PayPal To Employ Over 1,000 Engineers Across 3 Cities For India Development Centres

PayPal has announced to hire 1,000 engineers this year for its India development centres across Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad.

PayPal will hire 1,000 engineers for the development centres in these three cities over the course of the year across software, product development, data science, risk analytics and business analytics streams at entry, mid-level, and senior roles.

The India Technology Centres currently employs over 4,500 people across the three centres. PayPal India has also announced its plans for campus hires from top engineering colleges across India.

The company highlighted that the pandemic has accelerated the shift towards digital payments and highlighted the benefits of adopting a digital first approach.

PayPal’s products and services have become even more relevant now and hence, the need to focus on technology innovation across AI/ML, Data Science, Risk and Security, Customer Experience and other key areas, it said.

“Our India Technology Centres are the largest for PayPal outside of the US and play a pivotal role in enabling us to constantly innovate and remain ahead of the curve,” Guru Bhat, VP Omni Channel & Customer Success, GM” PayPal India, said.

As digital payments move from a nice-to-have to an essential service, the company is focused on investing in and nurturing world-class technology talent to continue to offer products and services that meet the needs of its growing base of consumers and merchants.

Last month, Paypal said it will stop offering domestic payment services within India from April 1, and instead focus on enabling more international sales for Indian businesses.

Twitter Research Reveals What Indian Women Talk About The Most

* A research commissioned by Twitter India surveyed 700 women and analysed 522,992 Tweets from 7,839 women’s accounts between January 2019 and February 2021. After studying the Tweets, nine overarching conversation themes were identified across 19 Indian cities

* Passion points and interests emerges as the top conversation theme, with fashion, books, beauty, sports and entertainment as the most talked about interests

* Current affairs, Celebratory moments, Communities and Social change also find a spot in the top five conversation themes

Tweets around Everyday chatter had the highest engagement in terms of average number of Likes and Replies per Tweet, while Passion points and interests is the most Retweeted category

* Chennai leads conversations around Celebratory moments and Creative showcase, while Bengaluru fronts Communities, Social change and Shared challenges categories

Ahead of International Women’s Day, Twitter commissioned independent research to uncover insights around what women in India are talking about on the service. A quantitative survey amongst 700 women on Twitter was carried out, along with the qualitative curation and analysis of 522,992 Tweets sent out by female Twitter accounts between January 2019 and February 2021 by women across 10 Indian cities.

The research found that women in India have carved their own space on Twitter with a diverse range of conversations. Nine dominant conversational themes emerged from an in-depth look at the Tweets. With a 24.9% share, Passion points and interests emerged as the top conversation theme, with women talking most about fashion, books, beauty, entertainment and food on the service. Current affairs (20.8%), Celebratory moments (14.5%), Communities (11.7%) and Social change (8.7%) also featured in the top five conversation themes among women on Twitter. While conversations around Everyday chatter and Celebratory Moments saw the highest engagement in terms of average number of Likes and replies per Tweet, Passion Points and Interests, Communities and Shared challenges were the most Retweeted categories.

Cities showcased their different points of conversation: Chennai led conversations around Celebratory moments, Creative showcase and Everyday chatter, Bengaluru dominated chatter around Communities, Social change and Shared challenges, while Guwahati fronted conversations around Passion points and interests and Current affairs.

Manish Maheshwari, Managing Director at Twitter India, said, “We commissioned this research to build our understanding about women on Twitter and were inspired by the results. These insights show us that Twitter is for every woman. Their communities and conversations highlight the uniqueness and diversity of the service. Access to a free and open Internet has made it possible for everyone to express themselves freely without barriers. As a service our goal is to build on this foundation, giving people new ways to converse, form communities and control who can interact with them in a conversation.”

Most talked about conversation themes among women on Twitter in India:

Passion points and interests (24.9%): Kpop to cricket, women Tweet the most about their passions; Guwahati, Lucknow and Pune lead the pack

From the research we know that one of the main reasons women (24.9%) come to Twitter is to pursue their interests, and represent their passions. Within this category are those who seek content on fashion (30%), books (28%), beauty (25%), movies and TV (21%), music (18%), food (18%), technology (17%), art (17%) and sports (14%). 41% women say they discovered a new interest on Twitter. The service is committed to making it easier for people to find and follow interests. It has simplified the ability for people to create a customised Twitter List, share and pin them and is heavily investing in machine learning to improve Topic recommendations. There are about 6,000 followable Topics today.

