Satyam Crisis: Satyam chief Raju resigns, admits Rs 7,000 cr fraud

Chairman of Satyam Computer Ramalinga Raju has resigned from the company’s board. In a shocking disclosure, he has revealed some financial irregularities in the company, including an inflated cash balance of Rs 5,040 crore.

In reaction to Raju’s revelations, the stock was hammered by investors and it is down over 60 per cent. 

Raju said that he feared takeover due to poor finance performance. Coming clean on financial irregularities, he said that the company had Rs 1,230 crore worth of understated liability as of September 30. 

Raju also revealed that he tried to fill fictitious assets with Maytas deal. 

He said that the company carries inflated cash balance of Rs 5,040 crore. He also reported of Rs 588 crore artificial cash in Satyam’s books.

Raju said that every attempt to eliminate the gap failed. On Raju’s disclosure, Sebi chief said the issue has serious implications and the regulator will take coordinated action. 

His decision was conveyed to the company’s board members. The company was supposed to hold a board meeting this Saturday.

More interesting news from Bloomberg.com

Layoffs in USA: Jan 6th update

Agilent Technologies confirms the reducing jobs and pay worldwideAgilent Technologies recently confirmed a restructuring program that will result in a reduction in about 800 positions worldwide and a temporary across-the-board pay reduction. But thanks to lessons from the technology bubble, the company is also saving more than 1,000 jobs through recession planning.

The California-based company approved the cost-cutting measures on Dec. 12. The plan calls for a reduction in 300 temporary positions and 500 "regular" positions as well as a pay reduction of 5 percent to 10 percent for its workforce worldwide.

Logitech to layoff 15 pct salaried staff Logitech International SA, a maker of mouse, webcams and other computer peripherals, said Monday it is cutting its salaried work force by 15 per cent in response to weak consumer demand amid what it expects to be an extended global downturn

Cigna To Cut 1,100 JobsCigna Corp will cut 1,100 jobs, or about 4% of its worldwide work force, and consolidate some locations to strengthen its competitive position amid the economic downturn.

McGraw-Hill Cuts 375 More Jobs McGraw-Hill Cos. said it cut an additional 375 jobs during the fourth quarter, primarily in its education business, putting the year's reduction at 1,045.

IBM and Microsoft layoff rumours still going on.

Laid off? Hyundai will take your car back

The automaker's new incentive program aims to reassure car buyers who are worried about losing their jobs.

Hyundai Motor America is taking aim at Americans' worries about job security: If you buy a new Hyundai and lose your job within a year, you can give it back.

Hyundai is offering the program because its own market research showed car shoppers weren't attracted by rebates and other more normal incentives, said Joel Ewanick, Hyundai America's vice president for marketing. People are simply too worried about making payments no matter how good the deal is.

To get the benefit, the vehicle buyer must have made at least two payments before filing for the benefit, and buyers are responsible for any payments due before filing.

Satyam Crisis[Update]: Promoters stake falls to 3.6%; No pink slips; 120 resigned

Promoters stake in Satyam falls to 3.6%:
The promoter holding in Satyam Computer Services today fell to 3.6 per cent after institutional lenders sold 24.52 million shares, the company said in a stock exchange filing.

Satyam's woes deepen, 120 employees resign:
Sources told that at least 120 of Satyam's employees from the lower and middle rung management have resigned after the Satyam-Maytas fiasco broke out and as many as 100 more, including the senior level management, are waiting to take a decision after the board meeting expected to take place on January 10.

The biggest uncertainty is apparently amongst the software development and BPO divisions.
However, when contacted Satyam said that 100’s a number, which is very diminutive and that such things happens very often, so aren’t indicative of recent events.

For a company with over 50,000 employees, such a number of more than 120 employees leaving may not sound very big.

But the job consulting firms say that in a bad market this number could be significant and that too because HR firms have received job enquiries from as many as 150-200 employees of Satyam, including some calls being made from the top management.

Evaluations over, no pink slips:
Satyam Satyam Computer Services has stopped issuing pink slips to its employees in a bid not to add to its problems following the aborted December 16 deal to acquire Maytas companies and the negative fallout.
“It seems the company has stopped this process for a while because of the current crisis,” a Satyam employee, on condition of anonymity, said.The company had reportedly continued to give pink slips to its associates, following what it called Performance Improvement Plan, during the first two weeks of December 2008.

When asked for comments, a Satyam spokesperson said there has been a freeze on the process. “But this is not because of the crisis the company is facing. The evaluation exercise for the year has been completed and hence the freeze. It is not related to the present situation,” she said.

Asked about the claim of some employees that the process was still on, she said the company gives the employees an opportunity to re-train under the PIP plan. “However, if they do not show adequateimprovement, they are moved out. This process can take between three and four months. What you have heard is probably related to this,” she said. The evaluation exercise generally happens in July-September every year.

Replying to a question on how many freshers had been given the appointment letters this year, she said the information would be known in the third quarter results.

Oracle India trims salaries with productivity based payments

Affects:
-All non-billable employees (those on the bench) in all centers in India
-Non-productive employees
-Employee travel costs
-Food and Snacks
-Salary cuts for Freshers

The world’s second-largest software products company Oracle is understood to have begun linking the payment of its 20,000-odd employees in India with the productive hours they spend in the company. This has resulted in salary cuts, ranging between 10 and 50 per cent across the board.

Company sources explain that if an employee is a billable resource for 15 days a month, he will be paid in full for that period while for the rest of the period, he is paid a “nominal” amount. Replying to an email query, a company spokesperson in India said: “Oracle does not comment on speculation or rumours.”

The company is also understood to have asked all non-billable employees (those on the bench) to get themselves engaged in internal projects, failing which they can explore opportunities outside the company. It is not, however, clear whether the company is asking the non-billable resources to work for outside companies as contract employees while still on Oracle’s rolls, or to use their non-productive hours to make money for themselves.

Initially implemented for the employees of Oracle Financial Services Software (formerly i-Flex Solutions), Oracle India has reportedly implemented this across all its centres in India.

Oracle India, however, has not communicated this decision to employees in writing. The team leaders and project managers in different centres have been informed about the decision orally.

“They are telling us that while many companies are aying off employees, Oracle does not want to take such extreme steps. They are saying that once things start improving, we will be back to all the usual compensation and allowances,” said a senior employee of Oracle India on condition of anonymity.

Second quarter results announced last month show that Oracle had been able to maintain its profitability despite nearly flat revenue growth. Oracle’s net income fell half a per cent to $1.27 billion in the second quarter and sales were up 5.5 per cent to $5.6 billion, lower than analyst estimates. Revenues from new software licences, which is an indicator of future sales, were down 3 per cent to $1.6 billion.

Following its acquisition of i-Flex, sources also note that there were plans to lay off all employees of that company, a decision that was scrapped following intervention of Oracle’s management. Oracle feared that the lay-off of all i-Flex employees might suggest the failure of the M&A — an area that has been mastered by the California-headquartered company over the years.

Sources added that Oracle India has cancelled employee travel costs and withdrawn free snacks and food. Despite news that the company has not stopped recruitments in India, freshers who were given offer letters for annual packages of Rs 2.4 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh earlier are now being asked to consider packages of Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 1.8 lakh.

Letter from Apple CEO Steve Jobs

January 5, 2009
Dear Apple Community,
For the first time in a decade, I’m getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.

Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed.
I’ve decided to share something very personal with the Apple community so that we can all relax and enjoy the show tomorrow.

As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my top priority.

Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause—a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.

The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment. But, just like I didn’t lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple’s CEO during my recovery.

I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now. I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple’s CEO. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.

So now I’ve said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this.
Steve