Private sector companies in the US slashed a stunning 5,22,000 jobs in January, in yet another indication of the worsening labour market situation.
The latest ADP (Automatic Data Processing Inc) report showed that non-farm private employment on a seasonally adjusted basis, declined 5,22,000 in January 2009.
The ADP National Employment Report is based on anonymous payroll data and is maintained by Macroeconomic Advisers LLC.
In a statement today, ADP said the report for January estimates "non-farm private employment in the service-providing sector fell by 2,79,000".
While the goods-producing sector shed 2,43,000 jobs, the manufacturing industry saw the loss of 1,60,000 jobs last month.
According to the report, large businesses which are defined as those with 500 or more workers, slashed 92,000 jobs. Further, medium-size and small-size entities reduced their workforce by 2,55,000 and 1,75,000 employees, respectively.
Medium-size companies are those having 50 to 499 people whereas small-size firms are described as those with less than 50 workers.
Agencies
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
As turmoil continues technology exports to miss target
Exports of software and services in the year to March will be sharply below an earlier forecast as the global slowdown dents Nine trends for IT in 2009 outsourcing, expanding 16-17 percent to about $47 billion, an industry body said.
The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) said on Wednesday the export-driven sector's growth had been adversely impacted by the global financial crisis, deepening recessions, and currency fluctuations.
It had earlier forecast exports growth would range from 21-24 percent this fiscal year. "It was an exciting first half, 24 percent growth much in line with industry estimates," Nasscom chairman Ganesh Natarajan said. "In the second half, we have seen a rapid decline."
Total revenue of the software and back-office outsourcing sector, including the earnings from the domestic market, is expected to rise to $60 billion this year, down from the association's July forecast of $62-$64 billion.
It expects the sector's export revenues to rise to $60-$62 billion in the fiscal year 2010/11.
India's export-driven outsourcing companies have thrived for years by bagging contracts from overseas clients, helped by a large pool of English-speaking engineering workforce and cheaper wages.
But an economic slowdown in the United States, which accounts for more than half of the sector's export revenue, and turmoil in the global financial sector have halted the sector's scorching pace of growth.
The sector's export earnings posted growth of 29 percent to $40.4 billion in the fiscal year to March 2008.
The revelation of a massive accounting fraud at leading outsourcer Satyam Computer Services has added to the gloomy outlook for the sector, which accounts for more than 5 percent of India's gross domestic product.
Indian software firms such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies and Wipro provide solutions like system integration, application development, supply chain designing and back-office services.
The firms are expanding in Europe, Asia and the Middle East to lower their dependence on the United States.
Agencies
The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) said on Wednesday the export-driven sector's growth had been adversely impacted by the global financial crisis, deepening recessions, and currency fluctuations.
It had earlier forecast exports growth would range from 21-24 percent this fiscal year. "It was an exciting first half, 24 percent growth much in line with industry estimates," Nasscom chairman Ganesh Natarajan said. "In the second half, we have seen a rapid decline."
Total revenue of the software and back-office outsourcing sector, including the earnings from the domestic market, is expected to rise to $60 billion this year, down from the association's July forecast of $62-$64 billion.
It expects the sector's export revenues to rise to $60-$62 billion in the fiscal year 2010/11.
India's export-driven outsourcing companies have thrived for years by bagging contracts from overseas clients, helped by a large pool of English-speaking engineering workforce and cheaper wages.
But an economic slowdown in the United States, which accounts for more than half of the sector's export revenue, and turmoil in the global financial sector have halted the sector's scorching pace of growth.
The sector's export earnings posted growth of 29 percent to $40.4 billion in the fiscal year to March 2008.
The revelation of a massive accounting fraud at leading outsourcer Satyam Computer Services has added to the gloomy outlook for the sector, which accounts for more than 5 percent of India's gross domestic product.
Indian software firms such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies and Wipro provide solutions like system integration, application development, supply chain designing and back-office services.
The firms are expanding in Europe, Asia and the Middle East to lower their dependence on the United States.
Agencies
Panasonic to layoff 15,000 jobs, closing 27 plants
Japan's Panasonic Corp. said Wednesday it was cutting 15,000 jobs and closing 27 plants worldwide as it braces for a big loss this due to the economic crisis.
Agencies
Agencies
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Global downturn adds to 15 lakh layoffs in India
With global downturn taking its toll on India, about 15 lakh people employed in the exporting sector will be out of jobs by March this year, Commerce Secretary G K Pillai said today.
"We have figures from August till middle of January. We estimate something like between 7-10 lakh job losses till now," Pillai told a news channel in an interview.
He said if the slowdown, especially in the US, Europe and Japan continues, another five lakh people would be unemployed by March.
Earlier in the day, Pillai told reporters that the prospects for the country's outward trade look bleak for the next fiscal as well.
