February

Data points to decelerating growth in H2
Mint
The government’s advance estimates put GDP growth by expenditure for the full financial year 2012 is 7.5 percent, just a little below the 7.6 percent achieved in the first half, Mint reports. However, looking at the GDP by economic activity, growth estimates for the full year are lower for almost all sectors except construction. Growth in agriculture for the full year has been taken as 2.5 percent against the first half’s 3.6 percent. The mining sector is expected to contract by 2.2 percent in FY12. It contracted 0.5 percent in the first half. Manufacturing growth in the first half is estimated at 4.9 percent, while it is 3.9 percent for the full year. With all the usual caveats, that means growth in the second half will be a dismal 2.8 percent.

Click here for the story from Mint.

Push to employment, wages can drive growth
The Hindu Business Line
India’s growth will be driven by a policy that responds to specific bottlenecks, rather than relying on so-called second-generation reforms, says a report in the The Hindu Business Line. High food inflation, for example, has persisted for more than three years and contributed to a general rise in wages and inflation. In this case, it is agriculture that has proved to be a critical bottleneck. Yet, while agriculture remains stifled, the government is focusing on a new manufacturing policy and providing social security through a Right to Food legislation. Raising agricultural productivity should be a precondition to creating more productive jobs and raising the level of real minimum wages. To create jobs, should we rely on an undervalued currency and labour-intensive exports or on higher wages and vibrant domestic demand? India should exploit its unique advantage, such as its education mix and the international climate, to drive growth.

Click here for the story from The Hindu Business Line.

IT expects growth, salary hikes to shrink in FY13
Hindustan Times / Economic Times
IT companies pared estimates of growth and wage hikes in fiscal 2013 within the 8 percent to 10 percent range, against 10 percent to 12 percent expected in 2011-12, Hindustan Times reports. Business has suffered on account on slow recovery in the U.S. and the prolonged crisis in Europe. Rajendra Pawar, chairman of industry body NASSCOM, said, “We are currently looking at growth of 11 to 14 percent,” adds Economic Times. The association had announced a 16.3 percent growth estimate for fiscal 2012. The forecasts confirm fears of a slowdown for the industry as a whole. It is also looking at addition of 180,000 to 200,000 to the workforce, against 230,000 last year. Still, Indian IT may clock $101 billion in revenues in the year to March. Business from Europe may increase, said Som Mittal, president of the association.

Click here for the story from Hindustan Times.
Click here for additional coverage from Economic Times.
Click here for additional coverage from Economic Times.

Reliance Communications may cut jobs again
Times of India
Reliance Communications (RCOM) is likely to undergo a second round of restructuring following the exit of CEO Syed Safawi, Times of India reports. The company had scaled down its workforce by 700 last year. It is expected that the number of job losses this year in the next few months may be at the same level. The process for the new round of restructuring is already under way, which may also lead to some top-level changes. The exercise could result in reduction of the headcount as well as a realignment of teams in the country’s second-largest telecom firm by subscriber numbers. It may be put into effect in April. Safawi, president of its wireless business, left the company on February 1. Shamik Das has been appointed as joint president in an interim arrangement. A new CEO will be brought on board soon, the company said.

Click here for the story from Times of India.

Lay-offs get easier for displaced employees
Economic Times
Indian companies are softening the blow for executives they have fired by helping them find jobs, Economic Times reports. Citigroup is enlisting the services of counsellors and professional services firms to make the career transition of terminated employees smooth. “Citi provides services of global outplacement firms to employees displaced during any review,” says Stephen Cronin, managing director, HR, Citi South Asia. It helps such employees with coaching on job search skills, interview techniques, placement support and even basic application letter-writing skills. Citi is joined by others such as Bharti Airtel and DLF, who have made the exits less painful. The cold and insensitive way of handing out pink slips is slowly being replaced with responsible and supportive approaches. How a company parts ways with employees will have a significant bearing on the morale of the remaining workforce, experts say. It also affects the company’s ability to attract talent in the future.

Click here for the story from Economic Times.

