More and more corporates shifting to academics

It’s three years since Prithwis Mukerjee quit his cushy job in the corporate sector to take up academics full-time.

Today, the former partner at PwC and director at IBM is a professor, teaching management information systems at IIT Kharagpur’s Vinod Gupta School of Management (VGSOM). After 18 years of what he calls “being a footnote in the Great Indian Software Story”, he couldn’t be happier.

“The greatest satisfaction is the freedom to choose what I want to do,” he says. “In the software industry, the greatest tragedy is that once you become a manager, or partner, or director, you are effectively a man manager. For a technically oriented person like me, this is claustrophobic. Then also, you have to follow the clients’ dictates. That is where academics scores hands down. You have the luxury to focus on and work with things you really like.”

For some like Mukerjee, it’s the lure of the freedom. For some others, it’s a calling, a way of giving back to society. Then there are those for whom it’s a recipe for a more balanced life. The reasons vary. Notwithstanding that, educational institutes, mostly B-schools, are seeing an increasing number of people who have spent years in the corporate world, quitting their jobs and joining academics full time.

Take IIM Ahmedabad, for instance. The institute has over 22 full-time faculty with 2-5 years of industry experience and 21 with more than five years’ experience. At IIM Calcutta, 55% faculty have prior industry experience with an average stint of 8.5 years.

They represent a spectrum of areas including economics, marketing, finance, human resource, general management, management information system, operations, law and strategy. MDI Gurgaon has 18-odd faculty members with over 10 years industry experience. Other leading institutes, from the IIMs to Narsee Monjee to XLRI Jamshedpur, all have a significant number of faculty members with corporate backgrounds.

HR experts say this trend has started gaining momentum as academic salaries have been on the uptrend. It’s still a far cry from the UK or the US where a star professor can earn over a half-a-million dollars a year, but the differentials with the corporate sector have narrowed.

Leading HR firm, Ma Foi Randstad director and president E Balaji says, “Earlier an academic job would probably pay just about 20-30% of a corporate one, given the same qualifications. That was a huge entry barrier. Today, that has become 65-70%. So a lot of people are making the shift.”

The move is happening primarily at two levels. Those who have spent the bulk of their careers in the corporate world, and now want to give back to society and work with young people. Then there are also those who are in their 30s-40s, at the peak of their career, but still want to make a change. “For the latter, with relatively lesser savings, the transition is more difficult,” feels Balaji.

According to several such people who have bid the corporate world goodbye, an academic environment is intellectually more stimulating.

Also, there’s the fact that most leading institutes now offer plenty of scope for consultancy, more so to those with a strong corporate background. Like BB Chakraborty, professor of finance at IIM Calcutta, who spent 24 years in the manufacturing and financial services sectors, out of which five years were spent as president. After teaching in IIMC as visiting faculty for three years, he joined the institute as a permanent faculty, a job he’s continued for the past nine years.

“The freedom here to pursue one’s interests is enormous. What’s more, you’re in a community of great students and colleagues. As opposed to the corporate world where you are more delivery-oriented, here you have to be a thinker and also work for the community. My only regret is I didn’t join earlier.”

The transition for corporate professionals to academic life has also been helped by the fact that institutes are actively looking out for teachers with industry experience. “Management education is not just about lectures, but pedagogy that requires you to be in direct contact with the industry. Those with a corporate background are in demand,” says a professor with a leading Mumbai-based B-school.

Some have benefited in other ways. For Samiksha Ojha, finance faculty at MDI Gurgaon, the decision to make a shift to academics after spending 14 years in the corporate world across India, Dubai and Abu Dhabi and even running her own management consultancy, was prompted by a desire to give more time to family. “Corporate life was very demanding and I thought it would be the right option,” she says.

Overall, she says it’s been a wonderful experience. “You get to interact with like-minded people, be in constant touch with your subject and being with the students, you keep going back to your own student life.”

At 43, will she ever consider going back to corporate life? “No, but sometimes, when I see some of my classmates at the CEO level, I do feel that maybe I could have been there. I’m already moving more to the training side, and maybe in the future, I’ll become a visiting faculty. But I’ll never give up teaching. I love it.”



From: The Economic Times

Is your salary politically correct?

Are you satisfied with your current salary? The answer depends on who is asking it and when. If your current or prospective employer poses this question, the answer would be an unequivocal ‘NO’.

But if you were to respond to this query among friends and relatives, chances are that you will nod in the affirmative.

“Happiness is relative (in case of salary),” says Kris Lakshmikanth, founder CEO and chairman of Headhunters India. “It’s in the basic nature of the human being not to be satisfied with what they have in hand.”

Considering the brouhaha created by our Parliamentarians, who were given a 300% hike in their salaries and were yet unsatisfied with it—in spite of the ‘perks’ one gets as an MP—Lakshmikanth’s words appear insightful. However, grey areas remain.

According to PayScale, a global salary data syndicate, the appropriate employee compensation can be calculated by taking into account factors like the company, location, experience, industry and education of the candidate.

The US-based syndicate currently places the pay structure of financial and IT sectors at a premium. However, these are also the sectors where attrition rate is the highest. Clearly, Indian parliamentarians are not the unhappy lot.

According to Surabhi Mathur-Gandhi, vice president, Teamlease Services, an average employee’s discontentment with salary has jumped manifold. “Only a handful of people are happy with their compensation package,” she says.

“Misaligned expectations and peer pressure are the prime reasons for this growing unsatisfaction. The tendency to compare salary with classmates, family cousins has mismatched equations for people.” Mathur-Gandhi adds another interesting aspect with the discontentment factor.

“If one maps out the EQ of compensation structure, it would come in a bell curve shape. The most discontent are people with experience of five to eight years. The most satisfied are people with 8-15 years of experience, people who are middle-aged and have settled with family and children.”

The argument seems well placed. The primary factors seen as the trigger to salary dissatisfaction are peer pressure, heightened career expectations, excess job-hopping and a wrong choice of profession.

A young professional is more prone to be influenced with these while at middle age such issues are hardly a bother. For K Ramkumar, chief HR officer at ICICI Bank, the concept of satisfaction with wealth is a utopian one.

“It is possible that at certain points of time in life one may concede that what they receive is fair and equitable, but it will only last till the hunger for more surfaces again and any feeble evidence of relative imbalance is perceived by the mind,” he says.

With over two decades of experience in HR industry, Lakshmikanth agrees. “For an average employee, the grass is always greener on the other side. Even corporate biggies are not immune to this phenomenon,” he says, adding that even siblings fight for supremacy in the corporate world.

