Microsoft Occupies Top Spot as India’s Most Attractive Employer Brand

Randstad Employer Brand Research 2020

* Employees seek work-life balance, attractive salary & benefits and job security

* 69% of the survey respondents indicated that they stayed with their employer in the past year and 81% agree that non-monetary benefits are equally important when choosing an employer

Microsoft India, the technology giant emerged as India’s most ‘attractive employer brand’, reveals the findings of Randstad Employer Brand Research (REBR) 2020 - the most comprehensive, independent and in-depth employer brand research in the world. Microsoft India scored high on financial health, strong reputation and utilization of the latest technologies – the top 3 EVP drivers for the organization, as per the survey. Samsung India emerged as the runner up, followed by Amazon India.

The annual employer brand research, based on perceptions of the general audience (students, employed and unemployed workforce) has been conducted by Randstad, the global leader in the HR services industry. REBR has been providing valuable insights to help employers shape their employer brand for over 20 successful years globally and it is the 10th edition in India this year.

The Randstad Employer Brand Research, covering 75% of the global economy with 33 participating countries and more than 1,85,000 respondents worldwide, clearly revealed that in 2020, work-life balance (43%) emerges as the top EVP driver for the Indian workforce while choosing an employer, followed by attractive salary and employee benefits (41%) and job security (40%). These are also the areas where there is a significant gap between what employees want and what they think employers offer in India.

This year, it is interesting to note that there are no gender differences in the top two EVP drivers. Both male and female respondents attributed equal importance to work-life balance (43%) and attractive salary and employee benefits (41%) as key factors while choosing an employer. However, more men (40%) considered job security as a key factor while choosing an employer than women (39%).

A higher percentage of male respondents (36%) also accorded more importance to career progression opportunities compared to their female (33%) counterparts.

Presenting the REBR 2020 survey insights, Paul Dupuis, MD & CEO Randstad India said, “This is the 10th edition of REBR in India and 20th edition globally. For the last 10 years, our research has been consistently adding value to India’s HR community, by bringing out remarkable insights on workforce sentiments and allowing them to evaluate their employer brand. Employer branding is an evolving journey based on newer and deeper insights that unravel with time, so organizations must make this a strategic business agenda”.

“I believe that effective employer branding is a function of an organization’s purpose. If the company has clear visibility of its true north, a great culture and can define and articulate why they exist, while making real connections, the process of creating a ‘meaningful employer brand’ that resonates with their audience will become easier. This process has become increasingly important since the onset of COVID19 – when the job market is undergoing a paradigm shift and the need for organizations to transform their employer branding proposition to make it more ‘humane’ in the new world of work becomes even more critical”, he added.

Top 10 most attractive employer brands in India for 2020:

1.         Microsoft

2.         Samsung

3.         Amazon

4.         Infosys Technologies

5.         Mercedes-Benz

6.         Sony

7.         IBM

8.         Dell Technologies Ltd

9.         ITC Group

10.       Tata Consultancy Services

Other key findings from the Randstad Employer Brand Research 2020

What do potential employees want by generational profile:

38% of Gen Z’s (18-24 years) are looking for good training opportunities from their employer, while 34% of the Millennials (25-34 years) are attracted to forward-thinking and tech-savvy organizations and deem the use of latest technologies as a very important attribute. 46% of Gen X’s (35-54 years) find good work-life balance a very important pull-factor towards an employer, whereas 32% of the Boomers (55-64 years) find a convenient location as the key factor.

Switchers, Stayers and Intenders In Focus:

69% of the survey respondents mentioned that they stayed with their employer in the past year and 43% mentioned that they plan to change their employer within the next year.  Work-life balance emerged as the top factor for stayers (45%) while 71% of switchers and intenders mentioned that they changed their employer or plan to do so shortly because of a lower salary compared to elsewhere. 35% of the survey respondents who left their previous employer received a salary increase between 1% and 10%. 81% of the respondents find non-monetary benefits like company phone/car, childcare services and support, flexible working hours etc. important.

The top 5 most attractive benefits for the Indian workforce are healthcare (85%), flexible working hours (84%), the possibility of working from home (83%), internal training and subsidized higher education like short-term courses, certifications etc. (80%) and group life insurance (79%).

