Microsoft Corp's Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell is to leave the company at the end of the year, indicating that he is looking for a bigger job at another company.
Liddell, 51, has been CFO at the world's largest software company since May 2005, after joining from paper and packaging maker International Paper Co, where he was also CFO.
The New Zealander, who has a masters degree in philosophy and does triathlons in his spare time, is now "looking at a number of opportunities that will expand his career beyond being a CFO," according to Microsoft.
Before coming to the United States, Liddell was CEO of New Zealand forest products company Carter Holt Harvey Ltd, and also worked as an investment banker.
He will be succeeded as Microsoft CFO by Peter Klein, who is currently CFO of Microsoft's Business Division, which makes the highly profitable Office suite of programs.
Microsoft shares fell 21 cents in after-hours trading to $29.74.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
HCL, new openings
HCL opens centre in Brazil
HCL Technologies said it has opened a global IT development centre in Sao Leopoldo, Brazil, to cater to clients across Latin America, North America and Europe.
The centre, which compliments HCL's operations in Sao Paulo, is expected to hire over 300 engineers by 2012, HCL Technologies said in a statement.
The centre will offer a range of services, including enterprise application services, custom applications development and maintenance, and remote infrastructure management to clients primarily in Latin America, North America and Europe, the statement said.
Brazil accounts for more than 40 per cent of the overall IT spending in Latin America. According to global market research and analytics company IDC, spending in IT services activities in Latin America will be more than USD 20 billion in 2009 and will grow to more than USD 25 billion in 2012.
"Brazil offers the perfect balance of cost savings and talent base that allows HCL to serve clients not only in this fast-growing region, but also in the US and Europe," HCL America President Shami Khorana said.
HCL's operation in Brazil is the first in a series of locations the company will establish in Latin America, he added.
The centre, which compliments HCL's operations in Sao Paulo, is expected to hire over 300 engineers by 2012, HCL Technologies said in a statement.
The centre will offer a range of services, including enterprise application services, custom applications development and maintenance, and remote infrastructure management to clients primarily in Latin America, North America and Europe, the statement said.
Brazil accounts for more than 40 per cent of the overall IT spending in Latin America. According to global market research and analytics company IDC, spending in IT services activities in Latin America will be more than USD 20 billion in 2009 and will grow to more than USD 25 billion in 2012.
"Brazil offers the perfect balance of cost savings and talent base that allows HCL to serve clients not only in this fast-growing region, but also in the US and Europe," HCL America President Shami Khorana said.
HCL's operation in Brazil is the first in a series of locations the company will establish in Latin America, he added.
H1-B, NRIs
Legislation to make H-1B hiring tough
There seems stricter H-1B restrictions are in the offing for IT firms. According to a report, two senators Bernie Sanders and Charles Grassley, have introduced legislation that would bar any company that lays off 50 or more workers from hiring guest workers.
The legislation could potentially affect a large number of technology firms that have laid off large numbers of workers but continue hiring, says the report in ComputerWorld.
The high-tech industry overall has laid off more than 345,000 workers since August 2008, according to the two senators. In a statement released last week, Grassley said "With the unemployment rate over 10%, companies that undertake mass layoffs shouldn't need to hire foreign guest workers when there are plenty of qualified Americans looking for jobs."
Earlier this year, the duo successfully got H-1B hiring restrictions added to the financial bailout bill. In February 2009, US Senate agreed to set restrictions on the hiring of H-1B workers by financial services firms that receive federal bailout funds.
The amendment passed though didn't include a blanket restriction on H-1B use, it did set a series of strict standards on H-1B hiring. Any company receiving TARP funds is automatically considered H-1B-dependent, regardless of the percentage of H-1B workers on its payroll.
The H-1B-dependent designation subjects employers to a number of requirements, including a good-faith effort to hire US workers first.
Source: IndiaTimes
The legislation could potentially affect a large number of technology firms that have laid off large numbers of workers but continue hiring, says the report in ComputerWorld.