“For them, a happy business is when they outperform the other. Recently, one of our software clients was looking for the global sales head. The company even offered the incumbent double the compensation package. Yet, the person refused to join as his definition of happiness was not getting fulfilled.”

HR experts argue what is sufficient for one in a big organisation need not be acceptable in another. Any attempt to assess whether all employees are satisfied at a given point of time is misplaced. “What is need for one is greed for the other; what is sufficient for one may be inadequate for many,” says ICICI’s Ramkumar.




From: The Economic Times

Are IT jobs losing sparkle?

After trimming payroll and tightening perks to cope with the economic slowdown last year, software companies are finding that a rising number of engineering and management graduates are transferring their affections to vocations such as manufacturing and banking — a shift that could force tech firms to scramble harder than ever before for talented employees.

For years, college graduates and professionals working in India’s $50 billion ( 2.3 lakh crore) outsourcing sector moved from one tech firm to another, often getting 20-30 % higher salaries in the bargain. Now, recruitment experts and industry officials say the churn of experienced staff from IT to other sectors has increased by 15-20 % over the past year. The main reasons, they say, are the perceived job security in the core sector and rising salary levels in manufacturing and telecom companies.

Among those who made the switch is Amit Bhargava, 29, who quit his job as business analyst at one of India’s top tech firms last month to join a multinational bank’s technology centre in Pune. The technology sector has not really lost its sheen, he says, but he wants to build specialist banking skills.

“And it is not as prone to export risks,” he adds, referring to his new vocation. Another reason for the shift away from IT companies is that they are now visiting college campuses for recruitment only during the eighth semester of the course, giving an opportunity to firms from other sectors to attract the best talent before them. Software industry grouping Nasscom asked its members last year to recruit graduating students during their final, eighth semester and not disrupt academic sessions.

Until two years ago, top Indian software firms competed aggressively with each other to hire engineering graduates. With the halo around working for a tech company beginning to fade, the competition is getting fiercer. Infosys Technologies alone plans to hire 36,000 employees in the fiscal to March and its chief executive S Gopalakrishnan has listed the competition for talent as the industry’s top challenge.

From: The Economic Times

FMCG companies hire in small towns to fire up growth

Small towns are emerging as the new big hiring zones, as consumer goods companies drive deep into the country. Companies are hiring field staff in areas like Kalpa in Himachal Pradesh, Mangaliya in Madhya Pradesh, Kota in Rajasthan and Shirdi in Maharashtra to sell products as diverse as shampoos, edible oil and even pizzas.

The triggers are a combination of a good monsoon this year, farm-loan waivers, higher disposable incomes in rural India, media penetration, low-priced unit packs of 5 and 10 and government programmes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

Consumer goods giant Hindustan Unilever is hiring 25,000 ‘shaktimaans,’ or sales and field staff, to sell its products in nearly 1.5 lakh villages, while Dabur India intends to hire 200 ‘feet on street’ and indirect employees through its stockists in villages and small towns.

“Our share of top line from semi-urban and rural markets is touching almost 50%. Naturally, we are looking at these consumers very closely,” says Dabur’s vice president-HR V Krishnan.

Marico has just finished hiring a support staff of 220 in towns like Kalod and Rangwasa in Madhya Pradesh. Fast-food company Domino’s plans to hire 1,000 employees in cities like Ranchi, Kota and Gangtok in the next 12 months. Others like ITC, Nestle, GlaxoSmithKline and Emami are talking of doubling their direct employee strength in small towns and villages.

Hindustan Unilever intends to triple its rural coverage to 15% in 2010. It is hoping the plan to hire ‘shaktimaans’ will help it sell products like Pepsodent toothpaste and Wheel detergent, which are losing share to rivals and smaller players in big towns and metros.

“WE have embarked on an enormous coverage expansion project, facilitated by digital maps, to identify potential markets to be brought under direct coverage,” says an HUL spokesman.

Of the million outlets across India the company directly covers, 0.25 million are in rural areas. Shaktimaans , who are already at work in Orissa, will distribute products to villages adjoining an earmarked ‘Shakti’ village. Villages are tracked through a geographical information system, and the employees have been given bicycles. HUL’s Project Shakti had tapped 45,000 rural women (Shakti ammas) in 2000. Now, it is wooing the men in the families to turn into shaktimaan entrepreneurs.

Dabur has already hired 150-180 additional ‘foot soldiers’ over the past 12 to 15 months. It has also increased the number of stockists by 11-12 % in rural and semiurban markets, who in turn, are serviced by superstockists in big cities. The company will sharpen its focus on small towns and villages in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab and Haryana, with a population of at least 3,000. “We will ramp up our field force depending on the increase in business volumes,” says Mr Krishnan.


From: The Economic Times

Comfort Jobs: Companies using incentive trips as a motivational ...

Comfort Jobs: Companies using incentive trips as a motivational ...: "As the liner edged out into the deep blue waters of the Atlantic, an excited Manoj B and his wife watched the receding shoreline from the to..."

Companies using incentive trips as a motivational tool

As the liner edged out into the deep blue waters of the Atlantic, an excited Manoj B and his wife watched the receding shoreline from the top deck along with hundreds of others. The North European cruise was indeed a once-in-a-lifetime experience and something, which Manoj knew, he would probably not have done on his own. Manoj’s overseas trip was courtesy the ICT company he worked for in India. “Money I can always earn, but I would still choose such an amazing trip over a cash payout any day,” he says.

Incentive travel is going places, specially overseas trips, as a reward for good work. That, to many, is sweeter than two wads of currency notes which vanish even before you open them. Increasingly, Indian companies are beginning to realise this.

On the one hand, it’s a motivational tool to encourage employees to go that extra mile for incremental business and service. On the other, it aims at improving the quality of work, foster employee loyalty and reduce attrition. White goods, banks, insurance, telecom, IT, liquor, garments — companies across sectors are becoming more aggressive on this front. “Incentive trips have become part of accepted sales management practice. It is a good way to motivate, very visible, aspirational for many, and with possibilities of learning and exposure and team building in some cases,” says Bimal Rath, founder of HR consulting company Think Talent Services.

With great deals up for grabs and discounts of 20%-plus on bulk corporate bookings, foreign travel is becoming that much more accessible. HR circles say that since bulk bookings in nearby locales like Colombo, Bangkok or Sri Lanka cost almost the same as domestic ones, companies are getting more excited. “Since costs are so competitive, management nowadays rarely frowns on such foreign trips,” says Prabir Jha, senior VP and head of HR at Tata Motors.

