Honeywell has announced that its employees will have to take a mandatory 10 days off in the month of December-January without pay. Krishna Mikkilineni, President of Honeywell Technology Solutions, conveyed the decision at a public gathering in Bangalore recently, reports Economic Times.
On this matter, a Honeywell Spokesperson said, "Even as Honeywell continues to grow its businesses in India, our employees have agreed to participate in a voluntary and temporary reduced work schedule, in consonance with their colleagues elsewhere."
Honeywell, which makes products like aviation electronics, car turbochargers and temperature control systems for buildings, has been hit badly by the global recession in all of the key businesses it supports - aviation, auto and property. In the second quarter ended June 30, its profit plunged 38 percent and revenue dropped 22 percent.
In the quarterly report, the company said that it did not expect any recovery this year from the recession, as customers were expected to keep holding off on the purchase of Honeywell parts. Sales in the aerospace unit, which makes radar systems and other aviation equipment, dropped 17 percent, to $2.7 billion. The company said that many of its airline customers were choosing to use parts from their own idled planes for repairs rather than buying new parts from the company. One of the few growth areas is military sales, where Honeywell expects a three percent growth in sales. David M. Cote, Chief Executive, Honeywell said, "We are executing very well. Unfortunately, it is a very tough economic environment."
The company has taken a number of cost cutting measures. At least for some employees in the U.S., Friday is now a half-day without pay. In India, where it has 10,000 employees, benefits like cafeteria subsidies and vacation rewards at the end of five years of service with the company have been withdrawn.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
CTS, new openings
Cognizant opens techno-campus in Coimbatore
In continuing its effort to spread to multiple markets, Cognizant Technology Solutions is looking to tap emerging markets like India, Middle East, Australia, Japan and Latin America.
Speaking to reporters after the inauguration of its new campus here on Sunday, Cognizant president and MD, R Chandrasekaran said, the company is slowly planning to expand its operations.
"It has been our conscious effort to increase our presence globally. Three years ago, we set up a management team in Japan. Last year, we reached Australia and now we have planned a strong team for India. We also service MNC clients in Singapore and China," he added.
In the last fifteen years, the company has been mainly concentrating on US and Europe markets. "We have 78% exposure in US and 20% exposure in Europe markets. Now, it is time to increase revenue from other markets as well," Mr Chandrasekaran said.
He added that it was not because of recession that the company is looking beyond US and Europe markets, but even in good times, it was planning to leverage its presence across the globe. "It will be a natural progression and we will continue to invest in North America market also," he added.
The company is also looking to get more of domestic business. "We have 18 to 20 clients in India and there is huge opportunity," Mr Chandrasekaran said.
Speaking to reporters after the inauguration of its new campus here on Sunday, Cognizant president and MD, R Chandrasekaran said, the company is slowly planning to expand its operations.
"It has been our conscious effort to increase our presence globally. Three years ago, we set up a management team in Japan. Last year, we reached Australia and now we have planned a strong team for India. We also service MNC clients in Singapore and China," he added.
In the last fifteen years, the company has been mainly concentrating on US and Europe markets. "We have 78% exposure in US and 20% exposure in Europe markets. Now, it is time to increase revenue from other markets as well," Mr Chandrasekaran said.
He added that it was not because of recession that the company is looking beyond US and Europe markets, but even in good times, it was planning to leverage its presence across the globe. "It will be a natural progression and we will continue to invest in North America market also," he added.
The company is also looking to get more of domestic business. "We have 18 to 20 clients in India and there is huge opportunity," Mr Chandrasekaran said.
New Deals, Outsourcing, Satyam
TechM bags Etisalat contract
Gets a portion of Rs 1,500-crore IT outsourcing deal from the UAE firm
IT solutions provider Tech Mahindra is understood to have bagged a majority portion of the Rs 1,500-crore telecom IT outsourcing deal from new operator Etisalat DB Telecom India, pipping seven other IT vendors like Wipro Technologies and IBM to the post. The deal is expected to be announced soon.
The UAE-based telecom giant Etisalat holds a 45 per cent stake in Etisalat DB Telecom India (formerly Swan Telecom).
A Letter of Intent (LoI) regarding the contract has been awarded to Tech Mahindra, while the company is yet to respond to this.
