Job Space

ECONOMISTS MORE UPBEAT ABOUT US JOB GROWTH: SURVEY

A new survey shows US economists are growing slightly more optimistic about recovery in the job and housing markets but expect other pillars of the economy to remain weak.

The National Association for Business Economists says in a report that its forecasters expect modest growth for the remainder of the year, with the pace picking up in 2013.

Still, the 54 economists NABE surveyed expect consumer spending, business investment and gross domestic product to remain below historic norms.

The quarterly survey compiles expectations for indicators such as hiring, home construction and spending from economists at industry groups, government agencies, banks and consultancies.

The panel now expects average monthly job growth for 2012 of 188,000, up from its forecast in February for 170,000 new jobs per month in 2012. The improved outlook would lead the unemployment rate to fall to 8 per cent by the end of the year, the economists said. The rate is now 8.1 per cent. By the end of 2013, the unemployment rate is expected to ease further to 7.5 per cent. 

IBM ON A DRIVE TO HIRE MORE WOMEN IN INDIA

Big Blue, led by power woman, Ginni Rometty, is on a drive to hire more women in leadership positions and across all positions in its India operations.

The multinational software giant has launched several programs targeted at employing more women, including those who want to get back to a career after a break, women only walk-in interviews and a program to enable female alumni to continue to contribute to projects in IBM.

One such campaign e-mailed to employees in several business units in IBM's India operations this month is titled, 'We are more than an IT company, We are an opportunity Company!!!' and asks staff to specifically refer women graduates and post-graduates for careers in its global business services.

These referrals, promoting more diversity in the firm, earn employees a higher referral bonus or fee compared to normal referral programs.

Another e-mail to employees is about a special walk-in program for women IT professionals. "At IBM India, diversity is a key ingredient that unlocks the potential for excellence," the mail says.

The 'Bring her Back' campaign launched last year to re-employ women to want to get back to a career is segmented into several sub-groups targeted at young mothers, those who have taken a study break or sabbatical, and those who have taken a few years off to take care of family.

IIM CALCUTTA'S PGPEX 5TH BATCH BAGS AVERAGE SALARY OF RS 20.4 LAKH

The fifth batch of IIM Calcutta's one-year residential program for executives, PGPEX has completed its placements with a top and average salary of Rs 28 lakh and Rs 20.4 lakh respectively. 

Tech Mahindra was the biggest recruiter with 10 offers and the highest salary was offered by Take Solutions. 

The batch comprised 44 students, out of which 3 were on sabbatical and 4 did not avail of placement facility. So 37 students participated in the placement process and bagged 49 offers. 

The IT/consulting sector led the charge with 18 offers, followed by consulting with 11 offers. There were 7 offers each in product management and sales/marketing roles, 5 in business development and 1 in general management. 

Some of the participating companies included Bain Consulting, Microsoft, Google, Infosys, Amazon, iNautix, Carestream, Accenture, HCL Technologies ,Take Solutions, Tech Mahindra, Dr. Reddy's Lab and Wipro BPO. 

First time recruiters included Sears IT, Medtronic, Keane Consulting, CGN Consulting, Fi-Tek, Microsoft, Accenture BPO and Wipro BPO.

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Banking News Update

FRIDAY MAY 18TH 2012: CITY UNION BANK TARGETS 20-30% GROWTH

Privately-owned City Union Bank hopes to log a growth of 20-30 per cent this fiscal despite the economic outlook not being encouraging.

"We hope to maintain a growth rate between 20-30 per cent this year. At the beginning of last fiscal we thought the economic condition would improve during the first two quarters of the current fiscal (2012-13). But going by the current trend we think the economy would hit the growth path during the beginning of the next financial year," N.  Kamakodi, the bank's managing director, told reporters.

THURSDAY MAY 15TH 2012: ICICI VENTURE MAY PICK STAKE IN MAJA HEALTH CARE, THE OWNER OF VI-JOHN BRAND

 Private equity firm ICICI Venture is in talks to pick up a stake in New Delhi-based Maja   Health Care, which makes Vi-John brand of shaving cream and other personal care products.