At the entry level, there are destinations like Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia, which are finding plenty of takers, while South Africa, Mauritius, Switzerland are the more premium picks. While popular destinations like Hong Kong see as many as 120 groups monthly, even relatively offbeat ones like Istanbul are seeing 30-40 groups per month, claim travel circles. If Mahindra Satyam sent its top performers to the Fifa world cup, a leading MNC bank recently sent its employees to Switzerland, Istanbul or Malaysia based on performances



From: The Economic Times

Comfort Jobs: Manufacturing companies look to invest in white co...

Comfort Jobs: Manufacturing companies look to invest in white co...: "Manufacturing companies are trying to oil their productivity machine, taking a leaf out of the software industry’s books. Like software firm..."

Manufacturing companies look to invest in white collar jobs

Manufacturing companies are trying to oil their productivity machine, taking a leaf out of the software industry’s books. Like software firms, they are planning to create a ‘bench’ of trained white collar employees as they battle huge capacity constraints in almost all sectors from product design to accounts. Companies are also redeploying staff to cut costs.

All these years, manufacturing companies played safe, expanding capacity only when there was a clear demand. Typically, people would be hired or shifts increased at the time of receiving new orders. Post-slowdown, however, orders have piled up and there is no capacity to fulfil them.

Senior managements thrashed out the issue at a conclave organised by the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers Association in Pune recently on increasing productivity while maintaining quality.

“We will have to have create capacity ahead of demand. This means not just physical infrastructure at our own and at vendor locations, but also in white collar jobs,” says Pradeep Bhargava, MD, Cummins Generator Technologies, a genset-maker from the Cummins group.

There is a compelling reason for companies to look at increasing white-collar productivity: Costs. “White collar productivity has the biggest bearing on cost, even more than blue collar,” says AK Taneja, MD and CEO, Usha Pistons and Rings, which manufactures piston rings. He cites an example in the area of product development. This is done either in a linear manner, that is, one job after another, in succession, or in a linear-cum-parallel manner.

The last process involves building milestones and checkposts so that errors are caught early, saving time and costs, and not waiting till the end to find the product is unusable. This is productivity enhancement at the design stage, a white collar area. “This reduces time to development, and there is no need to re-work. That is white collar productivity improvement,” he says.

In the 1990s, software companies created ‘benches’ — a US sports term — to meet project demands as they arose. Software companies often bid for work on the basis of this bench. A decade later, the manufacturing industry is deploying this strategy.

CP Rangachar, MD of Bangalore-based machine tool maker Yuken India, says companies are increasingly re-deploying people, not sacking them. “If you start sacking people for productivity improvement, you are headed for losses. White collar productivity improvement is achieved through redeployment,” he says.



From: The Economic Times

Comfort Jobs: Only 1 in every 20 engg grads suitable for IT prod...

Comfort Jobs: Only 1 in every 20 engg grads suitable for IT prod...: "Three out of every five students that graduate from the country’s engineering institutes need to go through further training to be eligible ..."

Only 1 in every 20 engg grads suitable for IT product job

Three out of every five students that graduate from the country’s engineering institutes need to go through further training to be eligible for any job in the IT/ITeS sector, says a study by a local talent assessment firm.

It said just one in every 20 engineering graduates are fit for a job in an IT product company, while only one in five was fit to work with an IT services provider. The study by Gurgaon-based firm Aspiring Minds highlighted the need for improving training of students to make them employable.

The report tried to use actual candidate quality measurements and industry recruitment benchmarks to create a measure for employability, said Aspiring Minds co-founder Himanshu Aggarwal.

The employability study that covered over 40,000 engineering graduates and post graduates in Computer Applications, was based on the results of a standardised computer-based test called AMCAT taken by the engineering students across the country.

AMCAT covered various objective parameters for adjudging employability in the IT/ITeS sector including English communication besides quantitative, problem-solving and programming skills. While employability of students for BPOs and technical support jobs (TSJ) are relatively better at 38.23% and 25.88% respectively, companies in the knowledge based segment or Knowledge Processing Outsourcing (KPOs) find only one in every ten technical graduates employable.

The report also highlighted that MCA students are relatively better placed among the engineering graduates for finding a job in the IT sector as they possess superior computer programming skills but there is a need to improve their English language and quantitative ability skills, the report added.




From: The Economic Times.

Job recruitment market likely to double in 5 years

As the economy expands, India's job recruitment market is also expected to grow in line and double at Rs 2,000 crore in the next five years, a top industry official said.

"The growth in India's economy has helped bring about a tremendous growth in the manufacturing, banking and services sectors in the country. The job recruitment market here is set to grow at 20 per cent annum and touch the Rs 2,000 crore mark in five years from the present Rs 1,000 crore," Esource India's Managing Director, Nitin Deveshwar said.

Esource India is a subsidiary of ESMS (I) Pvt Ltd which is a leading security company with nation-wide operations and is a full-service recruitment agency powered by an online database combining social networking and traditional recruiting.

The country's manufacturing sector is growing at eight to ten per cent and is expected to generate 0.5 million employment opportunities alone, Deveshwar said.

The shift of industrial activities to smaller towns has also created major job opportunities in these areas.

Gujarat's small towns like Vapi, Anjar and Bharuch, Chattisgarh's Raipur, Bilaspur and Korba and Uttarakhand's Haridwar and Rudrapur have provided higher job opportunities, following industrialisation in these areas, Deveshwar said.

Public sector banks as well as private ones are expected to hire in a big way in the coming years as they expand their footprint into smaller towns, he added.



From: the economic times.com

Comfort Jobs: About one million green jobs will open up in India...

Comfort Jobs: About one million green jobs will open up in India...: "By 2025, a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report from 2008 estimates that India will see the creation of nine lakh green jobs i..."

About one million green jobs will open up in India over next two years

By 2025, a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report from 2008 estimates that India will see the creation of nine lakh green jobs in the area of biogas alone. (The global market for environmental products and services is projected to go up to $2.74 trillion).

In India alone, headhunters estimate about one million green jobs will open up over the next two years alone. “Earlier, the manufacturing sector used to hire health, safety and environment officers to ensure adequate protection. Now such positions are opening up across sectors, and some companies are even hiring chief sustainability officers,” says E Balaji, director and president, Ma Foi Randstad.

