California, which is on the brink of running out of cash, will notify 20,000 state workers on Tuesday their jobs may be eliminated, a spokesman for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Monday.
The announcement came a day after California lawmakers narrowly failed to pass a $40 billion budget that would have plugged the state's deficit with a mix of tax hikes and spending cuts.
"In the absence of a budget, the governor has a responsibility to realize state savings any way he can," said Aaron McLear, a spokesman for the Republican governor. "This is unfortunately a necessary decision."
The layoff notices will affect about 20 percent of state workers, McLear said, adding the cuts would extend to every part of state government.
The positions would be eliminated in June in preparation for California's next fiscal year, which starts in July.
California, America's most populous state and the world's eighth biggest economy, has experienced a dramatic fall in revenues because of the housing downturn, rising unemployment and a sharp pullback in consumer spending.
To conserve cash, the state has stopped public works projects, furloughed state employees for two days a month and postponed sending out tax refunds.
Agencies
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sun Microsystems to layoff 150 more in India
The global layoffs by tech MNCs have started spilling to their Indian operations. IT giant Sun Microsystems reportedly laid off over 150 employees in India around late in January.
According to a news report in a leading daily, most of the laid off employees were software developers working in the company's Bangalore office.
The news report adds that the company may go for another round of lay offs in the last week of February. This round is likely to impact support staff from departments like marketing, human resources and sales.
In November last year, Sun Microsystems announced that it plans to cut as many as 6,000 jobs as the company tries to cope with plunging sales of server computers to financial firms, market-share losses to bigger competitors, and a spiraling stock price.
The reduction, which will eliminate as much as 18 per cent of the staff, will shave $700 million to $800 million from annual expenses, Sun said in an e-mailed statement.
Last week, a Goldman Sachs analyst put the server and software maker's stock on Goldman's `Americas Conviction Sell' list. Goldman analyst David C Bailey said in a client note that Sun's heavy concentration of financial services, telecom and manufacturing customers put it at a disadvantage to its more-diversified competitors. Bailey said that Goldman expects a low double-digit revenue drop at Sun in 2009 due to weakness in several of the company's key verticals and accelerating deterioration of its Unix server market.
Agencies
According to a news report in a leading daily, most of the laid off employees were software developers working in the company's Bangalore office.
The news report adds that the company may go for another round of lay offs in the last week of February. This round is likely to impact support staff from departments like marketing, human resources and sales.
In November last year, Sun Microsystems announced that it plans to cut as many as 6,000 jobs as the company tries to cope with plunging sales of server computers to financial firms, market-share losses to bigger competitors, and a spiraling stock price.
The reduction, which will eliminate as much as 18 per cent of the staff, will shave $700 million to $800 million from annual expenses, Sun said in an e-mailed statement.
Last week, a Goldman Sachs analyst put the server and software maker's stock on Goldman's `Americas Conviction Sell' list. Goldman analyst David C Bailey said in a client note that Sun's heavy concentration of financial services, telecom and manufacturing customers put it at a disadvantage to its more-diversified competitors. Bailey said that Goldman expects a low double-digit revenue drop at Sun in 2009 due to weakness in several of the company's key verticals and accelerating deterioration of its Unix server market.
Agencies
Will BMW layoff 850 workers at UK Mini plant?
BMW said on Monday that it will lay off 850 workers at its British factory which builds the Mini car to adjust to weaker demand.
The job cuts are the result of a review of operations at the factory in Cowley, near Oxford, where production will be suspended throughout this week and staff who currently work weekend shifts will be moved to weekday work, effective March 2.
BMW has 4,700 workers at Cowley, which can turn out 800 cars per day.
``While Mini has been weathering the economic downturn, it is not immune from the challenges of the current situation,'' BMW said in a statement.
``Against this backdrop the company felt that a review of its shift patterns was necessary. This decision has not been taken lightly. The plant's union representatives have, of course, been involved in the discussions.''
BMW reported earlier this month that sales of the Mini model rose 4.3 percent in 2008 to 232,425 cars. Overall, the company said sales dropped 5 percent across its product range.
In January, however, Mini sales were down 35 percent compared to January 2008. About 80 percent of the Minis built in Britain are exported.
Auto sales in Britain fell sharply at the end of the year because of the recession. Nissan has cut 1,200 jobs at its plant in Sunderland, England, while Honda has halted production at its Swindon plant for four months.
``Sacking an entire shift like this, and targeting agency workers who have no rights to redundancy pay, is blatant opportunism on BMW's part and nothing short of scandalous,'' said Tony Woodley, joint leader of the Unite union.
``BMW's parent company couldn't attempt this in Germany because it would be illegal to do so. It is a disgrace, therefore, that workers in this country can be so casually thrown to the dole.''
BMW acquired the Mini, a symbol of the swinging 1960s, when it bought the Rover car company in 1994.
