Hexaware, a global company in IT services and digital solutions, has unveiled tensai GPT, an AI web application. Powered by Microsoft Azure Open AI Service, this innovative platform empowers Hexaware employees to tap into collective enterprise knowledge, driving creativity across various industries. The introduction of tensai GPT underscores Hexaware’s dedication to augmenting human-machine collaboration, leveraging its vast technical and industry know-how. Central to Hexaware’s innovation agenda, the application will serve as a collaborative platform for employees at every level, facilitating contributions, from ideation to execution. Leveraging generative AI, it provides a unique amalgamation of virtual guidance and practical assistance, drawing…
Author: HRK News Bureau
Allcargo Gati, the express distribution and supply chain solutions company has appointed Sanjay Khiyani as deputy chief information officer. This is furthers the company’s commitment to optimising the technology infrastructure and administration. In his new role, Khiyani will be responsible for budgeting, resource development and allocation, and policy formation. He will also be supervising software development, delivery, and deployment, leveraging digital solutions to streamline operations and enhance the customer experience. He will jointly report to G S Ravi Kumar, chief information officer, Allcargo Gati. With more than 25 years of experience behind him, Khiyani has been exposed to diverse sectors,…
Bizongo’s upgraded Parenthood Journey Policy will cover adoption leaves, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) leaves as well as leaves for egg freezing. The company realises that individuals undergoing these procedures require a period of recuperation and rest. Additionally, they recognise that support is required for both primary and secondary carers. Considering this, additional caregiving leaves are granted to employees whose partners are undergoing the procedures. These leaves are in addition to the maternity and paternity leaves that employees are already enjoying. That is not all; the B2B platform—which offers embedded supply chain financing and integrated raw material purchase solutions—has set aside…
Virtusa, a global provider of digital strategy, digital engineering and IT services and solutions, hosted an event for the benefit of its employees. The event was held in Hyderabad in collaboration with LinkedIn, and saw industry leaders from both entities speaking on various subjects. The highlight of the event was a master class on recruitment and advocacy. This master class delved into the intricacies of recruitment and advocacy providing participants with invaluable tips on how to optimise talent-acquisition strategies and foster a culture of advocacy within organisations. The speakers shared practical tips and actionable strategies, which empowered the participants to…
Talent tango: Fresh faces, sharp skills, or tech triumph? HR’s 2024 balancing act To sustain a mentally and physically healthy workforce in 2024, organisations must continue to focus on flexibility, agility and collaboration. Emphasising flexible work policies, including hours and remote options, enables employees to balance personal and professional commitments. Leaders should encourage open communication, providing a platform for feedback and setting clear expectations to empower their teams. This dual approach helps employees navigate work and personal lives effectively, fostering a culture of understanding and support. A motivating workspace with skillgrowth opportunities keeps employees engaged and purposeful. Pitney Bowes offers…
To empower women to excel in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), Vivo, the global smartphone brand, has introduced its latest digital initiative, ‘The Seat – Celebration of Women in STEM’. This campaign underscores Vivo’s steadfast commitment to empowering women, particularly within the realm of STEM education. Additionally, it serves as an extension of Vivo’s ongoing nationwide effort, ‘Women in STEM’. Despite research indicating high enrolment of women in STEM fields in India, there’s a notable gap in their transition into the workforce. Consequently, there’s a pressing need to empower Indian women who aspire to excel in STEM disciplines and…
Tech giant IBM announced layoffs in its marketing and communications division, the latest move in a broader workforce restructuring focused on automation and emerging technologies. The number of affected employees remains undisclosed. This news comes after CEO Arvind Krishna indicated a shift towards AI in May 2023, suggesting a pause in hiring for roles replaceable by automation. The company has already shed positions through voluntary redundancy programs, aiming to streamline operations particularly in Europe. The announcement, delivered by chief communications officer Jonathan Adashek in a brief meeting, reflects IBM’s strategy to adapt to a changing market landscape. This could involve…
Pilgrim, a beauty and personal care brand, has named Shreya Kejriwal as its new vice president- human resources, effective January 2024. In this new assignment, Kejriwal will implement all strategic HR initiatives to help the company’s expansion while nurturing a culture of inclusivity and excellence. Prior to joining Pilgrim, Kejriwal held the position of general manager-HR, Godrej Group. She joined the company in the year 2021 and held the role for a year. She led talent-acquisition efforts across five distinct business units within the Godrej Group: Godrej Consumer Products, Godrej Agrovet, Godrej Properties, Godrej Fund Management, and Godrej Chemicals. With…