Green jobs, as defined by UNEP, refers to work in agricultural, manufacturing, research and development or administrative activities that contribute to preserving environmental quality, and help in protecting the ecosystem and biodiversity. They may include architects designing energy-efficient buildings, organic farmers in villages, environmental engineers or even plumbers installing water-recycle systems. While green architecture, mechanical and chemical engineering, biotechnology and environmental management are the most lucrative and sought-after professions in the new, green sector, policy-making for renewable energy and natural resources management is not far behind.

There are enough enablers as well. The Suzlon group, a pioneer in exploring renewable energy sources, signed an MoU with TERI University in March 2009, to institute an MTech in Renewable Energy Engineering and Management. Rajeev Seth, its Registrar, says the need for sustainable development has sensitised a corpus of scientists, managers and leaders to the importance of environmental protection.

From just 48 students in 2006, the university now has 260, with the promise of an average pay packet of Rs4.5-5 lakh per annum up from Rs2.5 lakh in 2006. “Almost all our students have been placed in companies like TCS, Reliance Infrastructure and IL&FS, and are involved in green activities,” adds Seth.

One of the biggest future recruiters in green jobs is likely to be real estate, with green buildings coming up fast. A recent study by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) estimates that 45 million square feet of additional green building-space in India will be ready by 2012. Companies like Wipro, Microsoft, Cognizant, TCS, Infosys and Oracle are either operating — or planning to — from green offices, says the study. “There will be a huge demand for people who can certify green buildings, and architects and project planners who are adept in green building norms,” says JLL head (research & intelligence service) Abhishek Kiran Gupta



From: Theeconomictimes.com

Comfort Jobs: GNFC on hiring spree, to recruit 800 for Dahej

Comfort Jobs: GNFC on hiring spree, to recruit 800 for Dahej: "AHMEDABAD/VADODARA: In a massive recruitment drive undertaken by a PSU in the post-recession period, the Rs 2,600-crore fertilizers and chem..."

GNFC on hiring spree, to recruit 800 for Dahej

AHMEDABAD/VADODARA: In a massive recruitment drive undertaken by a PSU in the post-recession period, the Rs 2,600-crore fertilizers and chemicals major, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers Company Ltd (GNFC) has initiated the process to hire 800 people for its Dahej plant in Gujarat. GNFC is jointly promoted by Gujarat government and GSFC, also a state PSU.

The process for hiring 300 people is already underway for the Toluene Di-Isocyanate (TDI) project in Dahej which is scheduled to be commissioned by December 2011. The first phase will see recruitment of close to 250 engineers who will be from streams like chemical, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and civil, according to an Ahmedabad-based HR firm which is associated with the recruitments. Confirming the development, a GNFC official told ET that a stipend of Rs 12,000 will be paid to engineering graduates while Rs 5,000 will be given to diploma holders apart the accommodation at GNFC’s township.

The PSU has already indentified nine engineering and 11 polytechnic institutes across Gujarat to hire engineers. The next phase of recruitment will begin in 2012 when the PSU would hire for its upcoming MDI plant. Earlier, GNFC hired in batches of 30-40 in February 2007 when the PSU merged Narmada Chematur Petrochemicals Ltd (NCPL). GNFC’s Dahej project has a capital outlay of Rs 1,655 crore, which will have a capacity expansion of 50,000 MTPA. Once the plans are executed, GNFC will become the only company in Asia to have a capacity to produce 65,000 MTPA of TDI.

Commenting on the scale of hiring by a PSU the CEO of Ma Foi Management Consultancy E Balaji says: “PSU banks are the only ones who have undertaken massive recruitment drive in the recent times (post-recession), as during the 90s they shed a lot of manpower through voluntary retirement scheme (VRS). PSUs in the manufacturing sector do not undertake massive recruitment as they already have a problem of overstaffing.”

Currently, the Bharuch-based GNFC has over 2,900 people working at 18 plants. For FY 2009-10, GNFC recorded net sales of Rs 2,614.45 crore against Rs 2,920.06 crore for FY 2008-09. The net profit too has plummeted to Rs 123.84 crore from Rs 227.52 crore for year 2008-09. For the first Q1 of 2010-11, GNFC has registered sales of Rs 367.81 crore and net profit of Rs 22.67 crore.



from:theeconomictimes.com

Comfort Jobs: Despite new curbs, many Indians take up jobs in UK...

Comfort Jobs: Despite new curbs, many Indians take up jobs in UK...: "LONDON: Amidst efforts by the David Cameron government to reduce immigration from non-European Union countries, new official figures have as..."

Despite new curbs, many Indians take up jobs in UK

LONDON: Amidst efforts by the David Cameron government to reduce immigration from non-European Union countries, new official figures have astounded many by disclosing that between April and June this year, 37,000 Indians came to Britain for work.

The figures by the Office of National Statistics put a question mark on efforts by Immigration Minister, Damian Green, to place an annual camp on non-EU workers who could come to the UK for employment.

Between April and June, 186,000 people started work in Britain, of which 145,000 were foreign and 41,000 were British. More than half of the foreign workers - 77,000 - came from within the EU, who have the right to work in Britain.

Of those who came from outside the EU more than half - 37,000 - came from India, indicating that Indian professionals have skills that are much in demand in Britain.





The figure includes many IT professionals. The figures have generated concern at a time of recession, job cuts and unemployment faced by British workers, and have been described as 'astounding' by MPs.

Keith Vaz, the Indian-origin Labour chairman of the Commons' Home Affairs committee, said his committee would investigate the sharp rise. He said he was "amazed and surprised" by the figures, adding: "What it shows is that the Government's intention is not going to work.

"They might want more British workers to get jobs but membership of the European Union mean that non-Brits will get those jobs. The problem is that the immigration cap does not deal with EU migration. The committee will examine the numbers of EU immigrants and its impact on the total figures within the cap."

James Clappison, a senior Conservative MP, said: "These figures are astounding. It is very worrying that employers are not looking at the British workforce to meet their needs. It is very important if not urgent for the Coalition to place tough limits on migration from outside the EU."

Damian Green, the Immigration Minister, said: "This Government believes that Britain can benefit from migration but not uncontrolled migration. It is our aim to reduce the level of net migration back down to the levels of the 1990s, tens of thousands each year, not hundreds of thousands.

Introducing a limit on migrants from outside Europe coming here to work is just one of the ways we intend to achieve this.David Green, a director of the thinktank Civitas, added: "The figures show that unless we control immigration it has the potential to undermine efforts to reform welfare by encouraging claimants to return to work. The taxpayer will be left with a large bill for benefits."


From:theeconomictimes.com

Comfort Jobs: Hiring in July up 23 per cent on improved biz conf...

