Google has been accused of being casteist. The software major cancelled a talk by a Dalit activist based in the US, following pressure from employees who were against the speaker, Thenmozhi Soundararajan. That is not all, Tanuja Gupta, the manager who invited Soundararajan to speak, was also admonished for having scheduled her talk. Following this, Gupta put in her papers in protest. Incidentally, Gupta was the founder of Googlers for Ending Forced Arbitration, a group that forced Google to withdraw its policy of making employees let go their right to go to court in case of a conflict with their…
Author: HRK News Bureau
In a mail to employees, Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla Motors, has conveyed the need to cut 10 per cent of the jobs, as the Company is overstaffed in certain areas. Musk has further clarified that the salaried staff will be affected and that those engaged in building cars, battery packs and solar installing will not be impacted by this job cut. In another mail, Musk mentioned that the Company will pause all hiring activity across the Company. However, hourly workers will continue to be hired. In the mail, Musk shares his apprehensions about the condition of the economy, and that…
Congruent Solutions — a technology solutions and outsourced plan administration services provider to the retirement plan industry in the US — has initiated a new learning and development drive in the Company. It is upskilling its 375 employees globally, through comic strips! The comic strips have four fictional characters — Bruce, Bella, Priya and Captain Firewall — who are capable of explaining all the topics and subjects part of the learning objective in a conversational manner. The Company’s “new L&D module breaks down the content into digestible nuggets of information for easier understanding. This format of training has made learning…
The Adani Group is set to invest over Rs 70,000 crore in the most populated State of India in the near future. The announcement was made by Adani Group’s chairperson at the ongoing event – ‘Ground Breaking Ceremony @3.0 of the UP Investors Summit in Lucknow on 03 June, 2022. He said that the Group will be creating over 30,000 jobs in the State. Gautam Adani, who has a net worth of $98.7 billion as per the Bloomberg’s list of world’s wealthiest persons, said that the Adani Group will invest Rs 24,000 crore to develop road and transport infrastructure in…
American automobile giant, Ford, is planning to expand its operations in various cities across the US, as per a company statement. As part of its expansion plans, it will hire over 6000 people in Ohio, Michigan and Missouri, where it will invest $3.7 billion by 2026. It will convert about 3,000 gig workers into full-time workers with pay raises and benefits. Ford requires new hires to help enhance its electric vehicles and roll out two redesigned combustion-engine models. A factory in Avon Lake, Ohio, near Cleveland, will be expanded so it can build an unidentified new electric commercial vehicle. This…
Credgenics, the global SaaS-based collections and debt-recovery technology platform, has appointed Sukhpreet Singh as head – HR. Singh, who is an alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur, comes with over 12 years of experience. He began his career with VitalSmarts India as a consultant – talent and leadership. For almost five years, he helped clients design leadership and mid-management learning journeys, before moving to Aeon Hewitt, in 2014, where he managed the talent and performance practice for the northern region. Three years later, in 2017, he joined Concentrix as senior manager – talent and leadership development. He was primarily responsible for overall…
Zoom Video Communications has appointed Matthew Saxon as chief people officer. Inc. Saxon is backed by two decades of experience in human resources and people operations. He moves from Meta, where he was vice president – people operations. Having been associated with Meta for almost three years, Saxon developed integrated people programmes and solutions that addressed Meta’s most pressing people challenges and set the right foundations to scale for the future across all lines of business. An alumnus of the University of Michigan, Saxon worked for Campbell Soup Company for over seven years, based out of Syndey, Australia. He joined…
Dalmia Cement has appointed Udaiy Khanna as the executive director and head- HR. Khanna comes with an all-round experience working in diverse sectors such as retail, IT, Insurance and Pharma. His last professional stint before joining Dalmia was with Metro Cash and Carry, where he lead the HR function for the firm in India, as the head and director – HR. In 2021, he took a short sabbatical and worked as an independent HR advisor and consultant. In this new assignment at Dalmia, Khanna will head the HR function for the Indian cement manufacturing company. Khanna carries close to three…