Agencies
The job cuts are the result of a review of operations at the factory in Cowley, near Oxford, where production will be suspended throughout this week and staff who currently work weekend shifts will be moved to weekday work, effective March 2.
BMW has 4,700 workers at Cowley, which can turn out 800 cars per day.
``While Mini has been weathering the economic downturn, it is not immune from the challenges of the current situation,'' BMW said in a statement.
``Against this backdrop the company felt that a review of its shift patterns was necessary. This decision has not been taken lightly. The plant's union representatives have, of course, been involved in the discussions.''
BMW reported earlier this month that sales of the Mini model rose 4.3 percent in 2008 to 232,425 cars. Overall, the company said sales dropped 5 percent across its product range.
In January, however, Mini sales were down 35 percent compared to January 2008. About 80 percent of the Minis built in Britain are exported.
Auto sales in Britain fell sharply at the end of the year because of the recession. Nissan has cut 1,200 jobs at its plant in Sunderland, England, while Honda has halted production at its Swindon plant for four months.
``Sacking an entire shift like this, and targeting agency workers who have no rights to redundancy pay, is blatant opportunism on BMW's part and nothing short of scandalous,'' said Tony Woodley, joint leader of the Unite union.
``BMW's parent company couldn't attempt this in Germany because it would be illegal to do so. It is a disgrace, therefore, that workers in this country can be so casually thrown to the dole.''
BMW acquired the Mini, a symbol of the swinging 1960s, when it bought the Rover car company in 1994.
Agencies
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Alcatel to cut 1,000 manager jobs
Franco-American telecoms gear maker Alcatel-Lucent said it plans to cut 1,000 managerial posts from its global workforce will see 198 positions in France eliminated.
Alcatel-Lucent managers in France told a works council meeting on Wednesday that 450 managerial posts would go in North America and 450 in Europe, of which 198 in France, the CFDT union said in a statement.
The company announced the decision to trim its executive ranks on Dec. 12 as part of a strategic plan aimed at cutting cut costs by 750 million euros by the fourth quarter of 2009, but did not say where the cuts would fall.
An Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman said: "I can confirm the figures for France, but we are not making a statement on the other numbers."
According to the CFDT, 1,602 posts are classed as managerial in France, and while France makes up 10 percent of Alcatel-Lucent's workforce, it will bear 20 percent of the job cuts.
Alcatel-Lucent, the No. 3 player worldwide in terms of market share, behind Sweden's Ericsson (ERICb.ST) and Finnish-German joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks [NSN.UL], employs 77,000 worldwide and 11,000 in France.
The company, formed by the merger of Alcatel and Lucent in 2006, saw its share price fall 70 percent in 2008 after a string of profit warnings and last week posted a 5.2 billion euro loss for the year amid a record 4.7 billion euros in depreciations.
Since June, its share price has dropped more than 70 per cent.
Agencies
Alcatel-Lucent managers in France told a works council meeting on Wednesday that 450 managerial posts would go in North America and 450 in Europe, of which 198 in France, the CFDT union said in a statement.
The company announced the decision to trim its executive ranks on Dec. 12 as part of a strategic plan aimed at cutting cut costs by 750 million euros by the fourth quarter of 2009, but did not say where the cuts would fall.
An Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman said: "I can confirm the figures for France, but we are not making a statement on the other numbers."
According to the CFDT, 1,602 posts are classed as managerial in France, and while France makes up 10 percent of Alcatel-Lucent's workforce, it will bear 20 percent of the job cuts.
Alcatel-Lucent, the No. 3 player worldwide in terms of market share, behind Sweden's Ericsson (ERICb.ST) and Finnish-German joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks [NSN.UL], employs 77,000 worldwide and 11,000 in France.
The company, formed by the merger of Alcatel and Lucent in 2006, saw its share price fall 70 percent in 2008 after a string of profit warnings and last week posted a 5.2 billion euro loss for the year amid a record 4.7 billion euros in depreciations.
Since June, its share price has dropped more than 70 per cent.
Agencies
World Bank says eight-year ban on Satyam can be reviewed !
Giving some hope to crisis-ridden Satyam, the World Bank has said it could review the eight-year ban imposed on the company provided the software exporter takes "corrective action".
A World Bank official said Satyam has to show it has again become a responsible vendor to do business with, when asked whether the multilateral lending agency would relax the ban on the software exporter.
"The vendor would have to demonstrate (that) corrective action had been taken to address the original causes of the ... ineligibility," a World Bank official from Washington said in an emailed statement.
The official further said action should substantiate that Satyam is "again a responsible vendor with whom the Bank can do business".
The World Bank banned Satyam Computer Services for eight years in 2008 for providing "improper benefits" to Bank staff and for failing to maintain records relating to fees charged for sub-contractors.