"It would be an achievement if we reach $160 billion-mark in 2009-2010," he said.
After an impressive expansion of over 30 per cent in the first six months of 2008-09, export growth has turned negative with the result that the total shipments in the current fiscal would fall much short of the $200 billion target.
Though exports account for less than 20 per cent of the country's GDP, the sector is highly employment oriented with the total estimated 6.5 crore workforce.
"Exports are going to come down and we have to live with it," Pillai said.
Agencies
"We have figures from August till middle of January. We estimate something like between 7-10 lakh job losses till now," Pillai told a news channel in an interview.
He said if the slowdown, especially in the US, Europe and Japan continues, another five lakh people would be unemployed by March.
Earlier in the day, Pillai told reporters that the prospects for the country's outward trade look bleak for the next fiscal as well.
"It would be an achievement if we reach $160 billion-mark in 2009-2010," he said.
After an impressive expansion of over 30 per cent in the first six months of 2008-09, export growth has turned negative with the result that the total shipments in the current fiscal would fall much short of the $200 billion target.
Though exports account for less than 20 per cent of the country's GDP, the sector is highly employment oriented with the total estimated 6.5 crore workforce.
"Exports are going to come down and we have to live with it," Pillai said.
Agencies
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Are layoffs raising? Reports say 9,000 job vanishing each day
More and more people are becoming unemployed this year, with nearly 9,000 jobs vanishing worldwide on an average each day in January.
As the financial turmoil continues to rattle world economies, layoffs so far this year have crossed the 2,77,000 -mark with a stunning 80,000 job cuts announced January 26.
Right from electronics to telecom to pharma sectors, about 9,000 jobs were lost on an average every day this month.
Among the entities, construction machinery manufacturer Caterpillar, Japanese electronics major NEC and pharma giant Pfizer have announced over 20,000 job cuts each.
Dutch entities - electronics firm Philips and financial services company ING - together would be axing 13,000 jobs in the coming months.
Caterpillar, Pfizer, telecom firm Sprint Nextel Corp and home improvement retailer Home Depot together accounted for 61,000 lay-off announcements on January 26. The total job cuts announced on that day worldwide had crossed 80,000.
The bankruptcy of American electronics retailer Circuit City is expected to affect 30,000 employees whereas aluminium manufacturer Alcoa would be laying off 13,500 people.
Further, Indian conglomerate Tatas-owned UK steel maker Corus would be reducing its workforce by 3,500.
Other entities which unveiled plans to bring down headcount in January include TDK (8,000), BHP Billiton (6,000), Ericsson (5,000), Corning (4,900), Motorola (4,000), Texas Instruments (3,400), Honda (3,100), Kodak (3,000), Ford Motor (1,200) and Harley-Davidson (1,100).
Companies worldwide are bringing down their workforce as they explore ways to battle the dire economic situation. With consumer and business spending being crimped, many of the developed nations have already entered into recession.
Agencies
As the financial turmoil continues to rattle world economies, layoffs so far this year have crossed the 2,77,000 -mark with a stunning 80,000 job cuts announced January 26.
Right from electronics to telecom to pharma sectors, about 9,000 jobs were lost on an average every day this month.
Among the entities, construction machinery manufacturer Caterpillar, Japanese electronics major NEC and pharma giant Pfizer have announced over 20,000 job cuts each.
Dutch entities - electronics firm Philips and financial services company ING - together would be axing 13,000 jobs in the coming months.
Caterpillar, Pfizer, telecom firm Sprint Nextel Corp and home improvement retailer Home Depot together accounted for 61,000 lay-off announcements on January 26. The total job cuts announced on that day worldwide had crossed 80,000.
The bankruptcy of American electronics retailer Circuit City is expected to affect 30,000 employees whereas aluminium manufacturer Alcoa would be laying off 13,500 people.
Further, Indian conglomerate Tatas-owned UK steel maker Corus would be reducing its workforce by 3,500.
Other entities which unveiled plans to bring down headcount in January include TDK (8,000), BHP Billiton (6,000), Ericsson (5,000), Corning (4,900), Motorola (4,000), Texas Instruments (3,400), Honda (3,100), Kodak (3,000), Ford Motor (1,200) and Harley-Davidson (1,100).
Companies worldwide are bringing down their workforce as they explore ways to battle the dire economic situation. With consumer and business spending being crimped, many of the developed nations have already entered into recession.
Agencies
Will Glaxo SmithKline layoff 6,000 workers?
Glaxo SmithKline, Britain's biggest pharmaceuticals company, plans to axe around 6,000 jobs around the world as it faces up to the growing challenges in the industry, a media report said.
The cuts are expected to include hundreds of British jobs, The Sunday Telegraph claimed.
"Competition from generic manufacturers and doubts about company's (product) pipelines are posing a serious threat to the sector and, ING analysts warned of an intellectual property meltdown as top-selling products come off patent and sales slow dramatically", the newspaper stated.
