Job Space

FORD TO HIRE 700 PEOPLE IN INDIA THIS YEAR

Having recruited around 90 business school graduates and 45 engineering graduate trainees so far, Ford plans to increase its headcount by 700 people at the end of this year. 

The company plans to recruit people for its two units: Ford India and Ford Global Business Services. Despite a slowing passenger car market, recent employee agitation at its Chennai plant and intense competition, Ford India seems to be unperturbed by attrition 

"Retaining the workforce is not an issue. Our attrition rate at 6% is less than 50% of the market rate," says Dhananjay Nair, General Manager, and Human Resources at Ford India. 

Ford India has invested close to Rs 4,000 crore for its vehicle and operations plant in Sanand, Gujarat and have plans of hiring 5000 direct employees for the project over time, which would increase its existing workforce of 10,000 by 50%. The plant is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2014. 

HP TO LAY OFF 27,000 EMPLOYEES TO BOOST PROFITS

Hewlett Packard will lay off about 27,000 employees over the next two years as part of restructuring to boost declining profits and revenues. "As part of the restructuring,  HP  expects approximately 27,000 employees to exit the company, or 8 per cent of its workforce as of October 31, 2011, by the end of fiscal year 2014," the company said in a statement. 

HP, which has more than 300,000 employees across the world, has been struggling with demand of PCs and printers. 

The workforce reduction would generate an annual savings in the  of range of $3-3.5 billion by the end of the 2014 fiscal year. 

The job cut will include an early retirement program me and "workforce reduction plans will vary by country, based on local legal requirements and consultation with works councils and employee representatives."

EDUCATION SECTOR A MAJOR EMPLOYMENT DRIVER IN INDIA: EXPERTS

Experts have named 'education sector' as the major employment driver in the country during the Indian Job Outlook Survey 2012 conducted by TJ insite, research and knowledge arm of TimesJobs.com. "Jobs in education sector will continue to grow for next two decades", stated Dhruv Desai, Senior VP Human Resource & Leadership Academy, Angel Broking during a discussion with TJinsite, research and knowledge arm of TimesJobs.com on future of jobs in education sector. 

Elaborating the current hiring scenario of the sector, Desai informed that the tremendous growth in education sector can be easily and efficiently measured by number of vacancies published in any job supplement or portal in comparison to other sectors. 

In month-over-month analysis of RecruiteX, TimesJobs.com recruitment index, it has appeared that the supply of candidates is considerably growing in the sector as job-seekers are eyeing employment opportunities in this supposedly 'recession proof' segment. In fact, the demand of educationists is just not limited to the customary education industry.

 However, prominent sectors such as Healthcare/Pharmaceutical and IT/ITeS are also contributing to the demand landscape of education segment. 

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M&A/ Tie Ups/Corporate Announcements

GENPACT INKS BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT DEAL WITH DR REDDY'S

BPO giant Genpact said it has signed an agreement with Dr Reddy's Laboratories to provide comprehensive finance and accounting (F&A) services to the pharmaceutical major.

As part of the deal, Genpact will take over Dr Reddy's shared services operations in Hyderabad, which supports the company's operations in India, the US and the UK.

Genpact will implement its best practices to make Dr Reddy's F&A processes more effective for accounts payable, accounts receivable, record-to-report and employee-related services.

"This engagement will ensure that our F&A support processes become more effective while we continue to focus on growing our pharmaceutical business across therapeutic segments and geographies," Dr Reddy's CFO Umang Vohra said.

This engagement between Dr Reddy's and Genpact was facilitated and managed by RvaluE Consulting.

"This partnership will bring to Genpact expertise in the generics pharmaceutical business and further growth of our client base in India," Genpact Senior Vice-President Harpreet Duggal said.

L&T INFOTECH, BMC SOFTWARE PARTNER FOR GLOBAL IT INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES

IT firm L&T Infotech today said it has entered into a global partnership with BMC Softwarefor providing IT infrastructure management services. 

BMC Software, headquartered in Houston, US, is a USD 2.2 billion firm offering Business Service Management (BSM) solutions. 

Through this partnership, L&T Infotech and BMC aim to offer infrastructure management solutions like datacenter automation, IT service management andcloud computing management to global clients, the companies said in a statement. 

Big Magic to be available on Reliance Digital TV *Reliance Broadcast Network today said its Hindi entertainment channel Big Magic will be available to Reliance Digital TV subscribers, replacing Imagine TV on the DTH platform. 

L CAPITAL WALKS OUT OF LILLIPUT KID SWEAR DEAL OVER VALUATION

Private equity fund L Capital Asia has withdrawn its offer to buy beleaguered kidswear maker Lilliput due to differences over valuation and deal details.

