 years."

IT cos like Infosys, HCL Tech, Cognizant, Wipro pamper placement officers for best talent

Once reserved for market analysts and key clients, Indian information technology companies are now pampering college placement officers by taking them on domestic and foreign trips as they seek to hire the best talent from Indian campuses ahead of competition.

Over the years Cognizant has been taking placement officers to cities like Bangkok and Dubai while others have been holding their offsites within their campuses. Infosys has also joined the race this year, although with a modest start in domestic locations.

Indian IT firms depend on campus recruits for a bulk of their hiring every year, making job offers to thousands of students every year. In this financial year for instance, Infosys is hiring over 20,000 students from campus while TCS is hiring over 30,000.

Such events, some analysts say are part of efforts to get the best interview slots when hiring from colleges. Infosys, which insiders say lost out in the talent scramble because it failed to get the socalled "slot zero" has now started Samvaad 2012, where the Bangalore-based firm hosts placement officers in Mysore, Pune, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, and Chandigarh.

Some 310 placement heads from a similar number of engineering institutions across the country are being invited, according to a company spokesperson. Through the event, Infosys seeks to impart skills, including "negotiation skills" to help these placement officers in their current roles.

IT services co Tieto to cut 1,300 jobs

Finnish IT services group Tieto plans to cut 1,300 jobs, or 7 per cent of its staff, as it struggles to compete against global rivals like IBM .

The company's share rose 6 percent to the highest level in 13 months on the move, which Tieto said will cut annual costs by 50 million euros ($66 million).

The cuts will include 500 jobs in Finland, 300 in Sweden, and around 500 elsewhere, the company said.

Goldman Plans More Layoffs

According to Reuters, The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) is moving ahead with its cost cutting plan. To start with, the bank has sacked employees in its trading and investment banking divisions.

In 2011, Goldman reduced 2,400 positions, out of which 1800 layoffs took place in March 2011 as part of its annual review process. The recent announcement of job cuts also comes under Goldman's annual retrenchment of workers, who performed below expectations.

Mahindra Satyam, Tech Mahindra merge to create $2.4-billion company

The erstwhile Satyam Computer Services and Tech Mahindra announced details of their planned merger, saying the whole will be greater than the sum of their parts and positioning themselves as a player with the potential to challenge India's top-tier software companies.

The merger ratio, at 17 shares of Mahindra Satyam for two Tech Mahindra shares, was along expected lines, valuing the former Satyam at $1.8 billion (Rs 9,000 crore). CP Gurnani, the chief executive of Mahindra Satyam who oversaw the difficult transition of a fraud-hit firm to normalcy, will be the head of the combined entity, whose name has not yet been chosen. "It is a marriage made in heaven," Gurnani said on Wednesday about the merger, which becomes effective from April 2011.

Tata Communications to hire 1,200 new staff, may raise debt

Tata Communications will recruit an extra 1,200 staff over the next 12 months in its outsourcing, sales and engineering divisions as it tries to turn around nearly three years of losses, the firm's CEO said on Wednesday.

The operator will also consider upping its debt if the potential returns justify it, Vinod Kumar, Tata Communications chief executive, told Reuters. Kumar declined to comment on the prospects of Tata buying Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW).

Tata said in a regulatory filing on March 1 its plans for an all-cash bid for CWW were "at a very preliminary stage", adding it would decide on whether to make an offer by March 29.

Wipro Technologies eyes $3.5-billion services deals

Information technology services provider Wipro Technologies is pursuing contracts worth around $3.5 billion, senior management of the company told investors during a recent road show in Europe.

The Bangalore-based company is pursuing 15 $100-million deals and another 40 deals worth at least $50 million each.

Selective disclosure to groups of investors is seen a pro-active effort by firm, which underwent a management restructuring almost a year ago, to instill confidence among the investors community.

Mahindra Satyam acquires vCustomer BPO for $27 million

Mahindra Satyam, on Friday acquired Delhi based BPO firm vCustomer's International operations for $27 million. This is the first 100% acquisition by Mahindra Satyam since it became part of Mahindra Group.

The acquisition marks the entry of Mahindra Satyam's BPO operations into other verticals such as Retail and Consumer Technology in addition to enhancing its technical support business.

Offshoring to India will end in 8-10 years: Report

Offshoring of jobs to India will begin to decline starting 2014, and will reach the end of its lifecycle in eight years, according to US-based strategic advisory and research firm The Hackett Group released at the Nasscom Global In-House Centers ( GIC) Conclave being held here.

According to The Hackett Group, the traditional model of US and European companies moving finance, IT, and other business services jobs offshore will reach the end of its lifecycle over the next 8-10 years, and US and European companies will simply run out of jobs which can be moved offshore to locations like India.

The Hackett Group's offshoring research, examined 4,700 companies with annual revenue over $1 billion and headquartered in the US and Europe. It found that by 2016, a total of 2.3 million jobs in finance, IT, procurement and HR will have moved offshore. Click here to read more.

Dell chalks out new BPO offerings, takes on Indian outsourcing firms

In a bleak environment where unemployment and sensitivity around offshoring are hurting the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, IT giant Dell is readying an ambitious foray that will pit it against Indian outsourcing rivals in some of the largest back-office processes outsourced to third-party providers.