Current affairs (20.8%): Women turn to Twitter to stay informed; Guwahati and Delhi lead the discourse

20.8% of women use Twitter’s open, real-time nature to stay informed on local and international news. Tweets about #StudentExams, #COVID19 related updates and #DelhiElections2020 dominated the conversation in this category.

Celebratory moments (14.5%): From professional to personal wins, women Tweet to celebrate little joys of life; Chennai, Kolkata and Madurai lead the party

Women (14.5%) on Twitter love sharing their everyday wins – no matter how big or small, both personal and professional. Through hashtags such as #WomenWhoWin, #TheMomentOfLift, #SmallWins and #EverydayJoys, they are normalising the celebration of little and big wins.

Communities (11.7%): Be it #WomenInScience or #GirlGamers, women love Tweeting to connect; Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad ace making new connections

One of the special things about Twitter is the diversity of its communities and the ease with which people can form and participate in them. Women (11.7%) are using the power of virtual communities to reach out, connect and network with others. These women are coming together with hashtags such as #WomenInScience, #WomenInTech, #WomenInMarketing, and #GirlGamers. Through these conversations, women often find camaraderie and support. While 41% of women have sought advice/tips/recommendations on the service, 37% have given advice/tips/recommendations to others and 32% have gained real-life friendship(s).

Social change (8.7%): Women Tweet to empower and bring about a change in society through online movements such as #SheforShe and #TimesUp; Bengaluru, Guwahati, and Delhi lead the way in shining a light on critical matters

Women (8.7%) on Twitter don’t hold back when it comes to supporting their community and over the years, they have harnessed the power of Tweets to give rise to and participate in several social movements from #SheforShe, #TimesUp to #MeToo.

Shared challenges (6.9%): Women Tweet about everyday hardships such as #Parenting and #WorkingFromHome, seeking solace in online conversations; Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mumbai are open about their realities and challenges

In India, women (6.9%) Tweet about challenges, be it working from home with kids or being a single mom. While personal, these shared experiences are relatable, allowing them to build a shared intimacy in public.

Creative showcase (4.2%): From #Photography to #Poetry, Indian women use Twitter to exhibit their creativity to a virtual audience; Chennai, Kolkata, and Mumbai lead the show With the opportunity to display their talent to a larger audience on Twitter, women (4.2%) from diverse backgrounds in India have been showcasing their creative best on the service. It’s common to see conversations about #Art, #Photography, #Dance, #CulinaryArts, among others, in one’s timeline.

Heartfelt confessions (4.2%): Tweets on #ModernDating, mental health, and much more. Women open up on Twitter about experiences in their personal lives; Madurai and Mumbai bare it all down

Women (4.2%) in Indian use Twitter to express their personal inhibitions and fears. These conversations are informal, intimate and raw, demanding people’s attention. These women find strength in being able to communicate freely, in fact, 39% of women surveyed feel that Twitter provides them with freedom of expression.

Everyday chatter (4%): From #SareeTwitter to #LockdownRecipes women love to Tweet and share their everyday experiences; Chennai and Mumbai lead conversations

Women (4%) Tweet about their daily activities making the service a huge part of their life. For instance, Tweets about regular outfits and accessories like #SareeTwitter, #JhumkaTwitter, and #BindiTwitter created a shared experience and harboured a sense of community. 33% of women use Twitter while commuting, 29% use it during breakfast, 24% use it upon waking up and 22% use it just before bed.

Protecting women’s voices -- and the voices of all those who use Twitter -- is a top priority and one the service is constantly working on it. Twitter has made progress when it comes to making it a safer place for public conversation. Over the past year, Twitter has introduced multiple features to make the experience more positive, safe and healthy.

Started including the sender’s profile information in Direct Messages and indicated how the sender is connected to the receiver in order to help people quickly identify potentially abusive content.

Introduced new settings to give people control over who can reply to their Tweet. Since August 2020, Twitter has seen more than 15 million Tweets created with conversational controls.