The high-tech industry overall has laid off more than 345,000 workers since August 2008, according to the two senators. In a statement released last week, Grassley said "With the unemployment rate over 10%, companies that undertake mass layoffs shouldn't need to hire foreign guest workers when there are plenty of qualified Americans looking for jobs."
Earlier this year, the duo successfully got H-1B hiring restrictions added to the financial bailout bill. In February 2009, US Senate agreed to set restrictions on the hiring of H-1B workers by financial services firms that receive federal bailout funds.
The amendment passed though didn't include a blanket restriction on H-1B use, it did set a series of strict standards on H-1B hiring. Any company receiving TARP funds is automatically considered H-1B-dependent, regardless of the percentage of H-1B workers on its payroll.
The H-1B-dependent designation subjects employers to a number of requirements, including a good-faith effort to hire US workers first.
Source: IndiaTimes
IT market, new openings
Honeywell to open centre in India
US-based multinational company Honeywell plans to set up a new technology centre in India with an investment of $34 million.
"The centre will also include labs for process and applications development for other specialty materials technology areas, including fluorine products and nylon materials," the company said in a release.
The centre is expected to employ 100 people in five years, it added. Honeywell will invest $34 million in an existing property to develop the centre at Gurgaon.
"This centre will allow us to conduct development closer to our end customers, while at the same time tapping the recognised engineering talent of India," said Andreas Kramvis, president and chief executive of Honeywell Specialty Materials.
"The centre will also include labs for process and applications development for other specialty materials technology areas, including fluorine products and nylon materials," the company said in a release.
The centre is expected to employ 100 people in five years, it added. Honeywell will invest $34 million in an existing property to develop the centre at Gurgaon.
"This centre will allow us to conduct development closer to our end customers, while at the same time tapping the recognised engineering talent of India," said Andreas Kramvis, president and chief executive of Honeywell Specialty Materials.
IT market, New Deals, Satyam
TechM bags 5-year STel deal
New telecom entrant STel Ltd has awarded a five-year IT outsourcing contract to Tech Mahindra, at least two people familiar with the transaction told ET last week.
STel, which plans to compete with incumbent phone firms including Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications, had shortlisted Tech Mahindra and Wipro for outsourcing system integration, managed services. The contract also includes maintenance of the phone firm’s business and operational support systems.
A senior STel executive confirmed the transaction, but a Tech Mahindra spokesman declined to offer any specific comments. “This contract does not include any fixed investments by STel, and is based on ‘pay as you go’ model,” another person added.
Under this model, a service provider offers different services to a customer as and when required, and charges a fee based either on number of users or number of transactions completed. This model helps customers avoid high capital expenditure in setting up their own IT infrastructure.
Chennai-based STel plans to start rolling out GSM services pan-India during the fourth quarter of the current financial year.
The company has unified access services licences and spectrum to operate in six Indian states - Bihar, Orissa, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, North East and Assam. The telecom service providers in India opt to share passive infrastructure such as telecom towers and outsource non-core activities such as network and technology management, to reduce costs and roll out services faster, the second person said.
Recently, Tech Mahindra also bagged a Rs 2,000-crore deal for end-to-end outsourcing of IT applications and infrastructure from Etisalat DB Telecom, a joint venture between the UAE-based Etisalat and the Dynamix Balwas group. It also won a $500 million outsourcing contract from new telecom entrant Swan Telecom in August this year. STel had earlier applied for licences in all the 22 circles but was eventually granted a licence for only six circles.
Privately held STel is a joint venture between Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco) and the Siva group. Siva Group is a $3-billion group with diversified business interests in verticals such as wind energy, shipping and logistics and hospitality, while Bahrain’s Batelco is a diversified, integrated telecommunications operator with mobile, fixed and wireless broadband, datacom and fixed line services.
STel, which plans to compete with incumbent phone firms including Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications, had shortlisted Tech Mahindra and Wipro for outsourcing system integration, managed services. The contract also includes maintenance of the phone firm’s business and operational support systems.
A senior STel executive confirmed the transaction, but a Tech Mahindra spokesman declined to offer any specific comments. “This contract does not include any fixed investments by STel, and is based on ‘pay as you go’ model,” another person added.