Top 4 sectors in India by awareness and attractiveness:

The survey also highlights that the Indian workforce prefers to work for companies operating in sectors like IT, ITeS & Telecom, Automotive, followed by FMCG, Retail & E-commerce and BFSI.

upGrad Filling Up Senior Leadership Roles Amid COVID-19, Plans to Double Employee Base

While most companies have gone on a hiring freeze or rationalizing their human resources, growing sectors like edtech are on a hiring spree.  upGrad, India’s largest online higher education company in its most recent development onboarded Rohit Dhar as the new President - Products, this July. Rohit, who had co-founded Brainybatch Internet, India’s first lending platform focused on making education affordable by providing short-term, has over 13 years of experience in managing products for leading companies like OLX, Flipkart, e-Bay, PayPal, and StubHub. He will be leading the entire Product, Data Science, Analytics, and Design teams at upGrad.

Prior to him, the company onboarded Puneet Tanwar as President - Technology who will be leading the Technology vertical at upGrad. Puneet has accumulated over 20 years of experience in software development and joins upGrad from 1E, a UK-based software product company where he was Head of Engineering, India. Prior to this, he has held leadership positions in Engineering in firms such as Diebold Nixdorf, Microsoft and Electronic Arts.

In June upGrad also appointed Deepak H. Singhka, who started his career at Mahindra & Mahindra and went on to work at BYJU’S. There, he was responsible for initiating the ‘Field Sales’ across multiple cities in India, along with ‘Inside Sales’ in the Bengaluru office. His notable contribution includes helping the edtech set up their e-commerce channel with Amazon and Flipkart. As the Vice President - Business, Deepak will help steer the entire business towards growth and manage as well as improve upon success rate for working professionals, the college, and the academy business.

Talking about the recent hiring’s, Mayank Kumar, Co-Founder & MD, upGrad said “COVID-19 is an opportune time for the edtech sector and our strategy is to make the most of the opportunity and double-up our workforce. Leadership hiring plays an integral role in this, it is the right time to invest in senior talent which will help us to get ready for the new normal of workplace and learner dynamics. With our newly assembled team, we look forward to creating an impactful talent pool within the organisation that will help us drive new businesses and provide learners with the best edtech products.”

On April 1st, upGrad had onboarded their CEO – India, Arjun Mohan, who was erstwhile serving as the Chief Business Officer (CBO) at BYJU’S. The company is geared towards doubling up its workforce to 2000 by the end of this fiscal. The hiring will happen across all spectrum between fresher’s as well as lateral hiring. On the employee front, upGrad has announced salary reversal on the first day of this quarter owing to the positive business growth in past months and have declared work from home until the end of this year, in order to end the growing apprehensions amidst its workforce.

About upGrad:

upGrad is India’s largest online higher education company. Founded in early 2015, upGrad has onboarded over 30K paid learners and impacted more than half a million individuals globally, within a short span of 5 years.

upGrad provides online programs in the areas of Data Science, Technology, Management and Law to college students, working professionals and enterprises. These programs are designed and delivered in collaboration with top-notch universities like IIT Madras, IIIT Bangalore, MICA, NMIMS Global Access, Jindal Global Law School, Duke CE, Deakin University, Liverpool John Moores University and others.

With an 80% program completion rate, robust tech platform, outcome-based learning approach, industry-relevant curriculum, finest university credentials, strong mentorship, and steadfast placement support, upGrad has established its position as the leader in the Indian education system.

IIIT Bangalore and upGrad's PG Diploma in Data Science is India’s first-ever PG Diploma to be recommended and validated by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM). The program is India's largest Data Science program with over 10,000 alumni & learner-base, which now provides learners with certification from NASSCOM FutureSkills, thereby making the program aligned to Government approved National Occupational Standards (NOS) to facilitate the upskilling of India’s IT workforce and make them abreast of the new-age skills. Through this first-of-its-kind collaboration, upGrad joins NASSCOM’s mission to make India a hub for innovation and a global hotspot for a skilled talent pool.

upGrad has been awarded the title of ‘Best Tech for Education’ by IAMAI in 2019. upGrad received the ‘Best Education Brands’ award by Economic Times in 2018, Most Innovative Companies in India' by Fast Company in 2017 and has made it to LinkedIn’s ‘Top 25 Startups’ two years in a row in 2018 and 2019.

