Switzerland's biggest bank UBS plans to cut up to 5,000 senior and management jobs in the next few weeks, a media report said on Sunday.
The report said that according to its own research up to 2,500 management positions could go in UBS's dominant and profitable wealth management division, which accounts for 50,000 of the bank's total 77,000 staff.
A UBS spokesman declined to comment on the report. UBS said last week that it was restructuring its Swiss business structure into four regions from eight, and trimming its top management. But it said the changes did not mean any more job cuts than the 600 to 800 positions it already planned to cut in Switzerland as part of the thousands of job losses globally it had already announced.
UBS said in February that after a record loss it would cut 2,000 jobs to take staff to about 75,000 by the middle of this year.
UBS is struggling to rebuild its once powerful brand and focus on its core Swiss business after massive investments in risky US assets forced it to make more writedowns than any other European bank and accept government backing.
Agencies
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Is IBM in talks to buy Sun Microsystems?
International Business Machines is in talks to acquire Sun Microsystems, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.
IBM is likely to pay at least $6.5 billion in cash to acquire Sun, the people told the paper.
That would translate into a premium of about 100 per cent over Sun's closing price on Tuesday of $4.97 a share on the Nasdaq, the paper said.
In recent months, Sun has approached a number of large tech companies in the hopes of being acquired, the paper said. Hewlett-Packard Co declined the offer, the paper said.
Sun is a maker of software and high-end computers. A spokesman for IBM declined to comment to the paper on questions about any talks with Sun. IBM and Sun could not be immediately be reached for comments.
Agencies
IBM is likely to pay at least $6.5 billion in cash to acquire Sun, the people told the paper.
That would translate into a premium of about 100 per cent over Sun's closing price on Tuesday of $4.97 a share on the Nasdaq, the paper said.
In recent months, Sun has approached a number of large tech companies in the hopes of being acquired, the paper said. Hewlett-Packard Co declined the offer, the paper said.
Sun is a maker of software and high-end computers. A spokesman for IBM declined to comment to the paper on questions about any talks with Sun. IBM and Sun could not be immediately be reached for comments.
Agencies
Is Nokia set to cut 1,700 jobs globally?
Nokia Oyj, the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, plans to cut 1,700 jobs globally by scaling back sales, marketing and some technology functions to adapt to falling consumer demand.
The company, based in Espoo, Finland, will start consultations with unions regarding the cutbacks, which are part of previously announced plans to adjust to a shrinking market, Nokia said in a statement today. Of the cuts, about 700 will be in Finland, spokeswoman Eija-Riitta Huovinen said by telephone.
“Nokia continues to seek savings in operational expenses, looking at all areas and activities across the company,” Nokia said in the release.
In January, Nokia said that it would slash its dividend for the first time in seven years and forecast a 10 percent slide in industry sales as the global crisis saps consumer demand. Nokia sold 15 percent fewer phones in the fourth quarter than a year earlier and cut its industry sales forecast for a third time since November.
Agencies
The company, based in Espoo, Finland, will start consultations with unions regarding the cutbacks, which are part of previously announced plans to adjust to a shrinking market, Nokia said in a statement today. Of the cuts, about 700 will be in Finland, spokeswoman Eija-Riitta Huovinen said by telephone.
“Nokia continues to seek savings in operational expenses, looking at all areas and activities across the company,” Nokia said in the release.
In January, Nokia said that it would slash its dividend for the first time in seven years and forecast a 10 percent slide in industry sales as the global crisis saps consumer demand. Nokia sold 15 percent fewer phones in the fourth quarter than a year earlier and cut its industry sales forecast for a third time since November.
Agencies
Will Fujitsu cut 1,750 jobs?
Japan's Fujitsu Ltd announced plans to axe 1,750 jobs in the Philippines, blaming the global economic downturn.
Workers have been offered early retirement packages to leave Fujitsu Computer Products Corp, which makes disk drives, said Ernesto Espinosa, a manager.
"We launched a voluntary leaving programme and the reason for this is that because of the global recession," he said.
Labour Secretary Marianito Roque told reporters the government had been notified of the plan, which takes effect on April 18.
He said this brought the number of Filipinos who had lost their jobs since the financial crisis unfolded last year to about 45,000. The government expects 800,000 people to lose jobs, mainly in the electronics and clothing sectors, before the downturn eases.
About nine million Filipinos, or 10 per cent of the population, were without jobs or underemployed, the government announced.