The pharma major's British rival, Astra-Zeneca, told the newspaper that it would cut 15,000 staff by 2013, 6,000 more than earlier stated, while industry leader Pfizer has acquired US rival Wyeth for $68 bn as it seeks to secure its future.
Glaxo SmithKline, the world's second biggest drugs company behind Pfizer, employs about 1,00,000 people and, although yet to be confirmed, a proportion of the cuts are almost certain to be among its 18,000 staff at sites across the UK, which would strike another blow to the battered economy, the report said.
Agencies
The cuts are expected to include hundreds of British jobs, The Sunday Telegraph claimed.
"Competition from generic manufacturers and doubts about company's (product) pipelines are posing a serious threat to the sector and, ING analysts warned of an intellectual property meltdown as top-selling products come off patent and sales slow dramatically", the newspaper stated.
The pharma major's British rival, Astra-Zeneca, told the newspaper that it would cut 15,000 staff by 2013, 6,000 more than earlier stated, while industry leader Pfizer has acquired US rival Wyeth for $68 bn as it seeks to secure its future.
Glaxo SmithKline, the world's second biggest drugs company behind Pfizer, employs about 1,00,000 people and, although yet to be confirmed, a proportion of the cuts are almost certain to be among its 18,000 staff at sites across the UK, which would strike another blow to the battered economy, the report said.
Agencies
Saturday, January 31, 2009
MNC software firms step up hiring in India
At a time when top Indian tech firms including TCS, Infosys and Wipro plan to slow down their linear growth by hiring less number of people, multinational software companies such as IBM, Accenture and Cap Gemini continue to hire more software professionals in order to expand their offshore capabilities. Despite lower growth in revenues from top markets such as the US and Europe, Indian offshore vendors are seeing an attrition rate of 11-13%.
“Our attrition rate is still around 11%, which is not significantly down,” said Pratik Kumar, executive VP-HR, Wipro. “We find that smaller captives operating in niche areas, apart from MNCs, are still hiring,” he added.
Captive organisations of large enterprises in the US and the UK are seeking to increase their offshore teams in order to lower their operational costs. Tesco, the world’s second-biggest retailer, plans to add a few hundreds more professionals to its existing team of around 3,000 employees at the Bangalore centre.
“We want this centre to become the engineering hub for us, and there is a lot of scope for scale expansion,” Mike McNamara, director (operations and information technology) at Tesco told ET in an interview earlier this month. The retailer saves around $60 million every year by outsourcing to India. Captives, such as Tesco, are seeking to hire professionals with specialised skills, which is opening newer avenues for experienced workers.
“Openings in the IT industry are becoming more specialised and specific with people looking at roles which are very clearly aligned with their skills,” said Madhu Rao, country head, Allegis India, which is a part of the $5-billion Allegis Group.
In another instance, Atos Origin – the European IT major – has plans to double its workforce in India from the existing level of 3,300 to 6,000 in the next one-year. Accenture has already announced that it would be increasing its India headcount from the current level of 37,000 to 50,000 in a year.
GC Jayaprakash, principal consultant at Stanton Chase International, said movement among IT pros is happening more with the laterals and those looking at moving to a different location. Today, openings in the IT industry are more to do with specific skills and are for professionals who have experience of 5-7 years.
Agencies
“Our attrition rate is still around 11%, which is not significantly down,” said Pratik Kumar, executive VP-HR, Wipro. “We find that smaller captives operating in niche areas, apart from MNCs, are still hiring,” he added.
Captive organisations of large enterprises in the US and the UK are seeking to increase their offshore teams in order to lower their operational costs. Tesco, the world’s second-biggest retailer, plans to add a few hundreds more professionals to its existing team of around 3,000 employees at the Bangalore centre.
“We want this centre to become the engineering hub for us, and there is a lot of scope for scale expansion,” Mike McNamara, director (operations and information technology) at Tesco told ET in an interview earlier this month. The retailer saves around $60 million every year by outsourcing to India. Captives, such as Tesco, are seeking to hire professionals with specialised skills, which is opening newer avenues for experienced workers.
“Openings in the IT industry are becoming more specialised and specific with people looking at roles which are very clearly aligned with their skills,” said Madhu Rao, country head, Allegis India, which is a part of the $5-billion Allegis Group.
In another instance, Atos Origin – the European IT major – has plans to double its workforce in India from the existing level of 3,300 to 6,000 in the next one-year. Accenture has already announced that it would be increasing its India headcount from the current level of 37,000 to 50,000 in a year.
GC Jayaprakash, principal consultant at Stanton Chase International, said movement among IT pros is happening more with the laterals and those looking at moving to a different location. Today, openings in the IT industry are more to do with specific skills and are for professionals who have experience of 5-7 years.
Agencies
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