One may boast of being employed in IT in the current scene, however they have to work twice as much for getting an interview and the annual salary is peanuts compared to earlier days. A worsening economic crisis, increased availability of skilled workers and lower demand for software services have brought down the entry-level salaries for IT professionals in the country by up to 20 percent, according to experts tracking the sector.
Every year, around 3,00,000 computer science and engineering graduates seek employment with hundreds of tech firms, including big names such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro. This year, more than half of them were left unemployed because tech firms were already finding it tough to manage resources sitting on the bench, according to Economic Times.
"The entry-level salaries are down by at least 10-16 percent. Last year, a number of companies gave away offer letters but did not recruit. On top of that, there is a new pool of qualified professionals being churned out this year - all this has created an oversupply in the entry-level IT job market where salaries typically sway between Rs. 3 lakh per annum and Rs. 5 lakh on the higher side," said GC Jayaprakash, Principal Consultant of Stanton Chase International.
Until two years ago, almost all computer and engineering graduates were absorbed by India's outsourcing industry, comprising top tech firms such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro and many others. However, as customers delayed and shelved outsourcing projects, these tech firms also postponed campus hirings. Many students had to approach potential employers directly, since companies did not visit their campuses for placements. "We formed groups and toured companies, and agreed to settle at lower salaries because it's better to be employed at lower salary than having no job at all," said Srilekha Varma, who recently accepted a job offer from a Chennai-based IT firm specializing in banking software.
In a normal year, computer science graduates were offered entry-level salaries of Rs. 3.5-5 lakh. However, companies are now hiring freshers at Rs 1.7-3.5 lakh. However, human resources heads at tech firms, including Wipro, India's third-largest software exporter, say professionals have become more realistic about what they want from their employers. "I don't think salaries have come down, but the environment has indeed helped us in containing salary hikes," Pratik Kumar, Head of Human Resources at Wipro said.
But few companies have not forgotten the offers made. TCS said it would do new campus hiring in January 2010 and will honor all 24,000 offers made for financial year (FY09). "Around 1,800 graduates have joined us in second quarter (Q2) and another 8,000 will join in Q3, rest of the graduates will join based on the demand," a TCS spokeswoman said. Infosys said for FY10, it has made 20,000 campus offers and expects an 80 percent conversion rate i.e. 16,000 of these offers to join the company. "We are honoring all our hiring commitments," an Infosys spokeswoman said.
Agencies
Showing posts with label hiring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hiring. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Indian IT firms see return of hiring, salary hikes
Many were predicting six months back that the Indian IT industry would be entering its twilight zone, but now there are indications that these predictions may go wrong. Several IT companies have restarted hiring and are giving salary hikes to their employees.
"That phase of drastic downturn is behind us," says S Ramadorai, CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). "There's stability now. The deal pipeline is encouraging, but the time it takes to close a deal remains long. And many customers are yet to fully open up their IT budgets," Ramadorai added.
While IT majors like TCS, Wipro and Cognizant have started promotions and salary hikes, Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO and Managing Director of Infosys feels that things are looking better now, however the company prefers to wait and watch before giving any promotions or hikes, reports The Economic Times.
The recovery of the defamed Satyam Computer Services under the new owner Mahindra Satyam has also proved to be a boon for nearly 28,000 employees across all levels, with the restoration of the variable pay. The variable component is 10 percent at the entry level, 20 percent at the middle level and 30 percent at the senior management level. IT bellwether Wipro has lifted its freeze on hikes and promotions, at least for some employees.
Manpower supply company TeamLease, which saw its open positions drop significantly from 10,000 a month to 800 post-recession, has in the past couple of months seen those numbers rise to 3,500.
With the current trend companies have also started showing more confidence in the Indian market. Information infrastructure company, EMC has announced that it will invest $1.5 billion in India over the next five years, a level of investment from a single company that the sector has not seen in close to two years. Partha Iyengar, Regional Research Director in Gartner India, says the number of calls the company gets from customers for directions and consulting has gone up sharply in the last 3-4 months.