How to Hide Replies to Tweets: Twitter lets you choose the replies you would want people to notice to your Tweets and hide the ones you don’t want to be noticed. People can see and engage with hidden replies by tapping the grey icon that will appear on the Tweets.

Working Women Bear The Maximum Brunt By Performing Dual Role During COVID-19: Women@Work Report

With longer work hours and a work from home set-up during the COVID-19 pandemic, women bore the maximum brunt by performing a dual role as a working professional as well as a caregiver. Over 80% of working women in India have been negatively impacted in some form or the other during COVID-19 with the work-life balance becoming worse, a report on the effects of COVID-19 on the women workforce in the formal sector in India revealed.

According to the report, ‘Women@Work’, which was launched by Aspire for Her and Sustainable Advancements today, 38.5% of working women surveyed said they were adversely affected by the burden of added housework, childcare and eldercare while 43.7% stated that work-life balance has become worse.

As part of the launch, a virtual panel discussion was hosted with eminent panellists – Ms. Madhura DasGupta Sinha (Founder & CEO of Aspire For Her), Dr. Nayan Mitra (Founder of Sustainable Advancements), Ms. Nishtha Satyam (Dy. Country Representative, UN Women) and Ms. Navya Naveli Nanda (Founder, Project Naveli and Co-Founder & CMO at Aara Health), which was moderated by Ms. Poornima Shenoy, CEO - Hummingbird Advisors.

According to the report, the most common response received from the participants was having to work longer and harder during the pandemic. Thus, leading to a worsened work-life balance. 50.4% of mid-career women (16-20 years’ work experience) cited the reason as ‘added burden of housework, childcare, and eldercare’, more than any other demographic.

Talking about the report, Ms. Madhura DasGupta Sinha, Founder & CEO of Aspire For Her said, “The pandemic has had a perceptible impact on women in various stages of their lives, across different industry sectors, occupational status, work experience, and life stages. This is not just a research report for us. The Women@Work research has been a cornerstone to our strategy to build a winning mindset in aspiring women, in the backdrop of a sharp blow to the already-declining statistics around the labour force participation rate of Indian women. The findings of the research have helped us to craft the strategy around motivating women to enter and stay in the workforce. The research helped us enhance the 5-point mindset change model including mentors and role models, learning and reskilling opportunities, career previews and opportunities and the need for a strong, peer community.”

The research was conducted during the third quarter of the financial year 2020-21 on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the women workforce in the formal sector, correlating them to four variables - industry sector, occupational status, work experience and hierarchical position. The intensive research was conducted with a sample size of 800 women across the metropolitan cities of Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Ranchi, Jaipur, Pune and Ahmedabad.

The research had the highest representation from the Corporate sector (41%), followed by Academic (21%), Self-employed (10%), Healthcare/Essential Service (9%), Government (5%), Civil Society (1%) and Others (13%).

Gender Divide among various occupational status

61.1% of women who lost their job due to COVID-19 felt women be worse off than men, followed by women who took a break (46.7%), closely followed by working women (42.3%), students at 35.6% and self-employed women at 30.3%.

Ms. Poornima Shenoy, CEO - Hummingbird Advisors commented: “As the world was reeling under the impact of the COVID-19 virus, there was another virus that was affecting social structures. Working women, across the world, were the ones who suffered the most from rising unemployment. The report reveals that there were gender-based disparities in the pandemic. These could be stemming from differential treatment of women in the workforce or a disproportionate share of household responsibilities.”

Women in Entrepreneurship

The report pointed out that while the women in employment were feeling overwhelmed, the self-employed women were the worst hit. 41.6% of self-employed women shared that they were negatively affected by COVID-19. The largest impediments to adopting a new business model have been insufficient knowledge to predict demand patterns and a lack of financial resources. Even in cases where businesses did not see an immediate decline in revenue, growth has remained mute.

Ms. Navya Naveli Nanda, Founder - Project Naveli and Co-Founder & CMO at Aara Health stated: “The pandemic was becoming a lonely journey for women entrepreneurs. There is a need to have a common platform - an online community where stories can be shared and career resources can be provided. I applaud institutions like Aspire For Her and Sustainable Advancements who are actively studying the impact of COVID-19 on women entrepreneurs but, more critically, using their findings to come up with actionable solutions.”