When contacted, a senior executive at Tech Mahindra said: “We do not comment on market speculation.” Executives at Etisalat DB Telecom India and Wipro Technologies also declined to comment.
Tech Mahindra has been finalised for customer billing solutions, which comprises around 50-60 per cent of the total IT contract.
The technology part of the deal is yet to be finalised, for which IBM, Tech Mahindra, Wipro Technologies and Chinese vendor ZTE Corporation are in the race, a source close to the development told Business Standard.
According to a Mumbai-based analyst, Tech Mahindra winning the deal might not come as a surprise as Etisalat had earlier awarded an outsourcing contract to the solutions provider. Tech Mahindra, jointly with Sony Ericsson, had won Etisalat’s Egypt outsourcing contract in February last year.
Indian telecom providers have been increasingly outsourcing their IT infrastructure, as it would enable them to be asset-light and concentrate on their core competencies.
While the trend was started by Bharti-Airtel’s deal with IBM which has now risen to over $2 billion, most of the telecom players have opted for outsourcing.
Recently, Wipro won a Rs 2,500-crore deal from Unitech Wireless.
In January 2008, Aircel Cellular had awarded a $600-million deal to Wipro, while Aditya Birla group company Idea Cellular had signed a 10-year IT outsourcing deal with IBM. Idea Cellular’s deal was estimated to be around $600-800 million.
IT solutions provider Tech Mahindra is understood to have bagged a majority portion of the Rs 1,500-crore telecom IT outsourcing deal from new operator Etisalat DB Telecom India, pipping seven other IT vendors like Wipro Technologies and IBM to the post. The deal is expected to be announced soon.
The UAE-based telecom giant Etisalat holds a 45 per cent stake in Etisalat DB Telecom India (formerly Swan Telecom).
A Letter of Intent (LoI) regarding the contract has been awarded to Tech Mahindra, while the company is yet to respond to this.
When contacted, a senior executive at Tech Mahindra said: “We do not comment on market speculation.” Executives at Etisalat DB Telecom India and Wipro Technologies also declined to comment.
Tech Mahindra has been finalised for customer billing solutions, which comprises around 50-60 per cent of the total IT contract.
The technology part of the deal is yet to be finalised, for which IBM, Tech Mahindra, Wipro Technologies and Chinese vendor ZTE Corporation are in the race, a source close to the development told Business Standard.
According to a Mumbai-based analyst, Tech Mahindra winning the deal might not come as a surprise as Etisalat had earlier awarded an outsourcing contract to the solutions provider. Tech Mahindra, jointly with Sony Ericsson, had won Etisalat’s Egypt outsourcing contract in February last year.
Indian telecom providers have been increasingly outsourcing their IT infrastructure, as it would enable them to be asset-light and concentrate on their core competencies.
While the trend was started by Bharti-Airtel’s deal with IBM which has now risen to over $2 billion, most of the telecom players have opted for outsourcing.
Recently, Wipro won a Rs 2,500-crore deal from Unitech Wireless.
In January 2008, Aircel Cellular had awarded a $600-million deal to Wipro, while Aditya Birla group company Idea Cellular had signed a 10-year IT outsourcing deal with IBM. Idea Cellular’s deal was estimated to be around $600-800 million.
Nice guys get paid lesser: Study
It seems gentleness doesn’t pay, for a new study has revealed that nice guys are paid less than their aggressive counterparts.
A British team, led by Indian-origin researcher Alita Nandi at Essex University, has found a link between a person’s personality and salary — nice people are paid nearly £1,500 a year less than those who are more aggressive in the workplace, a UK tabloid said.
The researchers came to the conclusion after looking at nearly 3,000 men aged between 24 and 64 living and working in Britain. They grouped them into five personality types — depending on their openness to experience, conscientiousness, level of extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
The study found that those who were nice earned approximately six per cent less, which is nearly £1,500 a year.
The same pay deficit applied to people with a high degree of neuroticism. Extroverts and those open to experience were paid the best, earning nine per cent more — a difference of £2,163 a year. The pay differences, except for openness to experience, persist even after controlling for education, occupation, work experience, previous unemployment and training.
“While agreeableness is penalised in the labour market it may make a person more socially acceptable, increase their social networks and finally lead to better mental health and well-being,” Dr Nandi said.