The Indian IT industry was one of the worst hit by the recession on account of its dependence on international markets - especially the U.S. and European markets. The freeze on IT budgets by companies around the world meant that new orders dried up. Industry association Nasscom initially forecast that IT exports would grow by 22-24 percent in 2008-09, but as the recession deepened, this was revised down to 16 percent. For this fiscal, the association has projected a 4-7 percent growth to $48-50 billion.
Agencies
"That phase of drastic downturn is behind us," says S Ramadorai, CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). "There's stability now. The deal pipeline is encouraging, but the time it takes to close a deal remains long. And many customers are yet to fully open up their IT budgets," Ramadorai added.
While IT majors like TCS, Wipro and Cognizant have started promotions and salary hikes, Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO and Managing Director of Infosys feels that things are looking better now, however the company prefers to wait and watch before giving any promotions or hikes, reports The Economic Times.
The recovery of the defamed Satyam Computer Services under the new owner Mahindra Satyam has also proved to be a boon for nearly 28,000 employees across all levels, with the restoration of the variable pay. The variable component is 10 percent at the entry level, 20 percent at the middle level and 30 percent at the senior management level. IT bellwether Wipro has lifted its freeze on hikes and promotions, at least for some employees.
Manpower supply company TeamLease, which saw its open positions drop significantly from 10,000 a month to 800 post-recession, has in the past couple of months seen those numbers rise to 3,500.
With the current trend companies have also started showing more confidence in the Indian market. Information infrastructure company, EMC has announced that it will invest $1.5 billion in India over the next five years, a level of investment from a single company that the sector has not seen in close to two years. Partha Iyengar, Regional Research Director in Gartner India, says the number of calls the company gets from customers for directions and consulting has gone up sharply in the last 3-4 months.
The Indian IT industry was one of the worst hit by the recession on account of its dependence on international markets - especially the U.S. and European markets. The freeze on IT budgets by companies around the world meant that new orders dried up. Industry association Nasscom initially forecast that IT exports would grow by 22-24 percent in 2008-09, but as the recession deepened, this was revised down to 16 percent. For this fiscal, the association has projected a 4-7 percent growth to $48-50 billion.
Agencies
Monday, May 18, 2009
Will restricting of H-1B hurt US economy?
Asserting that "handcuffing" employers from hiring talented workers will hurt the US economy, two experts have criticised proposals
to limit hiring of holders of H-1B visas coveted by Indian technocrats as "misguided."
"In order to grow the American economy and support the American workforce, Congress should expand and improve the H-1B visa programme," said James Sherk and Diem Nguyen.
As adding regulations to the H-1B programme would be a serious setback to US visa policy and would only end up hurting the US economy, the Congress should instead raise the cap from the current 65,000 to the 2001 quota of 195,000 visas a year, they said.
Sherk is a fellow in labour policy and Nguyen is a research assistant for foreign policy studies at The Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank.
Referring to reports that two senators, Republican Chuck Grassley and Democrat Dick Durbin plan to introduce a bill that would limit the ability of companies to hire H-1B employees, the experts said an argument that H-1B visa recipients are a threat to American workers is "misguided."
"Given the current economic climate, handcuffing employers from hiring talented workers will hurt-not help-the economy, further delaying the ability of businesses to restart the national economic engine," Sherk and Nguyen said.
Many believe H-1B workers merely compete with Americans looking for work, the duo said. But "They are wrong. The US workforce is not a 'zero-sum game’, " they said.
"One hired H-1B worker does not mean an American is out of a job. In fact, the National Foundation for American Policy found that employers hired four new American workers for each new H-1B employee they hire."
Additionally, hiring H-1B employees does not lower the wages of American workers. Current law requires that when employers apply for H-1B visas
, they must attest that they will pay the visa recipient the same wage they would pay an American with similar skill sets.
Rather than limiting the ability of employers to hire H-1B workers by adding more rules and restrictions, Congress should ensure the federal government exercises appropriate oversight in enforcing current laws, Sherk and Nguyen said.
Preventing companies from hiring foreign workers harms the US economy's ability to rapidly adapt to marketplace demands, they said suggesting, "Companies must be able to hire persons best suited to fill positions based on their skill sets-not their nationality."
Agencies
to limit hiring of holders of H-1B visas coveted by Indian technocrats as "misguided."