Under this model, a service provider offers different services to a customer as and when required, and charges a fee based either on number of users or number of transactions completed. This model helps customers avoid high capital expenditure in setting up their own IT infrastructure.
Chennai-based STel plans to start rolling out GSM services pan-India during the fourth quarter of the current financial year.
The company has unified access services licences and spectrum to operate in six Indian states - Bihar, Orissa, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, North East and Assam. The telecom service providers in India opt to share passive infrastructure such as telecom towers and outsource non-core activities such as network and technology management, to reduce costs and roll out services faster, the second person said.
Recently, Tech Mahindra also bagged a Rs 2,000-crore deal for end-to-end outsourcing of IT applications and infrastructure from Etisalat DB Telecom, a joint venture between the UAE-based Etisalat and the Dynamix Balwas group. It also won a $500 million outsourcing contract from new telecom entrant Swan Telecom in August this year. STel had earlier applied for licences in all the 22 circles but was eventually granted a licence for only six circles.
Privately held STel is a joint venture between Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco) and the Siva group. Siva Group is a $3-billion group with diversified business interests in verticals such as wind energy, shipping and logistics and hospitality, while Bahrain’s Batelco is a diversified, integrated telecommunications operator with mobile, fixed and wireless broadband, datacom and fixed line services.
H1-B, IT market, NRIs
25,000 onsite H-1B inspections
US immigration officials are taking H-1B enforcement plan to conduct 25,000 on-site inspections of companies hiring foreign workers over this fiscal year, according to a report in ComputerWorld.
According to the report, the move marks a nearly five-fold increase in inspections over last fiscal year, when the agency conducted 5,191 site visits. The new federal fiscal year began Oct. 1.
Tougher enforcement comes in response to a US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) study (in October 2008), titled H1-B Benefit Fraud & Compliance Assessment, which found a 27% rate of fraud in the H1-B visa programme.
According to the study, there were a total of 51 cases from the sample of 246 H1-B petitions that were fraud or a technical violation of the regulations. The research primarily found two types of fraud, one, where there was 'willful misrepresentation, falsification, or omission of a material fact'; and two, where there was no willful fraud, but `there was evidence that the employer or alien beneficiary failed to comply with applicable laws and regulations.'
Some of the fraudulent activities included cases where either the business did not exist or the degrees and supporting documentation were found forged. In several cases, signatures too were found forged. USCIS study also found that 27 percent of the workers surveyed were being paid less than the prevailing wage for a particular job description and location.
According to US immigration authorities, over 11,000 H-1B visa slots are still vacant against the Congress-mandated cap of 65,000 for the fiscal 2010.
This is for the first time in several years that thousands of H-1B visas are still to be filled up. In previous years, the entire visa slots used to be grabbed on day one.
According to the report, the move marks a nearly five-fold increase in inspections over last fiscal year, when the agency conducted 5,191 site visits. The new federal fiscal year began Oct. 1.
Tougher enforcement comes in response to a US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) study (in October 2008), titled H1-B Benefit Fraud & Compliance Assessment, which found a 27% rate of fraud in the H1-B visa programme.
According to the study, there were a total of 51 cases from the sample of 246 H1-B petitions that were fraud or a technical violation of the regulations. The research primarily found two types of fraud, one, where there was 'willful misrepresentation, falsification, or omission of a material fact'; and two, where there was no willful fraud, but `there was evidence that the employer or alien beneficiary failed to comply with applicable laws and regulations.'
Some of the fraudulent activities included cases where either the business did not exist or the degrees and supporting documentation were found forged. In several cases, signatures too were found forged. USCIS study also found that 27 percent of the workers surveyed were being paid less than the prevailing wage for a particular job description and location.
According to US immigration authorities, over 11,000 H-1B visa slots are still vacant against the Congress-mandated cap of 65,000 for the fiscal 2010.
This is for the first time in several years that thousands of H-1B visas are still to be filled up. In previous years, the entire visa slots used to be grabbed on day one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)