Nokia to cull 4,000 jobs in Europe, Mexico
Financial Express / Deccan Herald
Nokia has announced 4,000 job cuts in Hungary, Finland and Mexico, as the company plans to shift its device assembly units to Asia, Financial Express reports. The measures follow a review of Nokia’s smartphone manufacturing operations and are aimed at increasing competitiveness in the global mobile device market. Nokia said in Helsinki that the job cuts would be at its factories in Hungary, Mexico and Finland. The units focus on smartphone product customisation, serving customers mainly in Europe and the Americas. The company said device assembly is expected to be transferred to Nokia factories in Asia, where the majority of component suppliers are based. “By working more closely with our suppliers, we believe that we will be able to introduce innovations into the market more quickly and ultimately be more competitive,” Nokia executive vice president (markets) Niklas Savander said.

Click here for the story from Financial Express.
Click here for additional coverage from Deccan Herald.

Companies favour clean, professional exits
Business Standard / Financial Chronicle
Companies are wary of recruiting new employees without an exit letter and take exit policies very seriously, a survey has found, Business Standard reports. The “Impactful Exits” survey by Team Lease Services was conducted in eight major cities, among them Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai. It covered 800 respondents in the age group of 21 to 45 years. The study found that 92 percent of employees and management across all industries took exit policies very seriously. Surabhi Mathur Gandhi, senior vice-president, IT sourcing, Team Lease, said adherence to a professional and clean exit was increasingly becoming the trend. Non-compliance with exit policies attracted a pay cut, but companies did not hold back legal action in cases of violation of integrity. Further, most companies still favoured manual exit interviews over online interactions. Exit interviews were an important data source for formulating HR policies, the study found.

Click here for the story from Business Standard.
Click here for additional coverage from Financial Chronicle.

Take your time to make the right career choice
The Hindu Business Line
While people spend years studying the school they will go to, the future course of study and the institute, very few pay attention to the career that they pick. S Susindar of Infotech Enterprises gives some advice on how to pick the right career in a report in The Hindu Business Line. Susindar says some serious thinking helps you choose not a job for the short term, but a career for decades to follow. The first step is to identify your core competence. Counsellors recommend doing a SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunity and threats) analysis. After choosing a job in a suitable sector, achieving “domain expertise” is the next step to success. A specialisation course or two in your line of business would put you on the track for leadership roles, Susindar says.

Click here for the story from The Hindu Business Line.

Games that teach teamwork and more
Economic Times
Outdoor games can build skills such as communication, teamwork and trust, attributes that resonate in the workplace as well, Times of India reports. Marico, Ceat, Hindustan Unilever, IDFC Mutual Fund, PepsiCo and Axis Bank, among others, encourage such team-building exercises. A popular game is Spider’s Web, in which teams navigate a web made of rope across two trees/poles without touching them. Any opening used is blocked, and a mistake leads to the team starting again. The activity requires planning, teamwork and, most importantly, trust, because members must be physically lifted to go through. Another game, Animal Instincts, tests how a leader issues instructions and how the team follows them. It involves shepherding blindfolded “sheep” into a pen. The shepherd must stand in one place and communicate with them in a language that is not human. Apart from good communication skills, the exercise builds empathy.

Click here for the story from Times of India.

People Moves & Recruitments

Cognizant shuffles top management
Financial Chronicle / The Hindu Business Line
Cognizant Technology Solutions has expanded its senior management team, Financial Chronicle reports. Gordon Coburn has been promoted as president. R Chandra Sekaran has been elevated to group CEO, technology and operations, and Rajeev Mehta has been named group CEO, industries and markets. Karen McLoughlin has been promoted as CFO and Malcolm Frank named executive vice president, strategy and marketing.

Click here for the story from Financial Chronicle.
Click here for additional coverage from The Hindu Business Line.

JWT Delhi VP & Creative Director steps down
exchange4media
Jaideep Mahajan, vice-president and executive creative director of JWT Delhi has decided to quit the agency after a stint of a little more than a year, exchange4media reports. He joined JWT from Rediffusion Y&R in November 2010, where he was a creative director working on the Bharti Airtel and LG accounts.

Click here for the story from exchange4media.