A British team, led by Indian-origin researcher Alita Nandi at Essex University, has found a link between a person’s personality and salary — nice people are paid nearly £1,500 a year less than those who are more aggressive in the workplace, a UK tabloid said.
The researchers came to the conclusion after looking at nearly 3,000 men aged between 24 and 64 living and working in Britain. They grouped them into five personality types — depending on their openness to experience, conscientiousness, level of extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
The study found that those who were nice earned approximately six per cent less, which is nearly £1,500 a year.
The same pay deficit applied to people with a high degree of neuroticism. Extroverts and those open to experience were paid the best, earning nine per cent more — a difference of £2,163 a year. The pay differences, except for openness to experience, persist even after controlling for education, occupation, work experience, previous unemployment and training.
“While agreeableness is penalised in the labour market it may make a person more socially acceptable, increase their social networks and finally lead to better mental health and well-being,” Dr Nandi said.
Satyam
Another top Satyam executive quits
Top Mahindra Satyam executive Keshab Panda has put in his papers. Panda, who was jointly heading the all-important US operations for the company as well as its manufacturing & automotive group, announced his decision to the company management on Monday, a person close to the development told Financial Chronicle.
“Panda had expressed his desire to resign from his position some time ago. The leadership was trying to persuade him against this. But, finally he seems to have made up his mind,” the person said. “He would be joining another IT services company.”
The development comes as a blow to the Hyderabad-based company as the manufacturing and automotive group contributes almost $400 million to Mahindra Satyam’s top-line.
Panda was appointed to the position in February after company veteran Subu Subramanian quit in the aftermath of the revelation of the Rs 7,000-crore scam.
Panda took over as the head of the US operations after interim CEO Ram Mynampati stepped down. In a press statement, Mahindra Satyam confirmed Panda’s resignation. “Rakesh Soni, chief operating officer of Mahindra Satyam, will be leading the business development and delivery operations for the American market and for the manufacturing, commercial and services verticals,” the statement said.
The IT company has seen an exodus of senior executives over the last one month. Those who have quit include Nick Sharma, senior VP, infrastructure management services; Sriram Papani, head, enterprise architecture and Ravi Bommakanti, head of delivery.
“Panda had expressed his desire to resign from his position some time ago. The leadership was trying to persuade him against this. But, finally he seems to have made up his mind,” the person said. “He would be joining another IT services company.”
The development comes as a blow to the Hyderabad-based company as the manufacturing and automotive group contributes almost $400 million to Mahindra Satyam’s top-line.
Panda was appointed to the position in February after company veteran Subu Subramanian quit in the aftermath of the revelation of the Rs 7,000-crore scam.
Panda took over as the head of the US operations after interim CEO Ram Mynampati stepped down. In a press statement, Mahindra Satyam confirmed Panda’s resignation. “Rakesh Soni, chief operating officer of Mahindra Satyam, will be leading the business development and delivery operations for the American market and for the manufacturing, commercial and services verticals,” the statement said.
The IT company has seen an exodus of senior executives over the last one month. Those who have quit include Nick Sharma, senior VP, infrastructure management services; Sriram Papani, head, enterprise architecture and Ravi Bommakanti, head of delivery.
H1-B, NRIs
Immigration Service inspecting H-1B employers
Source:mb.com
The Immigration Service has recently begun investigating H-1B employers to identify fraudulent petitions. Employers are reporting privately contracted investigators arriving unannounced at worksites to investigate approved H-1B petitions.
These visits are deliberately unannounced and the investigators ask to speak with the human resource (HR) representative and H-1B worker. The employer rep and employee have little to no time to prepare the information needed. The element of surprise can also confuse the H-1B parties and result in inconsistent responses.
Investigators are asking the HR representative questions about the company such as the how many employees it has and how many are legal residents. Questioning then moves to the H-1B job duties, salary, work hours and start date. Sometimes the person interviewed is not as familiar with the job duties as, say for example the H-1B employee’s immediate supervisor. This can result in well-intentioned but harmful guessed answers. The H-1B employee is also individually questioned about duties and responsibilities, salary, work hours and period of employment. When one investigator was asked if the interview was based on a random selection process, the investigator stated that it was not random.