Comfort Jobs: Hiring in July up 23 per cent on improved biz conf...: "A spurt in the economic growth and the improved business confidence resulted in a 23 per cent growth in India Inc's hiring activity in the m..."

Hiring in July up 23 per cent on improved biz confidence

A spurt in the economic growth and the improved business confidence resulted in a 23 per cent growth in India Inc's hiring activity in the month of July, as against the same period a year ago.

Naukri.com's monthly job index -- JobSpeak -- moved up to 963 in July this year compared to 783 in the same month of 2009.

Recruitments in July also showed an improvement over the previous month as well, with the job index increasing by two per cent (to 963) in July from 947 in June, the study found.

"Hiring activity has been increasing in the country on the back of improving business sentiments and higher attrition level," Info Edge chief financial officer Ambarish Raghuvanshi said.

Besides he said, "There are some pleasant hues in terms of the core sectors like auto, Insurance, pharma and oil and gas taking a lead in job creation in the economy."

The pharma and insurance sectors have been bullish on hiring, with the sector registering a notable growth of 19 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively in the job index for July compared to June.

Other key industry sectors such as auto and oil and gas exhibited strong hiring growth, with the sectoral job indices moving up by 9 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively, in July compared to June.

In July, some sectors seemed on a comeback mode with a growth of 6 per cent in real estate jobs and 3 per cent in the retail and IT-Software over June -- reflecting the underlying positive growth scenario and business confidence in these sectors.

Similarly, demand for professionals in project management and sales moved up by 13 per cent and 10 per cent,respectively in July against the last month.

Geographically, Mumbai and Delhi witnessed an upsurge in jobs in the period under review with their job indices moving up by four per cent and three per cent, respectively, as against June.

On the contrary, Bengaluru and Chennai saw a dip in the index by seven per cent and three per cent, respectively.

In addition, hiring has been bullish in the first six months of this year, with 22 per cent more recruitment seen in the January-June period of 2010 compared to the same period last year.

"The continuous upward movement of the job index over the last few months surely instills a lot of confidence in the psyche of the jobseeker," the report stated.




From: theeconomictimes.com

Comfort Jobs: US jobs will not go to China, India, Germany: Obam...

Comfort Jobs: US jobs will not go to China, India, Germany: Obam...: "US President Barack Obama has said that America had returned to robust competitiveness and the danger of jobs and industries fleeing to coun..."

US jobs will not go to China, India, Germany: Obama

US President Barack Obama has said that America had returned to robust competitiveness and the danger of jobs and industries fleeing to countries like China, India or Germany was over.

"When I took office, we put in place a new economic plan that rewards hard work instead of greed; a plan that rewards responsibility instead of reckless; a plan that focused on our middle class, (and) making them more secure," Obama said at a Democratic Fund Raiser in Austin, Texas.

The US President said that the US "was competitive over the long run so the jobs and industries of the future weren't going to China or India or Germany, but were going to the United States of America, right here."

Gradually entering into an election mode with the mid-term elections less than three months ago, the US President has been frequently in his public speeches claiming how his policies are aimed towards stopping outsourcing of jobs and manufacturing.

Instead of spending money on special interest tax loopholes that don't create American jobs, we said we're going to make smart investments in education and innovation and clean energy that will benefit all people and our entire economy, he said.


From:theeconomictimes.com

Comfort Jobs: India: The new land of opportunities

Comfort Jobs: India: The new land of opportunities: "It’s 8:00 a.m, and Margaret Holden has just returned from her Yoga class in her south Delhi neighbourhood. She opens the fridge to see what ..."

India: The new land of opportunities

It’s 8:00 a.m, and Margaret Holden has just returned from her Yoga class in her south Delhi neighbourhood. She opens the fridge to see what she can carry for lunch, settles for ‘baingan ka bharta’ and chapattis, and rushes off to get ready for work. By 9:15 a.m, she is in the office of The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri), where she works on international climate change policy, US-India relations and much more.

“It’s an exciting time to be in India and do this kind of work,” says the environment policy and political science graduate from Yale University, in the US. In 2008, the 22-year-old attended an on-campus lecture by Teri director general RK Pachauri, and decided to work in India. A US citizen, she landed in Delhi the same year with a two-year contract, and has been here since.

That was also the year, when Polish national Kataryzna, 25, arrived for an internship with Delhi-based Bird Group, a diversified conglomerate working in travel and technology. With a master’s in international business from Warsaw University, Kataryzna helped Bird Information Systems (BIS), a group subsidiary, foray into Latin America and Russia within a year, selling airline inventory and reservation system solutions. “I speak Russian, Polish, French and Spanish, so it worked out for me,” she says, having snagged the job after just a year of internship. She travelled to and from Europe — a market she was familiar with — and added substantially to the client list, enabling the first-ever international division within the company. The company has now recruited two more interns from Peru and Russia, to focus on the new markets. “A local understands the market dynamics better,” says Kataryzna, who is now project leader for corporate and strategic alliance, IT systems, for BIS’ international markets. And loves it in India.

Holden and Kataryzna are part of a growing number of expatriates who come to India to intern or look for jobs, and stay back because of better opportunities.

Teri has seen the number of its expat interns jump from 13 in 2008, to 24 in 2009 and possibly they will have 26 this year. Students from some of the best colleges across the globe — Cambridge in the UK, the Ivy League in America — have been coming here to work in climate change and sustainable development. “These are hot issues today, globally. Job options for professionals from this field are increasing, and so is interest among students,” says Geetika Sharma, senior manager, HR, at Teri.

IT education company Educomp has seen 40 interns in the past two years, from countries as varied as the UK and the US, to Sri Lanka and Poland, wanting to work in an ‘emerging economy’. “The trend indicates that interest among young foreigners is only growing,” says Educomp senior VP (HR & administration) Venkatesh MS. A senior home ministry official adds: “The number of expats, including freshers, coming for work here in 2008-09 went up by 15% over the previous years.”

The International Association of Students in Economics and Business Management (AIESEC), the world’s largest youth organisation that conducts student exchange across the globe, too, has evidence for this. The number of exchanges went from 1,015 in 2007, to 1,713 in the first six months of 2010. Of this, 1,443 are expats. “Earlier, it was only the social sector that attracted foreigners. Post recession, corporate India is getting more attention,” says Preetika Rana, VP, communication, AIESEC.


from:theeconomictimes.com

Comfort Jobs: Manufacturing sector likely to churn out 30 lakh j...