"In order to grow the American economy and support the American workforce, Congress should expand and improve the H-1B visa programme," said James Sherk and Diem Nguyen.
As adding regulations to the H-1B programme would be a serious setback to US visa policy and would only end up hurting the US economy, the Congress should instead raise the cap from the current 65,000 to the 2001 quota of 195,000 visas a year, they said.
Sherk is a fellow in labour policy and Nguyen is a research assistant for foreign policy studies at The Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank.
Referring to reports that two senators, Republican Chuck Grassley and Democrat Dick Durbin plan to introduce a bill that would limit the ability of companies to hire H-1B employees, the experts said an argument that H-1B visa recipients are a threat to American workers is "misguided."
"Given the current economic climate, handcuffing employers from hiring talented workers will hurt-not help-the economy, further delaying the ability of businesses to restart the national economic engine," Sherk and Nguyen said.
Many believe H-1B workers merely compete with Americans looking for work, the duo said. But "They are wrong. The US workforce is not a 'zero-sum game’, " they said.
"One hired H-1B worker does not mean an American is out of a job. In fact, the National Foundation for American Policy found that employers hired four new American workers for each new H-1B employee they hire."
Additionally, hiring H-1B employees does not lower the wages of American workers. Current law requires that when employers apply for H-1B visas
, they must attest that they will pay the visa recipient the same wage they would pay an American with similar skill sets.
Rather than limiting the ability of employers to hire H-1B workers by adding more rules and restrictions, Congress should ensure the federal government exercises appropriate oversight in enforcing current laws, Sherk and Nguyen said.
Preventing companies from hiring foreign workers harms the US economy's ability to rapidly adapt to marketplace demands, they said suggesting, "Companies must be able to hire persons best suited to fill positions based on their skill sets-not their nationality."
Agencies
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Is Yahoo on a hiring spree in India?
Internet major Yahoo is hiring for hundreds of job openings including nearly 150 vacancies in India, even as the company is set to bring down its global workforce by about 675 employees. "We are currently hiring for key positions and will continue to invest in strategically important areas," a Yahoo spokesperson based in the U.S. said.
Last week, while announcing its first quarter results on April 21, Yahoo had said that it would slash five percent of its global workforce of 13,500 employees. While the spokesperson did not elaborate on country-specific hiring plans, the career section of the internet major's website shows that Yahoo is looking for about 150 positions in India alone.
The openings are for its operations in Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi, while most of them are for Bangalore. The India openings are for various departments including engineering, customer care, research and product management, among others. Further, the internet major has over 120 job vacancies for different offices in the US, the website shows.
The firm is resorting to job cuts in the wake of slackening advertisement revenues and a 78 percent drop in first quarter profit at $118 million. However, it is not clear whether India operations comprising of about 1,500 employees would be affected by the job cuts. The spokesperson noted that the majority of impacted employees are expected to be notified within the next two weeks.
Last October, Yahoo had announced that it would reduce its headcount by as much as 10 percent. "The goal is to reduce its current annualized cost run rate of approximately $3.9 billion by more than $400 million before the end of 2008," the Internet major had said in October.
Agencies
Last week, while announcing its first quarter results on April 21, Yahoo had said that it would slash five percent of its global workforce of 13,500 employees. While the spokesperson did not elaborate on country-specific hiring plans, the career section of the internet major's website shows that Yahoo is looking for about 150 positions in India alone.
The openings are for its operations in Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi, while most of them are for Bangalore. The India openings are for various departments including engineering, customer care, research and product management, among others. Further, the internet major has over 120 job vacancies for different offices in the US, the website shows.
The firm is resorting to job cuts in the wake of slackening advertisement revenues and a 78 percent drop in first quarter profit at $118 million. However, it is not clear whether India operations comprising of about 1,500 employees would be affected by the job cuts. The spokesperson noted that the majority of impacted employees are expected to be notified within the next two weeks.
Last October, Yahoo had announced that it would reduce its headcount by as much as 10 percent. "The goal is to reduce its current annualized cost run rate of approximately $3.9 billion by more than $400 million before the end of 2008," the Internet major had said in October.