"The deal is off. There were differences over valuation," Sanjeev Narula, founder of Lilliput Kidswear, said.

L Capital, the private equity division of luxury group LVMH, wanted to settle for a substantially lower valuation than what was initially agreed by choosing to buy only the retail assets of Lilliput, and not the entire company complete with its export and manufacturing divisions.

WARBURG LEADS $32 MILLION INVESTMENT IN QUICKR.COM

 US private equity firm Warburg Pincusalong with existing investors have pumped $32 million in fresh funds into online classifieds firm Quickr    

Quickr, which aims to use the cash to expand across online and mobile platforms, said existing investors that participated in this round include online retail giant eBay Inc, private equity Matrix Partners Indiaand global venture capital firm Norwest Venture Partners. 

EVERSTONE CAPITAL BUYS MAJORITY STAKE IN R&R SALONS

Private equity firm Everston e Capitalhas acquired a significant stake in R&R Salons, a Bangalore-based company that operates the YLG salon chain.

The fund will initially invest Rs 60 crore and will subsequently increase it up to Rs 109 crore ($20 million), according to a person directly involved in the transaction. The investment will come from Everstone Capital Partners ; a $580-million fund that the PE firm is currently investing from said the same person.

YLG, co-founded by Rahul Bhalchandra, former head of Pantaloon Retail's wellness division, runs 19 salons in Bangalore and one in Pune. The company has been on the look-out for a large capital infusion to build a national footprint. Jaspal Singh Sabharwal, Partner-Private Equity at Everstone Capital, confirmed the transaction but declined to share specifics.

HCL TECHNOLOGIES INKS PACT WITH UBM CANON FOR CONTENT MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS

Software services major HCL Technologies has signed an agreement with UBM Canon to deliver production and content management solutions to the media and communications group. 

The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. As part of the partnership, HCL Technologies will provide its production and content management service platform 'POMS' to enable establishment of a more dynamic system for creating, producing and delivering content across UBM Canon's product portfolio, HCL Technologies said in a statement. 

This will help UBM in rapid and optimized content delivery over web, digital products, mobile and print environments, it added. 

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BFSI News Update

MAY 28, 2012: MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA IN TALKS TO ENTER GENERAL INSURANCE BUSINESS

 Mahindra & Mahindra, the country's biggest farm equipment maker, is in talks with US-based Travelers Group to enter the fast-growing Rs. 40,000-crore general insurance business.

People close to the development said that talks have begun between executives of the two groups for a joint venture to sell general insurance products in India.

Mahindra's presence in the automobile industry will provide enormous opportunities to sell motor insurance.

MAY 25, 2012: SBI CARDS TO FOCUS GROWTH IN TIER 2 AND 3 CENTRES

The third largest credit card issuer SBI Cards said it will be focusing on tier 2 and 3 centers for growth in the near future and clients in these segments will grow to occupy 20 per cent of the total over the next three years.

"The growth in tier 2 and 3 centers will outpace growth in tier 1 cities...even though it occupies a very small share right now, we are targeting it to increase to 20 per cent of total number of cards in three years," said Chief Executive Kadambi  Narahari 

He said the card company, a joint venture between State Bank of India and GE of the US, already has a presence in 50 cities and will be leveraging on SBI's network to grow.

MAY 24, 2012: LIC MAY BUY OUT ERSTWHILE UNIT TRUST OF INDIA'S STAKES IN ITC, AXIS BANK AND LARSEN & TOUBRO

 Life Insurance Corp (LIC) has offered to buy out the erstwhile Unit Trust of India's stakes in ITC, Axis Bank and Larsen & Toubro (L&T), valued at Rs 37,000 crore, in a move that will ease the government's fiscal burden, but fuel debate on the insurer's risk and governance policies. 

The proposal to buy these stakes, which are in possession of the government, was made recently to finance ministry officials, who are looking for ways to bridge the yawning fiscal gap, two persons familiar with the proposal said. 

The buyout, if it happens, could be staggered over months or even over two years, they said. They declined to add whether it was a voluntary decision by LIC. 

The state-run insurer's proposal could help the government side-step hostile public investors, who turned their backs on a share sale by Oil and Natural Gas Corp, forcing LIC to bail out the Rs 12,400-crore issue. 

MAY 23, 2012: BLACKSTONE IN TALKS WITH UNITECH FOR RS 3,000CR DEAL FOR SEZS, IT PARK

US private equity firm Blackstone is in talks with real estate developer Unitech to buy its two special economic zones in Gurgaon and Noida and an IT park in Kolkata in a deal worth over Rs 3,000 crore.

A senior executive at Unitech confirmed the development and said that Blackstone is carrying out due diligence on the properties, which are part of AIM-listed Unitech Corporate Parks.