Comfort Jobs: Manufacturing sector likely to churn out 30 lakh j...: "Amid revival in the job market, nearly 30 lakh jobs are likely to be created by the manufacturing sector this year driven by an overall rise..."

Manufacturing sector likely to churn out 30 lakh jobs this year

Amid revival in the job market, nearly 30 lakh jobs are likely to be created by the manufacturing sector this year driven by an overall rise in demand and the growing confidence of companies, experts said.

With the corporate sector regaining confidence and embarking on expansion drives, their hiring plans have also gained momentum.

According to leading Recruitment Process Outsourcing firm Elixir, the manufacturing sector is expanding and has brought in higher demand for experienced professionals in the sector to manage operations.

"At the current growth rate, close to 30 lakh jobs across levels will be created this year and by 2015 the working population in the manufacturing sector is predicted to grow by 2.8 crore," Elixir Associate Vice President Preeti Singh said.

"The growth is driven by overall increase in demand, especially in power and focus on new sectors for employment like defense manufacturing. The way firms have opened up their hiring in the current fiscal is very encouraging," Singh said.

Global consultancy KPMG's Business Outloook survey recently stated Indian manufacturers are now more optimistic about growth in business activities in the year ahead, with output and new orders expected to see a considerable increase.

"India has set its sights on becoming a global manufacturing hub and seems well on its way to achieve this aim. Productivity is improving, as its quality, with a large number of Indian manufacturers now holding their own in terms of quality comparisons with their Asian competitors," KPMG India Advisory Head Richard Rekhy said.

Elixir's Singh said power equipment manufacturing and construction related manufacturing like cement and metals have seen a huge surge with increased growth in the power sector and setting up of new plants.

Defense manufacturing has also opened up several new employment avenues, while the impetus given by the government is also acting in favour of the sector

Comfort Jobs: WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has vowed to...

Comfort Jobs: WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has vowed to...: "WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has vowed to give tough competition to India and China for millions of potential jobs in the American ..."

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has vowed to give tough competition to India and China for millions of potential jobs in the American clean energy industry, once again raising the bugaboo of outsourcing.

"For generations, manufacturing was the ticket to a better life for the American worker," he said at a meeting here Wednesday of the AFL-CIO Executive Council, America's union movement.

"But as the world became smaller, outsourcing, an easier way to increase profits, a lot of those jobs shifted to low-wage nations."

Millions of Americans were swept up in the disaster wrought by the Wall Street bubble burst, Obama said. "But I'm here to tell you, we are not giving up and we are not giving in. We are going to keep fighting for an economy that works for everybody, not just for a privileged few."



From: theeconomictimes.com

Comfort Jobs: Indian corporate hiring activity dipped 5 percent ...

Comfort Jobs: Indian corporate hiring activity dipped 5 percent ...: "Online hiring by Indian corporate companies dropped by 5 per cent in July despite a six-month strong momentum in the overall job market, say..."

Indian corporate hiring activity dipped 5 percent in July: Survey

Online hiring by Indian corporate companies dropped by 5 per cent in July despite a six-month strong momentum in the overall job market, says a recent survey by recruitment services firm Monster India.

The Monster's Employment Index, a monthly gauge of the country's online job demand, declined by six points to 129 in July as against 135 in June.

"July is the first month since November 2009 to witness a decline and it is just due to some cyclical and seasonal factors", Monster's Managing Director for India/ Middle East & South East Asia Sanjay Modi said.

Modi attributed the slow down to cylical and seasonal factors like firms being busy with their quarterly results announcement as well as completing the training and post-hiring formalities after the recruitment activity in the previous month.

Yet, despite the month-on month decline, the six month average of the employment index remained strongly positive with 20 of the 27 sectors surveyed exhibiting positive six-month growth.

"Companies across sectors remain enthusiastic about hiring and the fresher level hiring has remain stable from the last month", Modi said.

He added the current employment scenario in country in contrast to October- December 2009 had improved, as indicated by the Monster Employment Index and the job openings in general were higher since April.

The Education sector was the top growth sector that grew by six per cent in July against the previous month. BPO/ITES sector maintained its previous hiring levels in July, while online recruitment activity in the IT sector dropped by 5.4 percent over June.

The study revealed demand for health care professionals edged up by six per cent, while real estate recorded the sturdiest medium-term growth gaining 79 per cent above January levels.

Online job opportunities in the Banking, Finance and Insurance sector declined by 8 per cent in July, its first dip since March 2010.

Twelve out of 13 cities covered in survey registered a decline in online recruitment. Bangalore registered the steepest decline of 11 per cent followed by Kolkata at 10 per cent. Delhi-NCR was the only city where recruitment levels maintained steady in July, the study noted.



from:economictimes.com

Comfort Jobs: Indian firms may have to import software engineers...

Comfort Jobs: Indian firms may have to import software engineers...: "Software engineering services is projected to be a $45-50-billion export business in a decade, and this is expected to force Indian companie..."

Indian firms may have to import software engineers

Software engineering services is projected to be a $45-50-billion export business in a decade, and this is expected to force Indian companies to import engineers to tap the opportunity, says a Nasscom-Booz Allen study of the sector.

Bringing in overseas people will be necessary because of severe talent shortage, said Ketan Bakshi, CMD of Neilsoft, an engineering services company. Mr Bakshi is also member of the executive committee of Nasscom and co-chair of its engineering forum.

“By 2020, Indian software engineering services companies will need to bring in 25-30% of engineering talent from abroad, since there is a huge shortage of trained people now in India. And, as Indian engineering services companies step up their global presence to meet that $45-billion market opportunity, that shortage will only increase,” Mr Bakshi said.

Mr Bakshi estimates that nearly 1-1.5 million people will be needed by engineering services companies alone, of which about 250,000-plus, will have to come from elsewhere. This is a little less than the combined strengths of TCS and Infosys, in terms of revenues and headcount.

Samir Yajnik, president, global services and chief operating officer, Asia-Pacific, Tata Technologies, supported Mr Bakshi’s view on talent shortage in India. “If we are to meet those $45-billion targets by 2020, then we will definitely face a manpower shortage in the next few years. I wouldn’t want to put a number of exactly how big that gap will be, but yes, given the number of engineering colleges, etc that are slated to come up and those revenue figures, there will be a shortfall,” Mr Yajnik said.

Mr Yajnik illustrated the route adopted by Tata Technologies to handle this situation. “We have begun to proactively bridge this gap by building relationships with other countries. So, we have built an engineering centre in Thailand which does our low-end engineering. Overall costs in low-end engineering services are lower in Thailand and we will have to build more such tier-II relationships. We will take on the full-vehicle programme here in India (because this is a better location than the others) and farm out the lower end to centres like the one we now have in Thailand. In future, we will look at Korea and even China,” Mr Yajnik said.

