In an attempt to reduce operational costs, the TV streaming platform, Roku has laid off 10 per cent of its workforce. The decision will impact its 300 employees across divisions. The company communicated the decision through a US exchange filing and expressed its commitment to introducing further strategies aimed at reducing the year-over-year increase in operating expenses. These strategies include reducing headcount through layoffs and controlling new hiring. The goal is to slow down the year-over-year growth rate of headcount expenses. The company will be supporting all the departing employees through severance packages and other benefits, which is expected to…
Author: HRK News Bureau
Sharmila Sherikar has joined Sonata Software as the senior VP and head of corporate development. She comes with extensive experience of 30 years. Sherikar embarked on her career journey in 1994 as a senior manager, human resources, Citigroup Overseas Software, where she worked for six years. Following her tenure at Citigroup, she assumed the role of head of human resources, Silverline. However, her most extensive and impactful tenure spanned an impressive 19 years at Virtusa, where she initially served as the head of human resources for the Americas and later rose to the position of senior vice president HR. With…
Phablecare, a Bengaluru-based health-tech startup, has mysteriously vanished, leaving hundreds of former employees unpaid and disgruntled. The company, which had secured a hefty $25 million in funding in March 2022, raised eyebrows when it suddenly deactivated its website and ceased all business activities last month, that is, August 2023. Founded in 2018, Phablecare initially boasted a workforce of around 2,000 employees but saw a drastic reduction in headcount being left with merely 200 employees in the months following its funding round. Although the company appeared to be on an upswing in January 2023, welcoming new recruits and relocating to a…
Apple suppliers, Foxconn and Luxshare are on a major hiring spree in Vietnam. Despite a slump in the demand for electronics, both the facilities aim to hire over 40,000 employees. The move comes amidst Apple being pressurised to diversify its manufacturing beyond China. Hence, both its largest supplier facilities are aggressively expanding their workforce in Vietnam to fulfil increased orders for AirPods and chargers. According to local reports, Foxconn is in the process of hiring approximately 24,500 assembly workers in the northern region, whereas Luxshare will be recruiting 24,000 workers. Vietnam is reportedly amongst the largest production centres for smart…
The Telangana High Court has issued a directive to the Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (APRTC), known as TSRTC after the state’s division, to treat a former employee as though he had remained in service from the time of his removal until his passing, particularly in relation to the matter of back wages. Justice Nagesh Beemapaka delivered this ruling following a writ filed by the deceased man’s wife, aiming to overturn a previous decision by the Labour Court. The Labour Court had instructed TSRTC to acknowledge the deceased employee’s service starting from the date of his removal, excluding any periods…
Amazon India has entered into an agreement with the state governments of Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to provide employment to persons with disabilities (PwDs) and make them part of the mainstream workforce. The Memorandum of Understanding or MoU, valid till 2026, is aimed at offering skilling and job opportunities to employable people with disabilities across these five state. This is a step in the right direction towards inclusive development and self-reliance. The initiative will offer support to the PwDs in terms of on-the-jobtraining, intervention and an environment of acceptance and inclusion. These trained PwDs will then be…
Over 10 lakh Indians are waiting for US Green Cards. According to a report, there is immense backlog and the waiting period may be so long that about four lakh of them may not even receive their employment-based Green Cards in this lifetime, unless they manage to live for 134 years! Yes, the waiting time for US Green Cards is reportedly about 134 years for new applicants from India! A Green Card officially provides permanent residentship to immigrants to the US. That means, holders of Green Cards can reside in the country permanently. This year, that is, 2023, the job-based…
Wipro has awarded 41,667 restricted stock units (RSUs) to its workforce as part of its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). The company made this significant announcement through an official exchange filing. The scheme will see RSUs being distributed to eligible employees following a vesting schedule agreed to by the Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the Board. Employees will receive ownership rights to these RSUs over a specific period as specified in the schedule. In addition to being an incentive for employees, the scheme also aligns their interests with the company’s growth and success. The allocation of these RSUs became effective…
Looks like job seekers in Assam will soon be showered with job opportunities and opportunities to earn a livelihood. PepsiCo, the food and beverage company is investing Rs 770 crore in the state to establish a greenfield project to manufacture snacking products. This new plant in Nalbari will also create over 450 jobs, which will no doubt improve the quality of life of its farmers. Earlier, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had announced that within a couple of months, advertisements will be posted to fill about 22,000 vacancies. This will take the total number of state government jobs created…