Agencies
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Infosys to hire 20,000 engineering graduates at over 8% higher salary
India’s second-largest software company Infosys will be inducting almost 20,000 engineering graduates this year at over 8.3 % higher salary from what was offered last year, even as the company seeks to cope with a lower demand for software services in its top export markets such as the US and Europe.
At a time when other industry rivals such as TCS, Wipro and HCL Technologies are deferring the
joining dates for new hires, Infosys is holding on to its commitment and that too at better salary levels than last year.
“We have increased the pay package from Rs 3 lakh per annum to over Rs 3.25 lakh per annum for those joining in June this year,” Nandita Gurjar, senior vice-president and global human resources head, Infosys, told ET in an interview. “The idea is to get the best talent even during this slowdown, to provide better training and prepare them for the projects,” she added.
Experts such as Prashant Srivastava, managing partner of Gallup Consulting, said that top tech firms want to retain their edge as preferred employers in the industry. “Proactive companies are preparing and hiring high performers for the future, as they don’t want to run after talent once economy revives in few years,” he said.
The offer letters and dates of joining have been sent to 20,000 freshers (2008-09), and the process of joining will start from June this year. Last year, Infosys recruited almost 18,000 (2007-08) engineering graduates.
The company has also increased the training period for new recruits from the current four months to almost eight months. “It gives them better understanding of a project because the predictability of what kind of work you will get is much lower than what it was last year,” said Ms Gurjar. Infosys visits some 1,100 engineering colleges every year.
At a time when the US government is mulling stricter work permit regulations, Indian tech firms such as Infosys will need to deliver more projects from India. “We have been preparing from past three years to reduce our dependency on H1B visa, which is hiring more and more locals in all the countries, where we work,” said Ms Gurjar.
Agencies
At a time when other industry rivals such as TCS, Wipro and HCL Technologies are deferring the
joining dates for new hires, Infosys is holding on to its commitment and that too at better salary levels than last year.
“We have increased the pay package from Rs 3 lakh per annum to over Rs 3.25 lakh per annum for those joining in June this year,” Nandita Gurjar, senior vice-president and global human resources head, Infosys, told ET in an interview. “The idea is to get the best talent even during this slowdown, to provide better training and prepare them for the projects,” she added.
Experts such as Prashant Srivastava, managing partner of Gallup Consulting, said that top tech firms want to retain their edge as preferred employers in the industry. “Proactive companies are preparing and hiring high performers for the future, as they don’t want to run after talent once economy revives in few years,” he said.
The offer letters and dates of joining have been sent to 20,000 freshers (2008-09), and the process of joining will start from June this year. Last year, Infosys recruited almost 18,000 (2007-08) engineering graduates.
The company has also increased the training period for new recruits from the current four months to almost eight months. “It gives them better understanding of a project because the predictability of what kind of work you will get is much lower than what it was last year,” said Ms Gurjar. Infosys visits some 1,100 engineering colleges every year.
At a time when the US government is mulling stricter work permit regulations, Indian tech firms such as Infosys will need to deliver more projects from India. “We have been preparing from past three years to reduce our dependency on H1B visa, which is hiring more and more locals in all the countries, where we work,” said Ms Gurjar.
Agencies
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Indians to experience low salary hikes likely in 2009
Anticipating a decline in its business performance in 2009, India Inc is likely to cut back on the planned salary increase in the coming year, while most firms want to avoid huge job cuts, a latest survey says.
Majority of companies in the country are trying to be selective in planning the workforce, compensation and benefit cuts for 2009, while they anticipate a decline in their company's business performance next year, according to global HR consultancy Mercer.
The survey revealed that as much as 83 per cent of companies expect salary increases in the coming year to be lower than originally planned by them. The responses indicate that the companies are planning to look closely at holding down the level of compensation increases in 2009.
However, only 19 per cent of survey respondents are considering the more drastic step of freezing 2009 salaries at 2008 figures.
The results for companies in India generally match survey findings from other parts of the world. In China, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States as well between 20 and 30 per cent respondents believe that the 2009 bonus payout would be reduced from those originally planned.