It is important that H-1B employers and employees be prepared for these unannounced visits. The designated HR representative should have a clear and thorough understanding of the H-1B worker’s duties and responsibilities. The HR rep should not guess any answers, but, have the information readily available, including the start date, work hours, and wages paid. These should be consistent with those listed on the petition, and if not, immediately brought to the attention of the company’s immigration attorney to advise on the corrective measures that need to be taken.
It was extremely revealing that these inspections are not random. From a previous release by the immigration service, we know that certain factors trigger referrals to the H-1B fraud unit. These are employers with gross annual income of less than $10 million, less than 25 employees, companies engaged in consulting or staffing showing no end-client/work description or itinerary, job location on the LCA differing from the place of employment, no website for IT companies, excessive blanks in the petition and for certain H-1B occupations. The suspect occupations are Accountants, Market Research Analysts, Business Analysts, Financial Analysts, Advertising Managers, Public Relations and Sales positions with what the Immigration Service calls “marginal companies”. A marginal company is defined by the Immigration Service as lacking the organizational complexity required to support the position on a full-time basis. Examples provided to adjudicators are liquor stores, dry cleaners, gas stations, residential care facilities, convenience stores, donut shops, fast food restaurants, dental offices, 99 cent stores and parking lots.
The Immigration Service has created a profile of what it deems to be a suspect H-1B petition. There are many legitimate H-1B petitions that fit squarely within the suspect profile. H-1B employers and employees in this position should understand that they can be subjected to additional scrutiny from the Immigration Service. Consequently, they should be properly prepared by thoroughly and accurately documenting the H-1B position. They should clearly understand the scope and terms of employment. Then, even if they receive a surprise visit from an investigator, they will be able to demonstrate the H-1B position is a legitimate and valid position.
The Immigration Service has recently begun investigating H-1B employers to identify fraudulent petitions. Employers are reporting privately contracted investigators arriving unannounced at worksites to investigate approved H-1B petitions.
These visits are deliberately unannounced and the investigators ask to speak with the human resource (HR) representative and H-1B worker. The employer rep and employee have little to no time to prepare the information needed. The element of surprise can also confuse the H-1B parties and result in inconsistent responses.
Investigators are asking the HR representative questions about the company such as the how many employees it has and how many are legal residents. Questioning then moves to the H-1B job duties, salary, work hours and start date. Sometimes the person interviewed is not as familiar with the job duties as, say for example the H-1B employee’s immediate supervisor. This can result in well-intentioned but harmful guessed answers. The H-1B employee is also individually questioned about duties and responsibilities, salary, work hours and period of employment. When one investigator was asked if the interview was based on a random selection process, the investigator stated that it was not random.
It is important that H-1B employers and employees be prepared for these unannounced visits. The designated HR representative should have a clear and thorough understanding of the H-1B worker’s duties and responsibilities. The HR rep should not guess any answers, but, have the information readily available, including the start date, work hours, and wages paid. These should be consistent with those listed on the petition, and if not, immediately brought to the attention of the company’s immigration attorney to advise on the corrective measures that need to be taken.
It was extremely revealing that these inspections are not random. From a previous release by the immigration service, we know that certain factors trigger referrals to the H-1B fraud unit. These are employers with gross annual income of less than $10 million, less than 25 employees, companies engaged in consulting or staffing showing no end-client/work description or itinerary, job location on the LCA differing from the place of employment, no website for IT companies, excessive blanks in the petition and for certain H-1B occupations. The suspect occupations are Accountants, Market Research Analysts, Business Analysts, Financial Analysts, Advertising Managers, Public Relations and Sales positions with what the Immigration Service calls “marginal companies”. A marginal company is defined by the Immigration Service as lacking the organizational complexity required to support the position on a full-time basis. Examples provided to adjudicators are liquor stores, dry cleaners, gas stations, residential care facilities, convenience stores, donut shops, fast food restaurants, dental offices, 99 cent stores and parking lots.
The Immigration Service has created a profile of what it deems to be a suspect H-1B petition. There are many legitimate H-1B petitions that fit squarely within the suspect profile. H-1B employers and employees in this position should understand that they can be subjected to additional scrutiny from the Immigration Service. Consequently, they should be properly prepared by thoroughly and accurately documenting the H-1B position. They should clearly understand the scope and terms of employment. Then, even if they receive a surprise visit from an investigator, they will be able to demonstrate the H-1B position is a legitimate and valid position.
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