Once known for desktops and laptops and its direct selling business model, Dell has been beefing up its services portfolio by adding offerings since diversifying into software services by acquiring Perot Systems.

Ashutosh Vaidya, who joined Dell from Wipro to head its third-party BPO services nine months back, is adding final touches for the launch of four new backoffice services -- finance and accounting, procurement, customer interaction services and analytics -- slated for next quarter. Click here to read more.

iGate Patni plans to hire 1,500 for product engineering business

Technology firm iGATE Patni expects nearly 25 per cent of its overall revenue to come from the product engineering services (PES) business in 2-3 years.

"We expect almost 25 per cent of our total revenues to come from the PES business in 2-3 years. Currently, about 15 per cent of the revenues accrue from PES business," said iGate Patni Executive Vice-President and Head of PES Satish Joshi.

PES business provides end-to-end product development and product life cycle management -- right from research and evaluation, electronic and engineering design, up to sustenance and maintenance. The business caters to sectors such as auto, industrial automation and control, consumer electronics, mobiles and semiconductor.

Snapdeal to hire 500 people in 6 months; keen on acquisitions

eCommerce major Snapdeal plans to increase its headcount over the next six months by adding 500 people.

Snapdeal, which claims to have over 15 million users, employs about 1,000 people at present.

"We have seen 80-90 per cent growth in traffic month-on-month over the last three quarters. We have been gradually increasing the pace of hiring and over the next six months, we will add about 500 people," Snapdeal Chief Executive Director Kunal Behl said.

The addition would be done in the areas of engineering and analytics, he added.

Layoffs hit again at Connexion Technologies

Connexion Technologies has laid off 232 workers – more than half its staff – in its second round of layoffs this year.


The layoffs by the company, which builds and manages telecommunication networks for residential communities, included the elimination of 106 employees in North Carolina, mostly at its Cary headquarters.

Connexion was founded in 2002 by former Cary Mayor Glen Lang, who remains CEO. The company had 455 workers before this week’s layoffs.

Does Cloud Really Matter for Your IT Job?

The job market is already warmed by the news about emerging job openings with cloud computing. Recently published Microsoft Corp. commissioned research from IDC analyst firm points out that cloud computing is to create over 14 million new jobs globally. New findings report that business that shifts to cloud can invest more time and money in innovation and job creation. While half of all new cloud-related jobs are centered in China and India, IT job hunters are seen relaxed despite of the Tech job cuts are happening in another side.

Though employment bright lining in cloud computing, a study by CSC, the IT Service Provider, indicates that 14 percent of companies reduced their IT staff after setting up cloud strategy. By embracing cloud computing, enterprises may need different types of IT professionals who are asked to manage vendor relationships, to work across departments and to help clients and workers integrate into the cloud.

The survey also found 20 percent of surveyed companies have actually increased their IT staff. It shows instead of a wholesale cut off or hiring, it depends how the enterprise works with cloud computing while cloud is meant only for a shift of responsibilities.

India job market prospects to improve in next quarter: Survey

The job market outlook in the second quarter of 2012 has improved in most countries, with prospects being the best in India, according to a survey by staffing services firm ManpowerGroup. A survey of 4,992 Indian employers showed that most plan to increase headcount in the April-June quarter this year.

India's seasonally adjusted net employment outlook for the second quarter stood at 44%, one percentage up from the previous quarter. Net employment outlook is the difference in percentage of employers who anticipate increase in employment at their location in the next quarter and those who expect a decrease.

It was 46% for the same quarter last year. The two sectors in India that may offer new opportunities are services (59%) and finance insurance and real estate (51%). While outlook in the services sector has improved by 9 points over the previous quarter, and 10 points over the year-ago period that of the finance insurance and real estate sector has improved by 6 points over the previous quarter.

Wipro eyeing deals worth $3.5bn

Information technology services provider Wipro Technologies is pursuing contracts worth around $3.5 billion, senior management of the company told investors during a recent road show in Europe.

The Bangalore-based company is pursuing 15 $100-million deals and another 40 deals worth at least $50 million each.

Selective disclosure to groups of investors is seen a pro-active effort by firm, which underwent a management restructuring almost a year ago, to instill confidence among the investors community.

Cognizant rewards employees with 200% variable payout

CHENNAI: After growing faster than Indian information technology (IT) industry, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp has now rewarded its employees by giving out as much as 200% of the variable components of their 2011 salaries.

Typically, anywhere from 20 to 30% of an employee salary is labeled as variable pay, linked to a combination of overall company performance and individual performance.

"The company has done the repeat of 2010 in rewarding its top performers. The top performers got around 200% of their target bonus while the average bonus given was 150%. The bonuses were on expected lines as the company has been scoring good quarter on quarter," said a Cognizant employee in Chennai on condition of anonymity.

"Yes, Cognizant has announced performance-linked bonus payout for all its associates, globally," said Shankar Srinivasan, Chief People Officer, Cognizant. "Our industry leading revenue growth in calendar 2011 has enabled us to pay performance bonuses well above target."

Cognizant's bonus comes at a time when industry lobby Nasscom has projected tepid revenue growth for software exporters. Last month, Nasscom forecasted 11-14% growth for India IT-BPO Industry during fiscal 2013, lesser than the 16.7% growth that the sector saw this in the just concluding fiscal.

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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.