"India grew on the back of her knowledge and people -centric industries such as financial services, information technology and retail, among others. However, primarily due to employee costs having risen in India at double-digit rates since 2003, cost structures have been coming under severe strain," Mercer Consulting (India) country leader Padma Ravichandar said.
Most companies in India plan to avoid significant workforce reductions, but they do not plan significant hiring either, the survey revealed.
Nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of companies surveyed revealed that a significant reduction in workforce was unlikely even as only one in four firms expect to continue their hiring activities at or above replacement levels.
This current situation should be perceived as a cooling-down period in terms of talent costs. This is a levelling act which may help India remain cost competitive in the long run. In the near term, the adverse impact of business sentiment seems all pervasive, Ravichandar added.
Over 80 per cent of respondents expect their company's business performance to decline in 2009, the Mercer survey noticed.
Further, corporate India expects mergers and acquisitions to be severely affected in the next year, with fewer than seven per cent of survey respondents expecting increased M&A activity.
Mercer's survey, conducted in early November, collected responses from over 100 human resource and finance professionals in India, as part of more than 1,000 responses from around the world.
Source: Agencies
Majority of companies in the country are trying to be selective in planning the workforce, compensation and benefit cuts for 2009, while they anticipate a decline in their company's business performance next year, according to global HR consultancy Mercer.
The survey revealed that as much as 83 per cent of companies expect salary increases in the coming year to be lower than originally planned by them. The responses indicate that the companies are planning to look closely at holding down the level of compensation increases in 2009.
However, only 19 per cent of survey respondents are considering the more drastic step of freezing 2009 salaries at 2008 figures.
The results for companies in India generally match survey findings from other parts of the world. In China, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States as well between 20 and 30 per cent respondents believe that the 2009 bonus payout would be reduced from those originally planned.
"India grew on the back of her knowledge and people -centric industries such as financial services, information technology and retail, among others. However, primarily due to employee costs having risen in India at double-digit rates since 2003, cost structures have been coming under severe strain," Mercer Consulting (India) country leader Padma Ravichandar said.
Most companies in India plan to avoid significant workforce reductions, but they do not plan significant hiring either, the survey revealed.
Nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of companies surveyed revealed that a significant reduction in workforce was unlikely even as only one in four firms expect to continue their hiring activities at or above replacement levels.
This current situation should be perceived as a cooling-down period in terms of talent costs. This is a levelling act which may help India remain cost competitive in the long run. In the near term, the adverse impact of business sentiment seems all pervasive, Ravichandar added.
Over 80 per cent of respondents expect their company's business performance to decline in 2009, the Mercer survey noticed.
Further, corporate India expects mergers and acquisitions to be severely affected in the next year, with fewer than seven per cent of survey respondents expecting increased M&A activity.
Mercer's survey, conducted in early November, collected responses from over 100 human resource and finance professionals in India, as part of more than 1,000 responses from around the world.
Source: Agencies
Friday, December 12, 2008
Are Indian companies still high on hiring?
Despite weaker forecast, employers in India remain among the most optimistic, according to a Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.
Though moving at a slower pace, the employers now report the second strongest hiring intentions globally, with a Net Employment Outlook (NEO) of 19 per cent. However, this Outlook represents a considerable decrease of 24 percentage points quarter-over-quarter and 27 percentage point’s year-over-year, the survey finds out.
Of the 33 countries and territories surveyed globally this quarter, employers in Peru are the most optimistic, with an NEO of 24 per cent. The NEO is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating total employment to increase and subtracting from this the percentage expecting to see a decrease in employment at their location over the next quarter.
“Though hiring intentions remain positive, Indian employers are reporting a much slower hiring pace, compared to the last quarter and year, says Manpower India MD Naresh Malhan. Employers in all the seven industry sectors and four regions have reported considerable decline in anticipated hiring activity for the first quarter of the New Year, its weakest since Q3 2005.
“The times may seem challenging, but the employment scenario in the country is not as gloomy as the rest of the world, and according to the survey, India will be one of the actively hiring nations for Q1 of 2009.”
Hiring-confidence of employers in India is the strongest of all the eight countries and territories across the Asia-Pacific region for the first quarter of 2009. Of the 3,557 employers surveyed, 22 per cent expect an increase in staffing levels in the quarter, 4 per cent anticipate a decrease, and 63 per cent are expecting no change.