Increasingly, this will mean that Indian companies in this space will become global, Mr Bakshi said, and solve their issues the way a global company would: by farming out work where costs are lowest and talent available.

“Growth is heady and any time such growth happens, there is a big strain. A fresh graduate needs more than six-12 months of training to become a good engineer. For engineering projects, say, in the infrastructure sector, a good engineer would be the one with 15-20 years of experience. Look at our national infrastructure projects and the pace at which they are being done: part of the reason is that we do not have the manpower to execute so much work,” Mr Bakshi stated.

The other issue which will require the import of people is the lack of bandwidth, Mr Bakshi said. “Indian companies do not have the bandwidth to handle the kind of infrastructure projects that are coming up, so they will have to get expertise from abroad,” he said.

The trick, both agreed, is to manage the scalability of operations and that is something industry is addressing, each in its own way



from: theeconomictimes.com

Comfort Jobs: Capgemini India hires 10,000 people in 2010, to re...

Comfort Jobs: Capgemini India hires 10,000 people in 2010, to re...: "Bullish on strong growth prospects in India, global IT consultancy Capgemini has hired 10,000 people so far in 2010 and plans to recruit ano..."

Capgemini India hires 10,000 people in 2010, to recruit 7000 more.

Bullish on strong growth prospects in India, global IT consultancy Capgemini has hired 10,000 people so far in 2010 and plans to recruit another 7,000 by the year-end.

"We have already hired more than 10,000 people as of July. We plan to recruit further 7,000 within this year," Capgemini India Executive Chairman Salil Parekh said.

Placing emphasis on the importance of the Indian market in the group's growth strategy, Parekh said,"Capgemini India is an important resource centre to drive Capgemini's Rightshore model and is also the main innovation hub for the group."

"Additionally, the domestic market in India has also seen a lot of traction. We have added more than 40 clients in the last 18 months. With such a lot of growth, we need to be in a position to service this and, hence, have stepped up the recruitment process," he said.

Capgemini India's employee strength was at 26,000 in June 2010. It has a strong presence across seven cities in India, primarily Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune and Delhi.

The outsourcing firm reported its second quarter and first half earnings result this week. It stated that the main markets, in which the group operates, saw steadily improving activity levels, despite the lingering effect of the global economic crisis on IT services.

The group's second quarter revenue increased by 5.2 per cent to 2.15 billion euros over the first quarter of this year. Booking volumes also confirmed a positive trend with outsourcing services recording the highest rise of 37 per cent in bookings, thanks to the early renewal or extension of several major contracts.

Optimistic about companies' boosting their technology spend, Capgemini has raised its 2010 targets. The group now forecasts revenue growth of 3-5 per cent in the second half of 2010.

Present in more than 30 countries, Capgemini employs over 95,000 people worldwide, and its Indian employee strength represents 27 per cent of the global head count.



from:theeconomicstimes.com

Comfort Jobs: Dealing with a Bad Boss

Comfort Jobs: Dealing with a Bad Boss: "Everyone dislikes their boss at some point. But if it’s a perpetual state of affairs, that’s a serious problem. It could make your working d..."

Dealing with a Bad Boss

Everyone dislikes their boss at some point. But if it’s a perpetual state of affairs, that’s a serious problem. It could make your working day hell and potentially affect your overall job performance.

Studies have shown that discord between an employee and manager is one of the major reasons why people leave jobs. But running away from your job should only be a last resort since you could easily find another bad boss at your next job.
Bad bosses come in many flavors, and here are some ways in which you can deal with them. Warning: Many involve a degree of self-control and discipline that you probably won’t feel if you detest your supervisor but are worth giving a shot.

1. Is it just you or everyone else too?

“It’s very easy to misunderstand the boss,” says Ramesh Vaswani, executive vice chairman of computer accessory-maker Intex Technologies (India) Ltd. Mr. Vaswani says employees should appreciate that there is a reason why the person is your boss. So instead of taking the boss’s antagonistic attitude personally, try to understand the reason for the bad behavior. If necessary, do your own rigorous self-assessment.

Are you not doing your work up to the required standards? Change that. Does your personality not match with your boss’s? Overcome your personal feelings and focus on your professional relationship with the boss.
However, if the boss is perceived as bad for your peers as well–it really isn’t you, it’s him!–try some of the steps mentioned below.

2. Try on the boss’s shoes.

A bad manager is not necessarily a bad person. Often, the problem is that managers don’t have any training or skills to manage people. Or they may be insecure, or they might just be under pressure from their bosses to deliver tough targets.
Understanding your boss’s perspective can enable you to figure out steps to tackle the situation. For instance, do what it takes to help the boss achieve his or her goals; you will be appreciated more. “That empathy towards trying to understand your manager…has helped people,” says Sanjay Pandit, managing director of recruiting firm Manpower Services India. This is especially the case for employees in functions like sales and marketing and finance, adds Mr. Pandit.

3. Is your boss inefficient?

If your boss is not doing his job well, and is not interested in improving either, that could reflect badly on your team’s results and on you. Try taking some more responsibility, even if means doing tasks that don’t fall strictly under your job profile. If your work can help raise your team’s delivery rate, you’ll benefit ultimately. Think of this as an opportunity to get more experience than you normally could if you were working under a boss who micro-manages. When possible, you could informally bring up your achievements before other superiors or human-resource managers.

4. You do the work, boss takes the credit.

One way to get around this is to try to become more visible to higher-ups in the organization. Stand up and be seen in “team meetings, where the boss’s boss is also attending or people from other functions are also attending,” says Mr. Pandit.
You could also keep a detailed log of your accomplishments, major tasks or projects completed and how that compares with many of your peers. This could come in handy at performance review time to show either to your boss who won’t acknowledge your achievements or someone higher up in case you need to defend your performance.
Silent performers could end up suffering in this case, says Mr. Pandit.

5. Working for a bully.

Does your boss yell, curse, or humiliate you in front of your peers?
If it’s a one-off case, then forget about it. But if it happens often, experts advise taking up the matter with the boss’s supervisors or the company’s human resources team. “This is…non-acceptable behavior,” says Rajendra Ghag, executive vice president of human resources and administration at HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co. Ltd. A company with the right culture will take action against the manager immediately.