Maja Healthcare, which clocked 175 crore in sales for 2011-12, plans to aggressively expand its product portfolio and distribution to almost triple its turnover to 500 crore by 2015, its CEO Vimal Pande said.

WEDNESDAY MAY 16 TH 2012: AIRTEL, AXIS TIE-UP FOR MOBILE BANKING SERVICES

Country's largest private mobile operator Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank today announced a partnership to provide banking services through Airtel Money platform, a move that will help further the goal of reaching un-banked areas.

"Following the recent pan-India launch of airtel money, we are today excited to collaborate with Axis Bank to further strengthen our mCommerce proposition for customers," Bharti Airtel CEO - India and South Asia - Sanjay Kapoor said.

To begin with, savings and remittance solutions will be provided in Delhi and Mumbai on the sending side, and Bihar and East UP on the receiving side.

Thereafter, these services may be extended to other remittance corridors in the country, the company said.

TUESDAY MAY 15TH 2012: MOODY’S DOWNGRADES ICICI BANK, HDFC BANK & AXIS BANK; LITTLE EFFECT SEEN ON THE BANKS

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the ratings of top three private sector lenders - ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank – and Life Insurance Corp, reflecting the alignment of their fortunes with the government's deteriorating finances.

The downgrades will bring the ratings of these financial institutions on a par with the State, whose credit outlook is deteriorating with fiscal deficit forecast at 5.1% of GDP in 2012-13.

MONDAY MAY 14TH 2012: CENTRUM GROUP REACHES OUT TO MORE SOUTHERN CITIES TO PROVIDE FIN SERVICES

Financial services and Forex provider Centrum Group is expanding its network in most cities in South India intending to provide various travel and Forex related products through its 100 plus branches and implant offices in major IT companies.

Centrum Direct is approved by the Reserve Bank and is an authorized dealer catering to Forex needs of high net worth individuals, retail investors and corporate through its branches spread across India. 

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Mergers/Acquisition/Tie Up Updates

RIL, HFCL TIE UP FOR 4G LAUNCH

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) plans to roll out its 4G network in partnership with Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd (HFCL), the group from which it acquired pan-India airwaves for high-speed internet and data services in May 2010.

According to people familiar with the development, Reliance-owned Infotel Broadband will focus on key aspects of the network and monitor the rollout, but will leave ground-level execution and management to HFCL, which has prior experience of similar deployment. 

WOODLAND IN TALKS FOR FIRST OVERSEAS ACQUISITION; LIKELY TO INDUCT STRATEGIC PARTNER

Aero Group, makers of Woodland brand of footwear and apparel, is in talks for its first overseas acquisition and may induct a strategic partner for its international operations, a top executive said.

The company is in talks with three different makers of mainly specialised functional footwear, apparel and accessories in South East Asia and Australia, Aero Group MD  Harkirat  Singh said. The acquisitions will not only give Woodland a foothold in the specialized footwear category overseas but also give it a first-mover advantage in this space in India, Aero group officials said.

"We are raising funds internally for our first acquisition," Singh said, adding that the company may consider raising funds from private equity funds or opt for strategic partners in the near future to fund its overseas expansion plans.

GENPACT TO ACQUIRE ATYATI TECHNOLOGIES

 BPO major Genpact said it will acquire Atyati Technologies, a technology platform provider for the rural banking sector in India, for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition of Atyati Technologies provides Genpact with a technology platform in the rural banking space with last mile functionality, Genpact said in a statement.

The deal is expected to close in 3-4 weeks, subject to satisfaction of certain customary conditions. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2006 and backed by India-based VC firm Ventur East, Atyati is based in Bangalore and at present is partnering with six large public sector banks and one private sector bank.