In a strategic move to bolster its leadership team, BEML (Bharat Earth Movers Limited), India’s eminent Defence PSU, has announced the appointment of Debi Prasad Satpathy as its director – Human Resources. Satpathy, renowned for his three-decade-long tenure in the HR domain, brings a wealth of experience and expertise to his new role, poised to navigate BEML’s HR strategies amidst the company’s ambitious expansion plans. Satpathy’s elevation comes at a pivotal juncture for BEML, as the company continues to solidify its position as a key player in India’s Defence, Rail, Power, Mining, and Construction sectors. With a turnover surpassing Rs.…
Cisco has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Karnataka Innovation Technology Society (KITS). The collaboration aims to train 40,000 individuals in cybersecurity skills and awareness, with a focus on ensuring that half of the trained workforce are women. This initiative comes in response to the increasing demand for cybersecurity talent as organisations seek to strengthen their defences against a rapidly-evolving threat landscape. These collaborative efforts also represent a significant advancement in Cisco’s mission to address the digital skills gap and prepare India’s workforce for the future job market. As per recent Cisco Study, majority of organisations anticipates…
The Jharkhand government has recently boosted the dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) for its state employees. The DA has now been raised to 50 per cent from the previous 46 per cent of their basic salary. The raise will be effective from 1 January of the current year. This revision is poised to benefit approximately 1.90 lakh employees and pensioners throughout the state. Notably, in the event of a pensioner’s demise, the dearness relief will extend to their surviving family members. Among the 30 proposals sanctioned during the cabinet meeting, the escalation of DA takes prominence. This increment…
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has distributed 9,000 house site pattas to both serving and retired employees through a three-phased process. Earlier, the Tirupati trust distributed house site documents to approximately 5,000 employees and pensioners. On Tuesday, 12 March, an additional 4,000 employees received house site pattas, benefitting about 4,000 employees. Bhumana Karunakar Reddy, chairman, TTD Trust Board, and executive officer AV Dharma Reddy presented the documents to retired employees during the third phase. Dharma Reddy addressed concerns about misinformation circulating in certain media channels regarding the legality of the distributed sites. He reassured that they are entirely legitimate and…
Pearson, a global learning- solutions company, has appointed Vishaal Gupta as its president- workforce skills division. In the new role, Gupta will spearhead the next phase of Pearson’s enterprise solutions and vocational qualifications business. He will directly report to Omar Abbosh, CEO, Pearson. Gupta succeeds Mike Howells, the current president-workforce skills division, who will depart from the company this month. With a rich professional experience of 29 years, Gupta brings a wealth of expertise to the new role. He moves from Accenture, where he was serving as senior managing director and a member of the global leadership council. Gupta is…
Work reimagined: Office redux, remote reign, or hybrid harmony in 2024? In 2023, many companies introduced return-to-office mandates to enhance productivity, foster better engagement and improve company culture. However, the desire for flexibility in remote work remains high on employees’ agendas. In 2024, the hybrid work environment is poised to emerge as the true winner, with more companies embracing it to navigate the evolving tech landscape. Both organisations and employees must recognise the importance of returning to the office to promote teamwork and understand company culture. Simultaneously, they should appreciate the ease and flexibility that remote work offers. “How can…
RDC Concrete, the Indian manufacturer and supplier of ready mix concrete, has entered into an agreement with Birla Institute of Technology & Science–Pilani (BITS Pilani), to offer MBA and BTech programmes to its employees. Through this association, RDC hopes to contribute towards the enhancement of the overall skills and career possibilities for its employees and help them obtain the degrees they aspire to, for professional growth. The company proudly shares that 45 employees have already enrolled. The application fees, admission costs and semester tuition fees are covered by RDC. Employees will only be contributing a minimal monthly fee of Rs…
The narrative of the talented underachiever is a familiar one. We’ve all witnessed, or perhaps even embodied, the frustration of possessing valuable skills yet failing to deliver on expectations. Often, the blame falls squarely on the individual. However, a deeper look reveals a more nuanced reality – the crucial role organisations play in setting employees up for success, or failure. At the heart of the underperformance dilemma lies a fundamental mismatch: the misalignment between an employee’s strengths and the demands of the job. Consider Sakshi, a software engineer lauded for her exceptional coding skills. Promoted to a team lead position,…
Striking cabin crew of Lufthansa, has disrupted operations and caused profits to dip. Under the aegis of the UFO Union, the cabin crew members of Lufthansa are on a two-day strike seeking to be rewarded for the efforts they put in during the pandemic. They felt they had a right to a share in the profits made by the airline. The strike has already affected thousands of passengers and will end up impacting about a lakh of flyers, with flights from Frankfurt and Munich being disrupted. Operations of CityLine, the subsidiary of Lufthansa will also be affected. Last week, the…