Espinosa said Fujitsu failed to save the jobs despite earlier efforts to cut working hours and overtime pay, which drastically reduced employees' salaries.
"Because of that we have no other choice but to offer voluntary separation," he added. About 2,900 other workers will remain with the company, based in Calamba town, south of Manila, he said.
Fujitsu announced in Japan last month that it would sell an 80 per cent stake to Japanese rival Toshiba Corp.
Agencies
Workers have been offered early retirement packages to leave Fujitsu Computer Products Corp, which makes disk drives, said Ernesto Espinosa, a manager.
"We launched a voluntary leaving programme and the reason for this is that because of the global recession," he said.
Labour Secretary Marianito Roque told reporters the government had been notified of the plan, which takes effect on April 18.
He said this brought the number of Filipinos who had lost their jobs since the financial crisis unfolded last year to about 45,000. The government expects 800,000 people to lose jobs, mainly in the electronics and clothing sectors, before the downturn eases.
About nine million Filipinos, or 10 per cent of the population, were without jobs or underemployed, the government announced.
Espinosa said Fujitsu failed to save the jobs despite earlier efforts to cut working hours and overtime pay, which drastically reduced employees' salaries.
"Because of that we have no other choice but to offer voluntary separation," he added. About 2,900 other workers will remain with the company, based in Calamba town, south of Manila, he said.
Fujitsu announced in Japan last month that it would sell an 80 per cent stake to Japanese rival Toshiba Corp.
Agencies
Will Infosys BPO layoff 600 contract workers?
The business process outsourcing (BPO) arm of Infosys Technologies, Infosys BPO, reportedly terminated the services of over 600 contract workers in a staff redeployment exercise in February.
According to the report -- which appeared in a business daily -- the workers, who were on multi-year contracts, included temporary workers, whose exact numbers are not clear.
Incidentally, Infosys BPO is also adding another 2,000 workers by the end of March, which will raise its headcount above the 20,000 mark from around 18,000 at present, according to the news story.
Though company spokesperson maintained that no employee on the direct rolls of Infosys BPO has been laid off. HR industry sources, however, confirmed the development. Infosys’ staffing needs contractors include Adecco PeopleOne, Mafoi and TeamLease.
The country's second-largest software company recently said that it is looking at acquisitions in the BPO and KPO spaces. “We are looking at back office functions where the companies perform very unique services with their own platform or intellectual property,” said Infosys MD S Gopalakrishnan. “There are opportunities in traditional BPOs as well and we are not restricted to KPOs.”
Captives in banking and financial services, manufacturing, and telecom are still considered hot property. “Our acquisition guidelines have not changed in this environment. We will acquire the strategic fit first and then growth,” said Gopalakrishnan, adding that the target company should typically have a revenue of about $300-500 million. Infosys is also looking at smaller acquisitions in the range of $100-200 million.
“There is always more risk attached to the integration of a larger entity. However, if something smaller or bigger comes along we will definitely look at it,” said Gopalakrishnan.
As the company continues to focus on geographically non-English speaking countries such as France, Germany and Japan, it is not averse to acquisitions in other locations. “These are not mutually exclusive with the services offered by the company. If there is an opportunity to acquire a consulting company in the US, we will look at it,” Gopalakrishnan said.
Indiatimes
According to the report -- which appeared in a business daily -- the workers, who were on multi-year contracts, included temporary workers, whose exact numbers are not clear.
Incidentally, Infosys BPO is also adding another 2,000 workers by the end of March, which will raise its headcount above the 20,000 mark from around 18,000 at present, according to the news story.
Though company spokesperson maintained that no employee on the direct rolls of Infosys BPO has been laid off. HR industry sources, however, confirmed the development. Infosys’ staffing needs contractors include Adecco PeopleOne, Mafoi and TeamLease.
The country's second-largest software company recently said that it is looking at acquisitions in the BPO and KPO spaces. “We are looking at back office functions where the companies perform very unique services with their own platform or intellectual property,” said Infosys MD S Gopalakrishnan. “There are opportunities in traditional BPOs as well and we are not restricted to KPOs.”
Captives in banking and financial services, manufacturing, and telecom are still considered hot property. “Our acquisition guidelines have not changed in this environment. We will acquire the strategic fit first and then growth,” said Gopalakrishnan, adding that the target company should typically have a revenue of about $300-500 million. Infosys is also looking at smaller acquisitions in the range of $100-200 million.