63% of HR Managers are Hiring Amid COVID-19 Tension, Most Recruiting for Niche Job Roles Solely: TimesJobs Survey

Survey

* In the TimesJobs survey, 16% of respondents said that their top leaders are seeking ways to collaborate with competitors to ensure business growth

* A majority (42%) of HR managers stated that they are using talent assessment platforms to evaluate candidates 

* Around 21% of HR managers claimed that they conducted hiring audits to ensure they were recruiting a diverse set of talent 

With 63% HR managers at India Inc. buoyed about hiring amid the COVID-19 lockdown, this quarantine period may not be as gloomy as it seems. 

In a recent TimesJobs survey, a majority (63%) of HR managers said that their company had been hiring amid the COVID-19 crisis time. Out of these, nearly 65% of respondents stated that they were hiring for niche positions only. 

TimesJobs survey titled ‘The Indian workplace response to COVID-19’ gathered responses from 1,145+ HR managers working across different industries. The important takeaways from this survey include:

1. Diversity topped the hiring agenda: A majority (61%) of HR managers asserted that hiring diverse talent was their top priority even when compared to other factors as Learning & Development.

2. Leadership response was proactive: Around 34% of respondents said their executive management was working proactively to ensure business survival amid the crisis.

3. Employee well-being gained the centre stage: More than 34% of respondents stated that restructured the employee health initiatives in sync with the public health advisory. 

4. The virtual workplace is here to stay: Nearly, 49% of respondents claimed that companies were investing in preparing for virtual work-ready modules, followed by compulsory upskilling activities.

Explaining the findings of the TimesJobs survey, Sanjay Goyal, Business Head, TimesJobs and TechGig said, “The last few months have been a roller-coaster ride. However, on the brighter side, it forced companies to adopt virtual operations more seriously. The survey also pointed that most companies were hiring for the niche roles only, and in my sense, these are the organisations which are virtual-ready, and have restructured/are restructuring their products and processes for customers and employees via technology.”

Other notable insights from this survey were - 

‘Business survival’ crucial for top leadership:

Around 34% of professionals stated that their top management was working aggressively to find new solutions for business survival. Nearly, 24% of respondents said that their top brass was working on building a strong and transparent communication network within the organisation to smoothen the processes. While 16% of respondents asserted that their leaders were seeking ways to collaborate with competitors for business growth. 

Companies investing in assessment tools to evaluate skills: 

TimesJobs survey asked how the hiring managers were assessing candidates in the present lockdown. Around 42% of respondents stated that their company used assessment platforms to evaluate skills on candidates, this hints that companies are becoming more cautious of who they bring on board. 

Corporates held hiring audits to uphold D&I agenda while hiring amid COVID-19:

Around 24% of HR managers said that they wrote neutral job posting to encourage diverse hiring during the COVID-19 lockdown. About 21% of professionals said that their company conducted a hiring audit to ensure the Diversity & Inclusion mandate was fulfilled. While 16% of respondents said that they were writing job posting using a tech-based tool to ensure they were hiring a diverse talent pool. 

Will Satyam lay off 8,000 non-IT staff from June?

Satyam Computer is likely to sack most of its non-billable staff of up to 8,000 working in marketing, HR and administration wings,after Tech Mahindra takes charge of the company from June 1.

A Satyam official said there is no doubt that there will be large-scale sacking mostly of the support and non-billable staff (other than hardcore software engineers) once Tech Mahindra (the new owner of the company) directors come on board from June 1.

The surplus staff is about 10,000-12,000 and the 'least painful' ways of sacking is asking the bench, non-billable and support staff to go.

The company spokesperson, when contacted, said that at the moment these are mere speculations.

Sources also said the outsourcer may opt for "virtual pool" sacking method whereby the company would ask some of the staff to take 75 per cent of its salary and take one-year off and look for a job elsewhere with the fragile assurance that they would be recalled, if required.

Tech Mahindra CEO Vineet Nayyar, who will also come on board of Satyam from June after it acquired fraud hit company last month, had said last week that Satyam has about 10,000 surplus staff and "we are looking at the least painful ways to tackle the problem."

Satyam has already called back most of its onsite staff to avoid further costs and most of them may be asked to quit, said the official.

About 3,000 people are on the bench and there is a surplus manpower even in the R&D and engineering units, sources said.

Dwindling revenues are the primary reasons for Tech Mahindra to opt for such a cost-cutting measure, Tech Mahindra official said.

Kiran Karnik, chairman of Government-appointed board of Satyam, said revenues are falling and cost-cutting measures have to be taken up. But he had ruled out lay-offs.