Women in Civil Societies

Women in civil societies felt a unique set of challenges. A substantial part of their funding got diverted to healthcare. Moreover, the lockdown and subsequent social distancing rule greatly jeopardized the dynamics of the civil society organizations that thrived on physical connect. 33.3% of women in civil society organisations reported being negatively affected.

Dr Nayan Mitra, the author of the report, an expert in CSR and Founder of Sustainable Advancements added, “The report is a wake-up call for women, and men, in India. If we do what we have always done for the last 15 years, the country will lose out on a fantastic talent pool of a highly educated, diverse workforce to unleash the trillion-dollar opportunity.”

Women in Education Sector

50.6% of women working in the academic sector felt that women were worse off as compared to men during the pandemic. There was also increased teaching and service workloads where many of the teachers had to move to an online video platform to render their academic services. For most of the older generation teachers, this was the most strenuous task in their whole life. There were 21.8% of women who felt that they were negatively impacted, stating a majority (54.1%) of them had to work harder/longer, while 41.8% of them stated they had added burden of housework/childcare/eldercare.

Work Experience

The report says that women who are early in their careers, with work experience of 0-5 years were most adversely impacted (30.0%), closely followed by women who have 21-25 years of experience (29.2%). The reasons cited for this negative impact were increased working hours (20.3%), work-life balance becoming worse (16.7%), added burden of housework (10.6%), no increment/bonus (10.0%), financial worries (5.5%), and a pay-cut (5.2%). Women who had work experience of 0-5 years were mostly women in Entry-level/Junior Roles, who were at the nascent stages of their career and were subject to the threat of job loss and lack of alternate opportunities.

The declining percentage of women in the workforce for the last 15 years and the worsening rank in the Global Gender Gap Index is a huge cause for concern, exacerbated by the pandemic. The rich interviews and insights have helped AFH to craft a unique mindset-change proposition for women professionals and aspirants. The report has inspired AFH to redefine the community strategy and understand the importance of shared safe space - which can help women connect and communicate with each other and re-discover the power of togetherness.

MAHE Signs MoU With The University Of Sydney For Academic And Research Collaboration

The University of Sydney (USyd) has underpinned its partnership with Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) with an agreement to enhance academic and educational exchange and research collaborations. The University of Sydney is one of the best universities in Australia and is consistently ranked in the top 50 universities in the world.

Professor Stephen Garton AM, Vice-Chancellor and Principal at University of Sydney and Lt. Gen. (Dr.) M. D. Venkatesh, the Vice-Chancellor of MAHE, signed the MoU in a high-profile virtual event on Thursday attended by heads of institutions from the Faculty of Health Sciences. Besides enhancing academic interaction between the two universities, the MoU shall facilitate two-way mobility of students and announce a call for research seed grant scheme that will build capacity based on collaborative research. Through this collaboration both the universities intend to identify opportunities for joint activities in areas of mutual interest that address the pressing issues globally.

In his opening remarks, Prof. Garton said “The institutions must explore opportunities to establish joint innovation to promote collaboration and commercialization activities between Australia and India”. He also expressed that the new collaboration will establish a long-term partnership that could help foster research and mobility. Central to the new agreement will be the recognition of jointly supervised Ph.D. programs across the proposed research clusters identified by the two universities. Ms. Amanda Sayan, Director of Partnerships, University of Sydney assured that “The university intends to launch a joint Global Strategic Partnership Fund to support research and other collaborative activities under this agreement. Dr. Raghu Radhakrishnan, Director of International Collaborations at MAHE stated that “MAHE is committed to this collaboartion. In the true spirit of internationalization, MAHE places diversity and adaptability through inclusion in the center of organizational matters” He also highlighted government schemes like Study in India (SII) and Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) in addition to the New Colombo Plan for hosting international students and facilitating academic and research exchange.

Lt. Gen. (Dr.) M. D. Venkatesh concluded the meeting expressing his delight at formalizing this MoU and exuded confidence that this collaboration will be mutually beneficial bringing the best of academics to scale new heights of excellence enshrining the knowledge triangle of education, research, and innovation..