Close on the heels of Karnataka announcing a four per cent hike in dearness allowance or DA for its employees, the Government of Tamil Nadu too has announced a four per cent hike in DA. The increment in DA will benefit state-government employees, teachers and pensioners, who together number almost 16 lakh. The hike will be implemented with effect from 1 January 2024. This increment will cause the DA to be 50 per cent, up from the previous 46 per cent, needless to say the financial pressure on the treasury will also increase. There will be extra expenditure of Rs…
Altimetrik, a pure-play digital business company, has redefined its commitment to diversity and inclusion with the Women’s Initiative for Networking Growth and Success, or WINGS. This initiative focuses on increasing the number of women employees in the India market before going global. In 2023 alone, Altimetrik hired more than 550 women under WINGS, increasing the women-to-men ratio to 27 per cent. WINGS has resulted in increased participation and growth of women in the workforce through programmes such as Rebound-Back-to-Work, which helps women re-enter the workforce after a career break. Rebound has helped revive the careers of more than 20 women…
In a move benefiting a large section of the state’s workforce, the Karnataka government announced a significant hike in dearness allowance (DA) for employees and pensioners on Tuesday. The DA will increase from the existing 38.75 per cent to 42.5 per cent of basic pay, effective from January 1, 2024. This announcement, made by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, comes ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and reaffirms the government’s commitment to its employees. The revision represents an annual financial commitment of Rs 1,792.71 crore. The hike extends to those receiving central pay scales as well, with their DA rising from…
The Odisha government announced a significant policy change on Tuesday, granting an additional 10 days of casual leave annually to women employees working across various departments. This move increases their total casual leave entitlement to 25 days from the existing 15 days. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s office formally announced the decision, acknowledging the domestic responsibilities and challenges faced by women in government service. This initiative builds on Odisha’s legacy of progressive gender policies, having been the first state in India to introduce a 33 per cent reservation for women in government jobs during the 1990s. This announcement comes alongside recent…
Chandigarh’s outsourced workforce received a welcome boost on Monday with the announcement of an almost 8 per cent hike in daily wages, or DC rates, for the financial year 2024-25. This decision, implemented by the deputy commissioner, is expected to benefit nearly 15,000 employees working across various government departments. The revised rates, which come into effect on April 1, 2024, translate to a tangible increase for workers. For instance, an employee previously earning Rs 20,000 per month will now see their salary rise to Rs 21,600. Similarly, someone earning Rs 24,563 will see their income climb to Rs 25,791. This…
After 14 successful years at Cleartrip.com, Rahul Mane has joined NeoNiche Integrated Solutions as general manager-HR. An alumnus of the University of Mumbai, Mane completed a PGDBA in human resources management from the Symbiosis International University. His professional journey began in 2005, with Nobel Hygiene, where he looked after HR operations, statutory compliance and payroll for over two years. In 2007, he moved to Reliance BPO as executive – HR, handling payroll for 7000 employees, and looking after their joining and exit formalities, as well as statutory and labour compliances. A little over two years into this role, he moved…
FIIT JEE—short for the Forum for Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination—the education institution that operates 100 coaching centres across India, has held back part of the salaries of its employees for the second month in a row. The company has about 4,000 employees in its workforce, including non-teaching staff. The move has reportedly been resorted to because there has been no growth in its coaching centres. The employees have been informed via official e-mails that their salaries have been withheld to make them realise that it is time for them to work extra hard. The mails, however, mention…
In the world of India’s IT and financial sectors, the struggle to retain top talent is real and daunting. With an average churn rate of 25 percent in the IT sector and an even more alarming 30 percent in the financial sector, companies are facing a significant challenge. Traditionally, the reliance on hefty pay raises and poaching talent from competitors has created a temporary solution with long-term consequences. Although research and experience suggest that these tactics might offer immediate relief, they fail to address the root cause of the issue: employee dissatisfaction. The talent gets lured away, retention falters, and…
Bucking a trend of global economic uncertainty, India’s hiring outlook remains positive for the second quarter, according to the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey. With a Net Employment Outlook (NEO) of 36 per cent, India tops the list of 42 countries surveyed, showcasing continued employer optimism despite talent shortages. The survey of nearly 3,150 employers reveals a marginal decrease from the previous quarter’s 37 per cent but a significant 6 per cent increase compared to the same period last year. This positive outlook aligns with government initiatives fostering growth in sectors like healthcare, life sciences, and renewable energy. “This is…