Agencies

Dell-Acer is attractive merger, feel analyst

The personal computer industry may be ripe for a wave of consolidation, with a marriage of Dell Inc and Acer Inc seen as a particularly smart deal, according to an influential Wall Street analyst.

"Among the 10 top PC vendors, we believe that a Dell/Acer combination makes the most sense," Sanford C. Bernstein & Co analyst Toni Sacconaghi said in a client note on Friday.

If Dell were to buy Acer for a 20 percent premium, or about $5.7 billion, it would boost Dell's annual revenue growth sharply and add 12 cents a share to annual profit, he said.

The PC industry is commoditized and remains fragmented. Consolidating could help companies score better pricing from component vendors and contract manufacturers, as well as cost savings in areas such as human resources, he said.

"We view PC vendors as analogous to retailers, where our research suggests that the largest and operationally most efficient have garnered outsized profits relative to their peers," Sacconaghi wrote in his report.

Acer has a strong share of the portable computer market outside the United States, which would provide Dell with exposure to faster growth markets, he added.

Sacconaghi said buying Acer might also be beneficial to top PC maker Hewlett-Packard Co, but not as much as it would to Dell.

"While an HP-Acer combination might provide similar scale and synergy benefits, end market complementarity would not be as high," he said.

According to research firm Gartner, Dell and Acer were in a virtual tie for second place in the first quarter in market share in the United States.

Agencies

Is LPOs set to ramp up headcount in India?

The global slowdown is keeping the legal process outsourcing (LPO) sector in India extra busy these days. With the sudden surge in business in the LPO space in the last one year, firms such as Pangea3, UnitedLex and Legal Circle are looking at ramping up headcount in the entry and mid-management levels over the next few months.

The turmoil in the financial services sector globally is driving more legal outsourcing to India both in the corporate and litigation space. Gurgaon-based UnitedLex’s vice-president HR, Rakhi Sharma, said, “We plan to hire 700 professionals in the next few months to keep pace with the work coming from the US and the UK.”

The firm has seen a significant jump in the number of outsourced projects over the last few months both in the corporate and litigation space. Bankruptcy filings in the US have gone up in the last couple of months raising demand for lawyers in India.

“Legal work related to bankruptcies in the global market has increased ,” said Pangea 3 Vice President Legal Services Antony Alex, adding that the law firm is set to recruit around 500 lawyers by the end of 2009. This includes campus placements across several law schools in the country.

Legal Circle, the LPO subsidiary of Delhi-based law firm Fox Mandal Little, too, is gearing up to ramp up headcount to take advantage of the booming time. “The demand for LPOs is on the rise and we have seen increased number of queries from the US to do litigation support from India,” said Fox Mandal Little managing partner Som Mandal.

According to research firm ValueNotes, the entire legal outsourcing industry in India reported revenues of $225 million in 2007, and is expected to generate revenues of around $640 million by the end of 2010. The sector reported a rise of over 200 per cent in revenues in the last 12 months.

Times of India

TCS may go slow on lateral hiring

The country's largest software company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), plans to go slow on lateral hiring. According to a report in a leading business daily, faced with the current tough business environment, TCS will be focusing more on trainees.

The company, however, is not planning any freeze on salary hike, though it said that the next year's salary hike would be in single digit per cent range.

TCS has been very controlled about the numbers that we take from here. The focus is on trainees as from cost management perspective this will balance out, said, Ajoy Mukherjee, VP and head, global HR, TCS, in the report.

TCS which reported net additions of 8,692 employees in third quarter, the highest in any of the last five quarters, however, assured that it will honour its commitment on hiring 24,800 people during financial year 2009-10.

Mukherjee added that while I am not saying that we will not hire experienced people, but it will be based more on domain expertise and business need. Besides, for off-campus recruitment, which we did in the fourth quarter to fill on gaps due to attrition, is also clearly ruled out this year. The other focus area also is shift from onsite to offshore.

Further, despite troubles in the US economy, TCS reported a robust 32 percent Y-o-Y growth in business in the region with 320 bps improvement in operating margin at 33.4 per cent in the just ended third quarter. Growth in the European market was lower at 23.4 per cent and came on 180 bps lower margin of 29.2 per cent.

TCS, however, reported lower utilisation rate including trainees during the OND quarter. The company's utilisation rate fell from 74.7 percent in the last quarter to 71. per cent.

Agencies