Employers in mining & construction sector, for the third consecutive quarter, reported the most optimistic hiring intentions with an NEO of 23 per cent, though the Outlook shows a steep decline in employer hiring-confidence of 31 and 30 percentage points quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, respectively.
Employers in services sector and mining & construction sector are expecting the most active hiring environment in the coming quarter with a Net Employment Outlook of 23 per cent.
Wholesale & retail trade employers reported the least optimistic hiring intentions with a Net Employment Outlook of 11 per cent.
Source: Times of India
Though moving at a slower pace, the employers now report the second strongest hiring intentions globally, with a Net Employment Outlook (NEO) of 19 per cent. However, this Outlook represents a considerable decrease of 24 percentage points quarter-over-quarter and 27 percentage point’s year-over-year, the survey finds out.
Of the 33 countries and territories surveyed globally this quarter, employers in Peru are the most optimistic, with an NEO of 24 per cent. The NEO is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating total employment to increase and subtracting from this the percentage expecting to see a decrease in employment at their location over the next quarter.
“Though hiring intentions remain positive, Indian employers are reporting a much slower hiring pace, compared to the last quarter and year, says Manpower India MD Naresh Malhan. Employers in all the seven industry sectors and four regions have reported considerable decline in anticipated hiring activity for the first quarter of the New Year, its weakest since Q3 2005.
“The times may seem challenging, but the employment scenario in the country is not as gloomy as the rest of the world, and according to the survey, India will be one of the actively hiring nations for Q1 of 2009.”
Hiring-confidence of employers in India is the strongest of all the eight countries and territories across the Asia-Pacific region for the first quarter of 2009. Of the 3,557 employers surveyed, 22 per cent expect an increase in staffing levels in the quarter, 4 per cent anticipate a decrease, and 63 per cent are expecting no change.
Employers in mining & construction sector, for the third consecutive quarter, reported the most optimistic hiring intentions with an NEO of 23 per cent, though the Outlook shows a steep decline in employer hiring-confidence of 31 and 30 percentage points quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, respectively.
Employers in services sector and mining & construction sector are expecting the most active hiring environment in the coming quarter with a Net Employment Outlook of 23 per cent.
Wholesale & retail trade employers reported the least optimistic hiring intentions with a Net Employment Outlook of 11 per cent.
Source: Times of India
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Infosys Technologies will freeze new recruitments
Infosys Technologies will freeze recruitment after meeting this fiscal year's target of hiring 25,000 staff, a telling sign the Infosys global downturn is hitting India's $52 billion outsourcing sector.
India's second largest software services firm however has no plans to cut jobs and is sticking with its third quarter outlook, CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan told reporters.
He said the outsourcing sector's growth rate would halve next year as some customers delay orders.
"Last year the IT industry grew more than 30 percent, this year it is looking at somewhere in the region of 15 percent," Gopalakrishnan said.
India's export-driven IT sector, used to a scorching pace of growth, has been hit by the financial crisis and recession in the United States, which contributes more than half their revenue.
In the last few years, the outsourcing industry has created tens of thousands of jobs, mainly attracting young workers, as global companies look to trim labour costs.
Infosys hired 16,000-17,000 employees in the first half of the fiscal year that began in April and would honour commitments to 6,000 under training, Gopalakrishnan said.
Infosys, which counts Goldman Sachs and Philips Electronics among its clients, cut its full-year dollar revenue outlook in October due to the worsening global downturn.
Gopalakrishnan said on Thursday the company would freeze fresh recruitment, apart from meeting specific skill needs.
"We will have to look at controlling our cost, controlling our expenses making sure that we run an optimised business. We will have to look at what are things we need to do in order to prepare ourselves for the recovery."
"Growth is coming more and more from emerging markets so hese are the things we need to prepare ourselves. We should not lose momentum in this slowdown," he said.
But Infosys still expects its strong client base and a weakening rupee to help it meet a forecast for December quarter earnings of $0.57 a share. The rupee has fallen nearly six percent so far this quarter against the dollar.