Meta employees have begun returning to office. The employees at the parent company of social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Trends will now be required to come to the office thrice a week. The employees were formally notified of this mandate through an email sent by the human resources department. The tech giant has reportedly informed its workforce that failure to adhere to this mandate could lead to job termination. This return-to-office directive does not impact employees who had previously been granted approval for full-time remote work. Meta had adopted a firm stance regarding the return-to-office requirement. Earlier this…
The platform failed to meet the deadline it had set for itself to disburse performance-linked bonuses to its tuition centre staff. The lack of official communication from management has exacerbated the uncertainty regarding the payment timeline. Initially, Byju’s had assured the staff that these performance-linked bonuses would be disbursed in May. Unfortunately, Byju’s did not keep it’s word. It wasn’t until the final week of July that a representative from the company addressed the staff regarding this matter. This issue extends beyond the employees of the Byju’s Tuition Centre (BTC) division, as Byju’s has also withheld variable pay and incentives…
On 4 September 2023, IIFL Finance announced the launch of a employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) scheme valued at Rs 180 crore, which is reportedly the largest in the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) space. The ESOP programme is set to benefit approximately 4,000 frontline employees across 25 states and five union territories. Among the eligible recipients are call-centre executives, gold loan appraisers, branch managers and various other essential zonal sales personnel. These ESOPs will be granted to employees who have accumulated a minimum of two years of experience with the company and have consistently been performing extraordinarily well.…
A set of four labour laws poised for implementation will usher in significant changes across various employment sectors. Once these laws come into effect, a notable regulation stipulates that employees cannot accumulate more than 30 days of paid leave within a single calendar year. If an employee’s accrued leave days surpass this limit, it becomes the responsibility of the employer or company to compensate for the excess leave days. In this context, the ‘Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code,’ one of the four labour laws, defines ’employee’ as an individual without a managerial or supervisory position. The four labour…
The Gujarat High Court recently ruled that when an employee is terminated, the backwages do not automatically get awarded when the employee is reinstated. However, the High Court also clarified that if the employer is at fault in the termination case, then full back wages can be granted by the Labour Court. The reason, as stated by Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice NV Anjaria is that “no one can take benefit of its own wrong.” It was found that the departmental inquiry into the accusations against the employee was tantamount to vitimisation. Also, the inquiry was not fair since…
The Delhi High Court has ordered that the hospitality industry should use the term ‘staff contribution’ instead of ‘service charge’ for the sum they charge customers. It has also directed that this charge should be clearly mentioned on menu cards and should never exceed 10 per cent of the bill. It is assumed that this service charge goes to the waiters or servers who attend to the customers. However, since there is no guarantee that the servers actually receive the amount, customers leave tips for the workers. While the Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Associations of India or FHRAI accepted…
An Amazon employee, who was initially hired for a remote position was subsequently required to spend a minimum of three days per week working in the office as per the company’s new policy. This has led to him feeling that his trust has been breached. The e-commerce giant has mandated a minimum of thrice a week work-from-office for all its working staff. Apparently, the employee was hired as a software engineer within the company last year, and is facing challenges in relocating to the company’s Seattle office. The employee clarified that he was initially brought on board for a remote position.…
As part of a restructuring exercise of its 700-strong workforce, fintech startup, Khatabook has cut about 42 jobs. These cuts are in keeping with the profitability goals of the firm, which demand that sections of its business be reorganised. This is also a step towards cost cutting. The objective is to make the team leaner and more agile. About six per cent of its workforce has been asked to leave from the sales, analytics, tech and marketing teams. The firm witnessed losses to the tune of over Rs 100 crore in Financial year 2022. This was three times more than…