“There is always more risk attached to the integration of a larger entity. However, if something smaller or bigger comes along we will definitely look at it,” said Gopalakrishnan.
As the company continues to focus on geographically non-English speaking countries such as France, Germany and Japan, it is not averse to acquisitions in other locations. “These are not mutually exclusive with the services offered by the company. If there is an opportunity to acquire a consulting company in the US, we will look at it,” Gopalakrishnan said.
Indiatimes
Strong reactions by CEOs on BJP IT vision document
As most election manifestos go, BJP's IT Vision Document, recently put up on its official website, promises a lot - ranging from generating 1.2 crore new IT-enabled jobs in rural areas, introducing IT in education and healthcare services, to making available laptops at Rs 10,000 to 1 crore students and setting up Digital Security Agency.
Following are some of the reactions to the vision document from CIOs and CEOs CXOtoday spoke to.
Vivek Kulkarni, former IT secretary of Karnataka, who is now the chairman and CEO of BrickWork India, said, "The IT vision of BJP will really come handy for creation of new job opportunities in the IT and ITeS sector in India where we still have a large percentage of unemployed graduates struggling to provide their services for the growth of the country."
Sudhindra Mokhasi, founder & CEO of e-Sutra, sees the document as overall a comprehensive and ambitious statement of intent, especially the open source preference, e-governance thrust, wider last-mile internet access, 100 million low-cost computers, education and financing.
"In a few cases it's probably better to let the incremental approach like converting post offices into e-service centers and creating higher density of Internet kiosks to take root before attempting ambitious plans like smart phones for bank access for all BPL population," Mokhasi said.
Similarly more robust envisioning needs to be done to ensure that providers of the solutions are predominantly Indian IT companies so there is a full 360 degree of benefit to the Indian society," said Mokhasi.
In all, however, most of these vision statements are significantly focused on the infrastructure supply, education and empowerment side of the divide," he said.
Terming the document a positive intent, Ramakrishna Voruganti, managing director of Barracuda Networks (India), said, MNIC will help traceability of transactions and will result in better tax collections.
"Having an open standard and adaptation of open source will level the playing field for enterprises. The cyber security initiative and the establishment of DSA will provide enormous possibilities for Indian IT security professionals while providing opportunities for organizations like Barracuda Networks, who have been in the forefront of countering cyber threats," Voruganti said.
Ajay Dhir, CIO of Jindal Steel, said the multipurpose national identity card (MNIC) with unique citizen identification number for every Indian citizen is a good initiative. "Besides, the other schemes like IT-enabled jobs in rural areas, 1 crore students to get laptop computers at Rs 10,000 are all good schemes. Overall, one can say that it is a progressive vision."
The initiative to provide IT-enabled jobs was also welcomed by Voruganti especially since the government is acting a catalyst rather than as an agency.
"The linking of PHCs, schools and colleges, use of IT in agriculture, rural development, SMEs, retail trade, informal and unorganised will greatly impact at the grassroots, will improve the off-farm employment in the villages, and prevent labour migration," he said.
Some of the measures are populist, but that is expected during the polls, was the general sentiment about BJP's IT Vision Document.
CXOtoday
Following are some of the reactions to the vision document from CIOs and CEOs CXOtoday spoke to.
Vivek Kulkarni, former IT secretary of Karnataka, who is now the chairman and CEO of BrickWork India, said, "The IT vision of BJP will really come handy for creation of new job opportunities in the IT and ITeS sector in India where we still have a large percentage of unemployed graduates struggling to provide their services for the growth of the country."
Sudhindra Mokhasi, founder & CEO of e-Sutra, sees the document as overall a comprehensive and ambitious statement of intent, especially the open source preference, e-governance thrust, wider last-mile internet access, 100 million low-cost computers, education and financing.
"In a few cases it's probably better to let the incremental approach like converting post offices into e-service centers and creating higher density of Internet kiosks to take root before attempting ambitious plans like smart phones for bank access for all BPL population," Mokhasi said.
Similarly more robust envisioning needs to be done to ensure that providers of the solutions are predominantly Indian IT companies so there is a full 360 degree of benefit to the Indian society," said Mokhasi.
In all, however, most of these vision statements are significantly focused on the infrastructure supply, education and empowerment side of the divide," he said.
Terming the document a positive intent, Ramakrishna Voruganti, managing director of Barracuda Networks (India), said, MNIC will help traceability of transactions and will result in better tax collections.