Whatever you do, do not yell back or get into a shouting match with your boss. It will not help resolve anything. Remember, your behavior is being seen by your peers and others in the organization, and you don’t want to come across as too aggressive or vengeful. If you need to vent, take it outside, or home, or anywhere but your boss’s office.

6. Speak up, politely.

Experts say that often managers don’t even realize that they are perceived as bad managers. “There are many blind spots all of us have,” says Ms. Ghag.
Consider communicating your problem to your manager, professionally and with a positive spin. For instance, if you are upset that you don’t get enough feedback or are under-appreciated, approach the boss and say: “I loved doing this project but it would really help me if you could suggest ways that I can improve and do this better.” Or, if you are given too short a time to complete a project, say that you could do a better job if you had more time to do other things like X and Y. The key is to make your point without hostility.

7. Use your company’s feedback system.

You can also try communicating with the boss indirectly through the company’s feedback system. That could include everything from boxes where you can write anonymous letters to a “360 degree feedback” system in which a manager is rated based on comments from various people, including his peers and subordinates. Or, you can go directly to the human-resource managers with your specific grievances.
“Every company will have some avenue” for feedback, says Vikram Bhalla, partner and director at the Boston Consulting Group. He adds, however, that the effectiveness of this step depends largely on how much emphasis the company places on its culture versus achieving sales and growth targets.

8. Stick it out.

You have tried your best to resolve the problems with your boss, but it hasn’t helped. But you are working for a dream company and would like to have a long-term career there. Seriously think about just sticking it out, however unpalatable that might sound. Remember that bosses also rotate so you won’t have to bear your current boss forever. Or your job function could change where you don’t have to deal with this person all the time.

9. Time to move on.

Then there are times when nothing seems to work and you can’t take it any more. It may be time to accept that if the relationship with your boss is too destructive for your peace of mind and career prospects. Look for another job, either within the company but in another department, or with another organization. Many companies conduct exit interviews where you may finally get a chance to elaborate extensively on your frustrations, even if it means you then walk out the door.


from: wsj.com

Comfort Jobs: Infosys Looks Toward Global Growth

Comfort Jobs: Infosys Looks Toward Global Growth: "S. Gopalakrishnan, known as Kris to his colleagues, is one of the seven founders of Infosys Technologies Ltd. Mr. Gopalakrishnan took over a..."

Infosys Looks Toward Global Growth

S. Gopalakrishnan, known as Kris to his colleagues, is one of the seven founders of Infosys Technologies Ltd. Mr. Gopalakrishnan took over as chief executive and managing director of the company in June 2007. Mr. Gopalakrishnan has helmed Infosys at a time when the Indian software industry is going through its worst phase since the dotcom bust. He has seen Infosys evolve into India's second-largest software exporter by revenue and he is part of the core team that is setting the agenda for India's bellwether technology companies. His leadership skills will be tested when the Bangalore-based company, listed on the Nasdaq and Indian stock exchanges, is looking to make strategic acquisitions to grow in emerging markets, while reducing its reliance on the key U.S. market.

What is your vision for the company and how do you plan to achieve that?

Mr. Gopalakrishnan: There are two parts to the vision. One, we need to expand our footprint outside India from a market perspective -- so we are investing in Europe, Asia, Middle East, South and Latin America. We have plans to recruit 1,000 people in the U.S. Already about 140 offers have been made. Seventy have joined. ... In a quarter we are looking at about 250 people. Over time we see about 15% of our employees as non-Indians. The second dimension is to invest in research, development and recruiting the right people.

How has Infosys been impacted by the recession?

Mr. Gopalakrishnan: We have been able to maintain our margins and even add our employee strength. So, in spite of growth coming down to almost zero -- this year we are looking at almost zero percent growth -- we have been able to make the investments required and sustain our margins. Hence, I believe that we are emerging out of it stronger.

When do you expect to regain historic growth levels?

Mr. Gopalakrishnan: We don't know whether it will come back to old levels. What we are seeing from projections is that it is possible for the industry to get to double-digit growth rate -- between 10% and 20%. I think the recovery of the economy itself would be sufficient to reach this growth level. There are already signs of that.

You have almost $2.8 billion in cash. How do you plan to utilize this cash?

Mr. Gopalakrishnan: One of the reasons for that cash is acquisition. It gives you the confidence to make an acquisition happen. But we also believe that we must be able to run the business with no revenue for as long as a year.
We are looking at acquisitions in non-English speaking markets like Germany, France, Japan to accelerate growth and get new capabilities. We are not looking at acquiring a business and cleaning it up and making it profitable.

What is the size of the acquisitions you are looking at?

Mr. Gopalakrishnan: Ordinarily we look at a company of 10% of our size. So I am talking about revenue of maybe $300 million to $500 million. But, if a great opportunity comes, we would look at it. And the cash will definitely help.

Would Infosys be an acquisition target?

Mr. Gopalakrishnan: If you are a public company you are always an acquisition target...With founders holding probably a 16.5% stake, today potentially we can get bought out. If the company is well run, the likelihood of getting acquired is less.

You are one of the last from the core founding group to head the company. Do you have a succession plan?

Mr. Gopalakrishnan: We have a robust succession plan in place. I see most of senior positions filled -- let's say 90% to 95% senior position filled -- from within the company.

How do you view competition from China? There's talk that outsourcing could move from India to China in the future.

Mr. Gopalakrishnan: It is not a factor today. Maybe 5 or 10 years down the line it will be. But right now the competitive dynamics has not changed that much. It is still the same set of five or six companies that we compete always in all markets. A few from India and a few from outside.

Where are your fastest growing markets?

Mr. Gopalakrishnan: India is doing well for us. In China we have some challenges. We don't have enough to show our capability in that market. So our brand is not yet there. It will take some time.

Why is Infosys conservative in its outlook on client budgets, while others are not?

Mr. Gopalakrishnan: Better is a relative term. The budgets this year declined by 6% to 8% from last year, according to analysts. So being flat is better than declining. We are not overly optimistic at this point because the uncertainties in the market have not gone away. It is better to be cautious. I would not call it conservative.

When do you see that kind of confidence returning?

Mr. Gopalakrishnan: May be a couple of years. It is positive if it happens before that. But it is better to be cautious.

But you have been optimistic about the pricing environment?

Mr. Gopalakrishnan: We are optimistic. The bottom has been reached and recovery has started. Pricing also continues to be stable. But, we don't see pricing power returning.

What about business volumes?

Mr. Gopalakrishnan: That is where the growth will come from, in the next fiscal year also. Whatever growth will be, will come from volumes.


From: wsj.com