As a part of a memorandum of settlement, Tata Steel has announced Rs 314.70 crore as the annual bonus payout for its employees for fiscal year 2023. The steel company has reached this settlement with the Tata Workers’ Union. The bonus payout will be given to eligible employees across its divisions, the company said to media on Monday, 4 September, 2023. Furthermore, the range for the annual bonus for 2022-23 will vary from a minimum of Rs 42,561 to a maximum of Rs 4,61,019. Most employees at the steel company earn salaries that exceed the threshold specified in the Payment…
Indian quick-grocery delivering company, Dunzo has been in the news for delaying the salaries of its employees. Admist a major funds crisis, the quick commerce startup had told employees that they would have to wait till October for their June and July salaries, and that they would be paid the salaries along with 12 per cent interest. Earlier, it had promised to clear all pending dues by 4 September, a deadline it had extended from a previous promised date in July. The salary payment was further delayed because the platform failed to raise the required funds. Now, it is reported…
Nextiva, a connected communications firm is looking to expand its 100-strong India team by another 100. The Arizona-based firm had acquired Simplify360 and entered the Indian market. It is now in the process of expanding its market outside of the US, which involves integrating Simplify360’s product into its own portfolio and tapping the rich talent available in India. Simplify360 already served about 150 customers in India at the time of being acquired by Nextiva. The voice-over-internet-protocol company has made a name in the connected communications space, powering billions of conversations annually, across its cloud business phone networks, text and team…
As part of Flipkart’s expansion strategy, the company has been actively recruiting new employees. Flipkart plans to utilise its Kirana -delivery programme to handle a significant portion — exceeding 40 per cent— of its shipping operations. To support this initiative, the e-commerce platform has expanded its infrastructure by more than 19 lakh square feet across multiple states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Telangana. Its new hire are required to undergo comprehensive training in various aspects of the supply chain process, tailored to their specific roles. Moreover, they will receive instruction in the usage of scanners, handheld devices, diverse…
SkyKick, the Microsoft cloud tools vendor, has had to take the difficult decision of reducing its workforce size by about 140 employees, globally, with 98 being asked to leave from the US office. The Seattle-based firm that offers tools to help migrate to Microsoft 365, has stated the unfavourable market conditions for this difficult decision. SkyKick maintains that the decision is good for the firm in the long run and will ensure success for its partners as well. Todd Schwartz, co-CEO of Seattle-based SkyKick – said that the layoff was a “tough decision” and due to “current market conditions. The…
To enhance its capabilities, the state-owned AI Engineering Services (AIESL) plans to add 1000 employees to its team existing team of 5000. The fresh hiring will be done in the upcoming months, bringing its total workforce to 6,000, as stated by a senior company executive. The decision comes as the company wishes to support the growth of India’s aviation sector as it’s one of the fastest-growing aviation market. With domestic carriers having ordered approximately 1,600 aircraft, and airlines expanding their fleets, there will also be an increased demand for aviation services in India soon. AI Engineering Services is a prominent…
Pegasystems, a global software corporation, has announced its second round of job cuts in the current year, amounting to approximately four per cent of its workforce, which translates to around 240 employees. This decision, outlined in public filings, is attributed to the company’s restructuring efforts within its customer success roles, as reported by the Boston Business Journal. Pegasystems, headquartered in the US, expects these reductions to impact a portion of its workforce in the state of Massachusetts. The company has its branches situated in two key Indian cities, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The company specialises in the creation of software solutions…
In response to the Delhi government’s request, companies throughout Delhi-NCR have implemented a work-from-home policy for their employees. Offices located in Delhi and other nearby areas including Noida and Gurugram will offer work-from home option to their employees following the upcoming G20 Summit. Furthermore, the Delhi government has issued a directive for all government and private offices, banks and commercial businesses, including markets, to remain closed in the city from 8 to 10 September 2023.This is to ensure that the visiting delegates have a smooth stay and a memorable experience. Specific metro stations will either be closed or will operate…
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has come up with a new rule that will result in an increase in the net income of numerous employed individuals. These modifications pertaining to the housing facilities provided by companies to their staff without charge will be advantageous to the employees as it will increase their take-home pay. Naturally, these amendments, which took effect on 1 September, are being greeted with enthusiasm by the labour force. The recent revisions in regulations have brought about a significant change in how companies evaluate accommodation provided to their employees, excluding those working for the central…