Satyam has a strong case for a review of the ban since its old board and management have been changed after its disgraced founder Chairman B Ramalinga Raju admitted to fudging accounts to the tune of Rs 7,800 crore.
Agencies
A World Bank official said Satyam has to show it has again become a responsible vendor to do business with, when asked whether the multilateral lending agency would relax the ban on the software exporter.
"The vendor would have to demonstrate (that) corrective action had been taken to address the original causes of the ... ineligibility," a World Bank official from Washington said in an emailed statement.
The official further said action should substantiate that Satyam is "again a responsible vendor with whom the Bank can do business".
The World Bank banned Satyam Computer Services for eight years in 2008 for providing "improper benefits" to Bank staff and for failing to maintain records relating to fees charged for sub-contractors.
Satyam has a strong case for a review of the ban since its old board and management have been changed after its disgraced founder Chairman B Ramalinga Raju admitted to fudging accounts to the tune of Rs 7,800 crore.
Agencies
Oil companies cut ATF prices in India
Public sector oil companies on Sunday slashed jet fuel or ATF prices by 3.7 per cent, the tenth reduction since September.
Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices in Delhi were slashed to Rs 29,158 per kilolitre, effective midnight tonight, an official of Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer, said.
The fuel used by airlines till Sunday was priced at Rs 30,288 per kilolitre. After Sunday's Rs 1,130 a kilolitre reduction, jet fuel is priced at early 2005 levels.
For the 3.3 per cent increase in rates on January 16, jet fuel prices have been reduced for the tenth time on Sunday since September 1, 2008, when international crude oil prices started to decline.
In Mumbai, home to the nation's busiest airport, ATF rates were down by Rs 1,191 per kl to Rs 29,985 per kl on Sunday.
ATF prices had peaked to Rs 71,028.26 per kl (in Delhi) in August on international crude prices touching historic high of USD 147 a barrel. But they have since been slashed every month till October and twice in November.
State-run Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum revise ATF rates on the 1st and 16th of every month based on the average international jet fuel rates in the preceding fortnight.
Agencies
Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices in Delhi were slashed to Rs 29,158 per kilolitre, effective midnight tonight, an official of Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer, said.
The fuel used by airlines till Sunday was priced at Rs 30,288 per kilolitre. After Sunday's Rs 1,130 a kilolitre reduction, jet fuel is priced at early 2005 levels.
For the 3.3 per cent increase in rates on January 16, jet fuel prices have been reduced for the tenth time on Sunday since September 1, 2008, when international crude oil prices started to decline.
In Mumbai, home to the nation's busiest airport, ATF rates were down by Rs 1,191 per kl to Rs 29,985 per kl on Sunday.
ATF prices had peaked to Rs 71,028.26 per kl (in Delhi) in August on international crude prices touching historic high of USD 147 a barrel. But they have since been slashed every month till October and twice in November.
State-run Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum revise ATF rates on the 1st and 16th of every month based on the average international jet fuel rates in the preceding fortnight.
Agencies
Did Satyam turn small software cos into bn dollar industry?
Though blamed for tainting the image of the Indian IT sector now, Satyam Computer Services was indeed the first IT firm in the country to use communication technologies to turn pygmy software companies into a billion-dollar industry.
In his latest book 'Transcending Boundaries', author Deepak Chopra said that Satyam was one of the pioneers in using satellite-based data communication, which enabled the Indian software industry to take a quantum jump in the 1990s.
Satyam, which came under the scanner after its founder B Ramalinga Raju confessed to cooking the company's account books for years, was the first Indian software company to use dedicated satellite links in 1992.
In the 1990s, IT firms suffered due to lack of high-speed data links.
"A Hyderabad-based startup, Satyam Computer Services, which had signed up its first major offshore customer in June 1991, applied to VSNL for a dedicated satellite link in August that year," the book said.
Using this link, Satyam wanted to execute a re- engineering contract, worth one million dollars, for John Deere Corporation by remotely working on Deere's IBM mainframes located in Chicago.
Following this, many other IT firms started using the dedicated satellite links.
Agencies
In his latest book 'Transcending Boundaries', author Deepak Chopra said that Satyam was one of the pioneers in using satellite-based data communication, which enabled the Indian software industry to take a quantum jump in the 1990s.
Satyam, which came under the scanner after its founder B Ramalinga Raju confessed to cooking the company's account books for years, was the first Indian software company to use dedicated satellite links in 1992.
In the 1990s, IT firms suffered due to lack of high-speed data links.
"A Hyderabad-based startup, Satyam Computer Services, which had signed up its first major offshore customer in June 1991, applied to VSNL for a dedicated satellite link in August that year," the book said.
Using this link, Satyam wanted to execute a re- engineering contract, worth one million dollars, for John Deere Corporation by remotely working on Deere's IBM mainframes located in Chicago.
Following this, many other IT firms started using the dedicated satellite links.
Agencies
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