The two SEZs under consideration have about 3.5 million sq ft of built-up space, of which about 60% is leased. The information technology park in Kolkata is spread over 1.90 million sq ft.

Unitech, India's third-largest real estate company by market value, effectively holds 45% in UCP, as it owns 40% of the assets under UCP and owns 10% of the holding company as well. UCP has six assets spread across Noida, Greater Noida, Gurgaon and Kolkata.

MAY 22 2012: IBM TO HELP AXIS BANK PROVIDE EFFICIENT CUSTOMER CARE SERVICE

 Technology giant IBM said it has been engaged by Axis Bank in a large project to provide more efficient customer care services to its customers. 

The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. IBM will consolidate and manage the contact centre operations from the bank's existing 58 regional asset centers to a single mortgage contact centre, IBM said in a statement. 

The contact centre will cater to inbound voice and email communications from bank customers, it added. 

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IT/ITES News Update

MAY 28,2012 :IT COS MAY NOT PROFIT FROM RUPEE’S FALL

 Falling rupee normally attracts investors to stocks of IT outsourcing companies. But this time around, the great fall of the Indian rupee has not excited investors to buy IT stocks.

This is mainly because of two reasons: One, the dollar-denominated revenue outlook of most IT companies for fiscal 2013 is unimpressive and, two, although most of the dollar earnings of these companies are hedged, such hedges are capped and they do not cover the full depreciation of the rupee. 

Most IT companies reported significant growth during fiscals 2010 and 2011 and a relatively flat growth during fiscal 2012, but the outlook for FY13 is extremely bleak. 

The US and Europe, the two largest markets for Indian software exporters, remain uncertain and volatile, and large global clients are deferring their discretionary spends on IT. 

MAY 25, 2012: LARGE IT COMPANIES LIKE INFOSYS MAY STRUGGLE TO GROW AT 20% UNLESS IT BUDGETS RAMP UP: KOTAK SECURITIES

Large IT Indian providers such as Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro may struggle to grow at 20% unless IT budgets ramp up.

Some of the reasons for this include an already existing high penetration into large US banking and telecom clients in traditional services, less generous doses of large deals, and slower than expected acceleration in Europe revenues, brokerage firm Kotak Securities said in a report.

MAY 24, 2012: ADITYA BIRLA NUVO REVIVES PLANS FOR STAKE SALE IN BPO ARM

Aditya Birla Group flagship , Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited, has revived plans to sell a stake in its BPO arm, Aditya Birla Minacs, after it received an expression of interest for the business from buyout fund Advent International, a person with knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity.

Adity Birla Nuvo owns an 88% stake in the BPO arm and may divest its entire stake if it receives an attractive valuation. The company is seeking $400 million for its stake in Aditya Birla Minacs.

Aditya Birla Minacs has annual revenues of around Rs. 2000 crore and EBITDA of roughly Rs. 200 crore. A bulk of it business comes from offering voice-based outsourcing services to clients in Canada and North America.

Aditya Birla Nuvo was reported to be in talks to sell a stake in its BPO business two years ago but did not follow through with the plan due to poor valuations.

MAY 23, 2012: AHEAD OF PRESIDENTIAL POLLS, WNS OPENS CENTRE IN US

NYSE-listed Indian business process outsourcing firm NS Global Services on Tuesday announced the opening of its first US delivery centre in South Carolina, where it will employ about 300 staff.

WNS joins other India-based IT/BPO firms such as EXL, HCL Technologies, Infosys and Ge    npact in raising their employee presence in the US, where in the run up to the November presidential elections, political rhetoric over outsourcing is rising. 

Last week, US President Barack Obama's campaign team held Republican rival Mitt Romney as being guilty of allowing jobs to be outsourced to call centres in Mexico and India. South Carolina faces a high unemployment rate of 8.8%, marginally higher than the national average of 8.1%. 

"WNS's decision to launch its first US delivery centre in our state signifies a big win for the State of South Carolina," said Nikki Haley, the Governor of South Carolina. WNS currently earns about 30% of its $474-million (Rs 2,607 crore) annual sales from North America, and about 68% from Europe.

MAY 22, 2012: “INDIAN IT SPEND TO GROW BY 16% TO RS 1.9 TRILLION IN 2012”-GARTNER

Indian enterprises will spend an estimated Rs 1.91trillion ($35 billion) on information technology and related services in 2012, up 16.4% from a year ago, according to latest data from market research and advisory firm Gartner. 

Last year, Indian firms spent Rs1.64trillion ($30billion) Gartner data showed. A weakening rupee is expected to act as a tailwind driving the actual spends from last year. On Tuesday, the local currency was trading at 55.35 against the dollar. 

An increasing number of Indian companies becoming more globalized is driving the need to spend more on technology to support such growth, according to Gartner. 

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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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