Its platform serves 2.5 million end-customers in 6,500 rural villages, with expected expansion to 9.8 million end customers in more than 16,000 villages by 2013.

Atyati's 60 employees will become Genpact employees and will work with Genpact's India-to-India and Global IT Services business, the statement said. 

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IT/ITES News Update

FRIDAY MAY 18^TH 2012: RUPEE VOLATILITY A CONCERN FOR IT-BPO INDUSTRY: NASSCOM

Industry body Nasscom seems concerned with the currency volatility saying it hinders the planning process for the USD 100-billion IT-BPO industry.

"More than depreciation, the volatility of currency movement is a concern that needs to be tackled since it hinders the planning process for the Indian IT-BPO industry," Nasscom said.

A 10 per cent-plus movement of currency in a few weeks is definitely concerning for the companies, it added.

THURSDAY MAY 17^TH 2012: WORLD BPO FORUM LAUNCHES INITIATIVE TO TRAIN PEOPLE IN TIER-II AND TIER-III CITIES

The World BPO Forum, in association with BPO Association of India plans to train people in Tier-II and Tier-III cities over the next few years.

The organization has tied up with BPOs like Bharti.co and  iQ or to help train people in smaller towns and cities in India. The forum is also in talks with several other industry players to provide skills training in cities like Shimla, Cochin, Patna, Ranchi, Gandhinagar, Trivandram, Jaipur, Pune, Lucknow and Agra, to name a few.

As part of this initiative, Bharti.co, a Sahibabad-based BPO will set up a training academy in Sahibabad to train individuals with skills relevant for the industry. "We are talking to about 20-25 more companies to join us in the initiative," said WBPO Forum co-founder BL Jain.

The Forum has also partnered with the University of Rajasthan to provide skills training not only in BPO, but also in other areas such as accounting, to 2,500 students of the University. 

"We shall provide job assistance to them and help them get employable at the upcoming Mahindra World City in Rajasthan," he added.

WBPO Forum and BPO Association of India will hold conferences in 26 cities across the country to promote its skills training mission for Tier-II and Tier-III cities

WEDNESDAY MAY 16^TH 2012: INDIA IT INFRASTRUCTURE MARKET TO BE $2.05 BN THIS YEAR: GARTNER

The Indian IT infrastructure market comprising of servers, storage and networking equipment is estimated to reach $2.05 billion in 2012, a 10.3% increase over 2011, according to technology researcher Gartner. By 2016, it is forecast to reach $3.01 billion.

Servers, which constitute the largest segment of the Indian IT infrastructure market, are likely to reach $754.5 million in 2012 and grow to $967.2 million in 2016.

TUESDAY MAY 15^TH 2012: SOCIAL MEDIA GROWTH FALLING IN INDIA: GARTNER REPORT

India may be embracing latest technologies like mobility and cloud, but factors like privacy concerns and cultural fabric could restrain social media growth in the country as compared to other nations, a report by research firm Gartner said 

The report suggests that four significant forces that will shape businesses during the next five years are IT, mobile, cloud and social media. 

These pivotal technologies include the explosive use of media tablets, mobile applications, context-aware computing, Internet, analytics and in-memory computing (IMC), it added. 

"India is poised to become one of the world's biggest consumer economies in the coming five years. By 2014, it is expected to have more than one billion mobile subscribers and will also see significant roll-out of new IT infrastructure in both public and private sectors," Gartner Research VP Rakesh Kumar said. 

MONDAY MAY 14^TH 2012: GOVERNMENT TO LAUNCH RTI CALL CENTRE SOON

Encouraged by usage of the provisions of Right to Information Act, the Government has decided to set up a state-of-the-art call centre and an interactive website to facilitate easy exchange of information related to the transparency law to citizens.

The project was envisaged after taking insights from a government study which highlighted inconvenience faced by citizens in exercising their rights to information. 
According to an official of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the RTI Call Centreand Portal Project is aimed at improving access for illiterate and rural citizens with the help of information and communication technology. 

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