Vahan Places 5000 Blue-Collar Workers Per Month Through WhatsApp

 *Over 1 lakh blue-collar workers in India have been placed through Vahan’s WhatsApp API chatbot 

Vahan, an AI-enabled livelihood platform, today announced that it has reached a significant milestone of providing employment opportunities to over 1 lakh blue-collared professionals through its WhatsApp API enabled chatbot called Mitra. With an increase of 400% since 2020, these workers have been placed in several blue/grey-collared jobs in sectors such as logistics, delivery, and BPOs. 

Vahan currently has 5 million users on its platform and is adding 2.5 lakh people every month. Given the simplicity and ease of use of the WhatsApp API, the digital startup is placing 5000 people every month and is growing at the rate of 25% per month. Mitra is emerging as India's employment exchange 2.0 for over 300 millionblue-collar workers in the country. 

To apply, job seekers need to simply text “Hi” to Vahan’s WhatsApp-enabled chatbot ‘Mitra’, answer a few questions, and expect to be placed in a job within 3 days. Being available on WhatsApp has helped the company reduce the barrier to entry while maximizing user adoption and engagement. 

Talking about the benefits of Vahan, Asha, a job seeker, said, “My husband and I both lost our jobs during the pandemic and were struggling to make ends meet. This is when someone advised me to reach out to ‘Mitra’ who found me a job in just one day. ‘Mitra’ is a godsend for people like us who struggle to find jobs matching their skills and often get harassed by middlemen. It is unbelievable that I can find jobs on WhatsApp itself!” 

According to Madhav Krishna, Founder and CEO, Vahan, “The blue-collar segment is an underserved market in India despite constituting the bulk of the workforce. Our partnership with WhatsApp allows us to seamlessly connect employers and job seekers thereby facilitating better livelihoods and financial inclusion especially for underprivileged households.” 

Vahan is leveraging the power of WhatsApp, AI and machine learning to bring a great value proposition to both recruiters and job seekers in this underserved blue-collar market. “We are set to become the country’s largest blue-collar recruiter in the next 18 months”, Madhav Krishna further added. 

“Vahan has grown into a key contributor and driver of growth in the gig workforce. We are excited that WhatsApp continues to bring value to such innovative models of growth and helps accelerate financial and digital inclusion among blue-collar workforce in India,” added Abhijit Bose, Head of WhatsApp, India. 

Specializing in high volume recruitment of delivery personnel for companies in the e-commerce and food delivery space, Vahan played an essential role in securing jobs for unemployed executives during the pandemic with more than 20,000 people relying on Vahan to look for a job on WhatsApp every day. 

About Vahan 

Vahan is leveraging the power of Machine Learning to not only help blue-collar workers find jobs that match their skills but is also helping employers find the right resource/candidate at the right price, at the right place, and at the right moment. The digital start-up uses matching tools effectively to find the right fit for client organizations thereby reducing the hiring cost by as much as 30% besides saving blue-collar workers from exploitation at the hands of middlemen. 

Vahan is working with clients across sectors including Retail, Hospitality, Healthcare, Logistics, Warehousing, and BFSI. Some of its clients include Shadowfax, Amazon, Zomato, and Swiggy. Currently, it has over 5 million users from over 1200 cities on its product and has already placed 100,000 people across India. Backed by Y Combinator, Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, Airtel and many former and current Google and Flipkart executives, the company is well poised to become India’s largest placement firm in India in the near future. 

Steve Allen Appointed As The New Executive Vice President Of dnata’s Global Operations

The Emirates Group has announced the appointment of Steve Allen as the executive vice president of dnata, the global air services provider.

Steve Allen will be responsible for all dnata’s businesses covering ground handling, catering and travel across six continents. In addition, he will assume responsibility for managing Emirates Group’s relationships with its associated businesses, including MMI, Emirates CAE Flight Training and Premier Inn.

In his new role, Steve Allen will continue to report to Gary Chapman, president group services and dnata, until his retirement at the end of March. Thereafter, Steve Allen will report directly to Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman & chief executive of Emirates Airline & Group.