"Having an open standard and adaptation of open source will level the playing field for enterprises. The cyber security initiative and the establishment of DSA will provide enormous possibilities for Indian IT security professionals while providing opportunities for organizations like Barracuda Networks, who have been in the forefront of countering cyber threats," Voruganti said.
Ajay Dhir, CIO of Jindal Steel, said the multipurpose national identity card (MNIC) with unique citizen identification number for every Indian citizen is a good initiative. "Besides, the other schemes like IT-enabled jobs in rural areas, 1 crore students to get laptop computers at Rs 10,000 are all good schemes. Overall, one can say that it is a progressive vision."
The initiative to provide IT-enabled jobs was also welcomed by Voruganti especially since the government is acting a catalyst rather than as an agency.
"The linking of PHCs, schools and colleges, use of IT in agriculture, rural development, SMEs, retail trade, informal and unorganised will greatly impact at the grassroots, will improve the off-farm employment in the villages, and prevent labour migration," he said.
Some of the measures are populist, but that is expected during the polls, was the general sentiment about BJP's IT Vision Document.
CXOtoday
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Is Indian CEO confidence highest in world?
Indian CEOs expect their businesses to be less affected by the crisis in the international banking system than their global counterparts.
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 12th Annual Global CEO Survey found only 50% of the respondents in India saying they were likely to be affected by the credit crisis, as compared to 70% globally.
India has recorded the highest CEO confidence levels amongst the emerging economies, with 70% expressing confidence about both short term and long term revenue growth, compared to just 21% and 34% globally. CEOs worldwide were gloomier about longer-term growth, predicting a slow recovery.
“This confidence is extremely significant since it signals the inherent strength of the Indian market, and its continuing potential for growth even in the face of crisis,” said Ramesh Rajan, chairman of PwC, India. Pessimism prevailed across all geographic regions, business sectors and levels of economic development, said the survey. Only 15% of CEOs in North America and 15% in Western Europe expressed confidence about growth prospects for the next 12 months. This compared with 21% in the emerging economies of Central and Eastern Europe, 31% in Asia Pacific, and 21% in Latin America.
The outlook for the next 12 months was optimistic for Indian CEOs as 89% of the respondents expect to make a return on investment in products or services provided, compared to 69% globally. 60% of Indian respondents said that they were likely to grow their businesses by penetrating existing markets better, compared to 37% globally.
Indian CEOs indicated that M&A activities were likely to play a greater role in the growth of their businesses than JVs or strategic alliances, in contrast with the global trend. 97% of Indian CEOs indicated that information about employee views and needs was important in making decisions about the long-term success and durability of their business, compared to 88% globally. The India figure was highest in Asia too.
For the survey, 1,124 interviews with CEOs were conducted in 50 countries during the last quarter of 2008.
Times of India
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 12th Annual Global CEO Survey found only 50% of the respondents in India saying they were likely to be affected by the credit crisis, as compared to 70% globally.
India has recorded the highest CEO confidence levels amongst the emerging economies, with 70% expressing confidence about both short term and long term revenue growth, compared to just 21% and 34% globally. CEOs worldwide were gloomier about longer-term growth, predicting a slow recovery.
“This confidence is extremely significant since it signals the inherent strength of the Indian market, and its continuing potential for growth even in the face of crisis,” said Ramesh Rajan, chairman of PwC, India. Pessimism prevailed across all geographic regions, business sectors and levels of economic development, said the survey. Only 15% of CEOs in North America and 15% in Western Europe expressed confidence about growth prospects for the next 12 months. This compared with 21% in the emerging economies of Central and Eastern Europe, 31% in Asia Pacific, and 21% in Latin America.
The outlook for the next 12 months was optimistic for Indian CEOs as 89% of the respondents expect to make a return on investment in products or services provided, compared to 69% globally. 60% of Indian respondents said that they were likely to grow their businesses by penetrating existing markets better, compared to 37% globally.
Indian CEOs indicated that M&A activities were likely to play a greater role in the growth of their businesses than JVs or strategic alliances, in contrast with the global trend. 97% of Indian CEOs indicated that information about employee views and needs was important in making decisions about the long-term success and durability of their business, compared to 88% globally. The India figure was highest in Asia too.
For the survey, 1,124 interviews with CEOs were conducted in 50 countries during the last quarter of 2008.
Times of India
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