"Infosys is seeing further degradation of the demand environment, with headwinds from leadership changes at customers, a shrinking large deal pipeline .... Pricing pressure has emerged," CLSA Asia-Pacific said in a report this week.
India's second largest software services firm however has no plans to cut jobs and is sticking with its third quarter outlook, CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan told reporters.
He said the outsourcing sector's growth rate would halve next year as some customers delay orders.
"Last year the IT industry grew more than 30 percent, this year it is looking at somewhere in the region of 15 percent," Gopalakrishnan said.
India's export-driven IT sector, used to a scorching pace of growth, has been hit by the financial crisis and recession in the United States, which contributes more than half their revenue.
In the last few years, the outsourcing industry has created tens of thousands of jobs, mainly attracting young workers, as global companies look to trim labour costs.
Infosys hired 16,000-17,000 employees in the first half of the fiscal year that began in April and would honour commitments to 6,000 under training, Gopalakrishnan said.
Infosys, which counts Goldman Sachs and Philips Electronics among its clients, cut its full-year dollar revenue outlook in October due to the worsening global downturn.
Gopalakrishnan said on Thursday the company would freeze fresh recruitment, apart from meeting specific skill needs.
"We will have to look at controlling our cost, controlling our expenses making sure that we run an optimised business. We will have to look at what are things we need to do in order to prepare ourselves for the recovery."
"Growth is coming more and more from emerging markets so hese are the things we need to prepare ourselves. We should not lose momentum in this slowdown," he said.
But Infosys still expects its strong client base and a weakening rupee to help it meet a forecast for December quarter earnings of $0.57 a share. The rupee has fallen nearly six percent so far this quarter against the dollar.
"Infosys is seeing further degradation of the demand environment, with headwinds from leadership changes at customers, a shrinking large deal pipeline .... Pricing pressure has emerged," CLSA Asia-Pacific said in a report this week.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
No more firing, or hiring, at Kingfisher Airlines
Kingfisher Airlines said while it would not lay off employees, it would also not hire new people as long as the current downturn continued.
'There is no question of layoffs. The prime minister has given us the assurance that the government would do whatever it takes to address the problems of the aviation sector,' Kingfisher chairman Vijay Mallya said in an address at the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his interaction with industry leaders Nov 3 asked them to refrain from large-scale layoffs, and advised them to bear in mind their social obligations.
Soon after, he also intervened to ensure state-run oil firms gave more time to domestic carriers to settle their fuel dues.
But Mallya said the aviation industry was being 'overtaxed'.
'The basic airfares are lower than fuel surcharge for many Indian destinations. Taxes should immediately be rationalised to make flying affordable,' he said.
Mallya, who is also member of parliament, earlier indicated that if the slump in the market continues, the industry would witness more layoffs.
Jet Airways last month sacked 1,900 employees only to reinstate them a day later, reportedly on government pressure. Carriers including Kingfisher Airlines have over the past month retrenched some staff.
Kingfisher has now sought permission from the government to sell a part of its equity to international carriers, saying a change of policy on foreign investment would help the industry that was facing turbulent weather.
'There is no question of layoffs. The prime minister has given us the assurance that the government would do whatever it takes to address the problems of the aviation sector,' Kingfisher chairman Vijay Mallya said in an address at the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his interaction with industry leaders Nov 3 asked them to refrain from large-scale layoffs, and advised them to bear in mind their social obligations.
Soon after, he also intervened to ensure state-run oil firms gave more time to domestic carriers to settle their fuel dues.
But Mallya said the aviation industry was being 'overtaxed'.
'The basic airfares are lower than fuel surcharge for many Indian destinations. Taxes should immediately be rationalised to make flying affordable,' he said.
Mallya, who is also member of parliament, earlier indicated that if the slump in the market continues, the industry would witness more layoffs.
Jet Airways last month sacked 1,900 employees only to reinstate them a day later, reportedly on government pressure. Carriers including Kingfisher Airlines have over the past month retrenched some staff.
Kingfisher has now sought permission from the government to sell a part of its equity to international carriers, saying a change of policy on foreign investment would help the industry that was facing turbulent weather.
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