Sheikh Ahmed, said, "I’m pleased to announce the promotion of Steve to executive vice president. In his various management roles at the company, Steve has delivered outstanding results and demonstrated excellent leadership skills, making a significant contribution to the success of dnata and its customers. I’m confident that under Steve’s leadership dnata will cement its position as a global leader that consistently provides service excellence and the highest level of quality and safety across all its businesses."

"I wish to take the opportunity to thank Gary for his commitment and accomplishments over the last three decades. Gary has led dnata to fantastic new heights, transforming it into a strong global business with a first-class reputation when it comes to service, safety, and standard. I wish Gary a happy and fulfilling retirement."

Steve Allen has been with the Emirates Group for 12 years in various operational and support roles. Since 2016, he has been overseeing dnata’s ground handling and cargo operations and airport hospitality services in the United Arab Emirates as Divisional Senior Vice President. For the past nine months, he has also been leading dnata’s travel businesses and their ongoing transformation globally. Prior to joining the Emirates Group, Steve Allen spent 16 years with British Airways in various financial, regional and operational roles.

A trusted partner of over 300 airline customers, dnata provides quality and safe ground handling, cargo, catering and travel services in 35 countries. In the financial year, 2019-20 dnata’s customer-oriented teams handled 681,000 aircraft, moved 2.9 million tons of cargo, uplifted more than 93 million meals and recorded a total transaction value (TTV) of travel services of US$ 3.0 billion.

Honeyell Automation India Limited Names Ganesh Nataraan As New Chairman From March 8, 2021

 Honeywell Automation India Limited (HAIL NSE: HONAUT) today announced Dr. Ganesh Natarajan’s appointment as Independent Director (Non-Executive) and Chairman of its Board of Directors, effective March 8, 2021.

As Chairman of Board of Directors, Dr. Natarajan will offer guidance to HAIL’s management team on the company’s overall strategy, business, and financial matters. He will provide direction and Board support for strong corporate governance.

Dr. Natarajan succeeds Mr. Suresh Senapaty, who completes his five-year tenure as Independent Director and Chairman of HAIL on March 7, 2021. Mr. Senapaty has conveyed his desire not to seek reappointment as Independent Director of the company for the second term due to his personal commitments. Accordingly, his tenure as Director of the company will come to an end on March 7, 2021.

Mr. Ashish Gaikwad, Managing Director, HAIL, said, “Dr. Ganesh Natarajan brings with him a rich and varied experience as a seasoned CEO, a tech entrepreneur, and an industry thought leader. We look forward to his guidance and inputs to our strategic vision to become a software industrial company as we steer the company through an ambitious and aggressive growth path. We are also grateful to Mr. Suresh Senapaty for his valuable contribution to HAIL over the last five years. His legacy of good governance and controls will continue to serve us well.”

Dr. Ganesh Natarajan has more than 30 years of industry experience, including 25 years as CEO for Aptech and Zensar Technologies. He is a serial entrepreneur, having founded 5F World, a platform for digital start-ups, skills, and social ventures, and he co-founded Global Talent Track, Skills Alpha, and Lighthouse Communities Foundation. He also co-founded two Indo-U.S. joint ventures, namely Kalzoom Advisors and the Center for AI and Advanced Analytics. He completed his master’s in Industrial Engineering from NITIE Mumbai, Ph.D. from IIT Bombay, and Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School.

Commenting on his appointment, Dr. Ganesh Natarajan said, “I have always been keenly interested in the role of digital technologies in re-engineering processes for the corporate and social sectors. I am excited to be part of Honeywell, a software-industrial leader that has been driving India’s move towards Industry 4.0.”

HAIL is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE), and is a leader in providing integrated automation and software solutions, including process solutions and building solutions. It has a wide product portfolio in environmental and combustion controls, and sensing and control, and provides engineering services in the field of automation and control to global clients.

HAIL was established in 1984 with its manufacturing, design, and engineering facilities located in Pune. Today, this Fortune India 500 company, has more than 3,000 employees spread across Pune, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Gurgaon, Kolkata, and Jamshedpur.

HAIL has the unique distinction of being one of the first automation companies in India to be awarded dual certification of ISO:14001 and OHSAS:18001.