For the first time in the history of Indian space research, a satellite developed by a university in India will be launched by the Indian Space Research Institute (Isro) during the next flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Tentatively scheduled for launch in March-April this year, the vehicle will carry a small remote-sensing satellite completely developed and fabricated by Chennai-based Anna University, sources in Isro said.
Wipro, the Bangalore-based business conglomerate with interests in IT and FMCG, said it has succeeded in "convincing" one of its recently-won international clients, Australia's Origin Energy, about the circumstances under which the World Bank had imposed a ban on the company
India's second-largest IT services provider Infosys Technologies has hired recruitment services provider MaFoi to help its employees who fail to pass the final test to gain employment elsewhere.
Other than the involuntary attrition, the company has reported voluntary attrition of 11.9 per cent in the third quarter. This has resulted in a drop in the number of employees in the third quarter for the second time in the current financial year. The company started seriously looking at issues such as poor performance and fudged employment details in the second quarter of FY09 when the rate of voluntary attrition suddenly went up from just 0.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent.
Even as the buzz around Vivel Paul's candidature as CEO is still doing the rounds at Satyam Computer Services, insiders say the government is considering a person who was an integral part of the company till three months ago.
The JV TACO Sasken Automotive Electronics has been called off and over 100 people working for the JV have been asked to quit. In January 2007, Sasken and Tata AutoComp Systems had formed the JV with a focus on automotive electronics products in the areas of telematics, infotainment and occupant convenience. However sources say that even two years after its formation, the JV could hardly make any progress.
With industry buckling under the impact of global meltdown, Indian IT outsourcing firms are adopting a 'zero tolerance' policy on fraudsters who have managed to get IT jobs using fake resumes.
In yet another example by an Indian corporate to become cost-sensitive, IT bellweather Infosys Technologies is asking all its employees to go in for a one-time cost savings of $10 each. This initiative is expected to help the company, which has over 100,000 people on its rolls, to incur a cost saving of $1 million (around Rs 5 crore), which is a 'substantial amount' according to the company.
On Wednesday, the employees of Satyam lost close to Rs 221 crore (Rs 2.21 billion) after investors dumped the stock. At the end of the September quarter, Satyam employees were holding 5.9 million employee stock options. The unfortunate drubbing of the Satyam stock has raised serious questions about the attractiveness of the stocks held by the employees, which may be affected by any 'uncalled for' action by the company.
The industry, which is also passing through one of its lows in the wake of the ongoing global financial downturn, expects that clients will now be more cautious, despite Satyam's case being an isolated one.
Even while Indian IT firms are taking steps to reduce costs wherever possible, they are also making their delivery mechanisms stronger with less focus on employee addition.
Company sources explain that if an employee is a billable resource for 15 days a month, he will be paid in full for that period while for the rest of the period, he is paid a "nominal" amount. Replying to an email query, a company spokesperson in India said: "Oracle does not comment on speculation or rumours."
The IT job market, which saw one of the tough phases, especially in the second half of 2008, is likely to witness the worst in the coming year.
Come January, employees of IT services company MphasiS could be in for an off-schedule New Year surprise -- a 20-40 per cent salary cut across the board.
Companies dissatisfied with 'intent and focus' of tech major.
Wipro Technologies, the country's third largest software services exporter, today said the company might go slow on its campus-hiring plans till demand picks up.
The Indian arm of the Union for Information & Technology Enabled Services is planning to file a public interest litigation against the alleged 'arbitrary policy' of many Indian and multinational IT/ITeS firms in India who have, for the past two months, reportedly been enforcing longer working hours that violate the daily eight-hour working mandate of the Indian Factories Act, 1948.
After going through a series of mergers and acquisitions, Mindteck, a Bangalore-headquartered IT services company, is looking to consolidate its various businesses which will see more work being moved offshore, to locations in India.
Recruitment-related HR executives are being moved to other HR functions like training and development and other day-to-day HR functions, or being taken on contract. If things worsen, there could also be layoffs. Companies like Wipro, Infosys, TCS and iGate, too, have a mix of contractual employees in their HR team.
Having successfully completed the $13.9-billion acquisition and merger of IT consultancy EDS a few months ago, IT services giant Hewlett-Packard is now taking steps to integrate both organisations.
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