Cathay Pacific has pledged that it will increase representation of women in senior positions by 25 per cent. That means, by 2025, the Airline aims to have 30 per cent women in senior roles. That is not all, as the Airline reveals in its Sustainable Development Report 2021, it has set up a special Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Steering Committee and a dedicated team in 2021, to help accelerate decision making on issues pertaining to inclusion. The Airline has also opened its first gender-neutral bathroom at Cathay City. A review of the Airline’s formal Hire-to-Retire process has led to several…
Just when there has been a string of layoffs in the edtech space, Upgrad has revealed its intention to expand its 4,000-strong team by 3,000, by August 2022. The five-year old online higher edtech startup hopes to obtain fresh capital from investors very soon, and is gearing to increase headcount over the next three months. While many edtech startups are having to reduce their team size or even shut down for good amidst drying funds, Upgrad is aiming for a turnover of $500 million in FY23 compared to the $250-280 million it targeted for FY22. The Company has reportedly grown…
Coinbase Global, the US crypto exchange, plans to extend the temporary hiring freeze that it had earlier imposed for only two weeks. Given the volatility of the times and the prevailing macroeconomic environment, it plans to pause hiring for as long as the current conditions require it to. It will also withdraw some of the already-accepted job offers. In an official blog, LJ Brock, CPO, Coinbase indicates that the fact that the crypto space is volatile is not unknown but given the other “larger economic factors”, the Company will need to be cautious and avoid risks. Earlier, the Company had…
About 2000 protesting workers, of Ford’s Chennai plant, who were eagerly awaiting the announcement regarding their severance package, were disappointed with what was offered to them. The package that the management has offered to pay has made these laid off workers unhappy. As an initial offer, the Company is granting them 87 days’ wages for every year that they have worked in addition to an ex-gratia amount, which will be an average of Rs 20 lakh, or even more depending on the number of years worked. However, the workers are not satisfied with this offer. The unions have demanded 385…
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is reportedly readying to follow a hybrid work model, wherein employees will have to come in to the office for two days in a week, while for the rest of the week they can work from home. It is reported that the Company has shared an article, titled ‘Future of Work’, with its employees, to explain what the work model at TCS may look like in the future. In the article, the Company has emphasised the 3 E model, where the three ‘E’s stand for Enable, Embrace and Empower. Embrace The first step is to embrace…
After having signed an MoU with Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) recently —to extend its online MCA course to the graduate trainees at its offices in Chennai and Bengaluru — Altimetrik, the US-based technology company, has now inaugurated a new office in Chennai. With 80 per cent of its global workforce working out of India, it is not surprising that the tech firm is working towards taking its employee strength to 6,000 in the country. Its employees prefer a flexible model of work with most willing to come in to office once a week and others wanting to work from…
Udayy, the edtech startup that was launched in 2019, had to let go its entire staff and close down for good. That means, about 100-120 employees have been rendered jobless. Co-founders Karan Varshney, Saumya Yadav and Mahak Garg — alumni of IIT Delhi and Stanford University — had launched the Company to offer learning and educational services to students from kindergarten to Class VIII. It was serving about 5,000 students a month. The reason for slow business has been the reopening of schools. There were few takers for its offerings now that classes have resumed offline. Also, with students studying…
There has been a change in HR leadership at Axis Mutual Fund, with Meghna Gupta, who was head – HR, moving into a new role within the Axis Bank group, as SVP-relationship. Himanshu Misra has been elevated, and will step into Gupta’s shoes as the new head-HR at Axis Mutual Funds. “After serving for 13 long years in Axis AMC, the place has become a second home for me and employees my family. In the world of digitisation and digital transformation, I have always believed in maintaining the human touch and urge all to continue making Axis Mutual Fund a…
TomTom, a Dutch geolocation technology specialist, has announced that it will cut about 10 per cent of the jobs in the organisation, globally. That means, about 500 employees will be laid off, globally, in the ‘maps’ unit of the Company. TomTom employs over 5000 employees worldwide and about 1000 in India. In an official announcement, the Company has mentioned that TomTom has made significant advancements in mapmaking technology as a result of engineering investments, which will lead to a significant material change in mapmaking activities. “Higher levels of automation and the integration of a variety of digital sources will result…
In a move to show solidarity to Ukrainians, Publicis Sapient, the digital business-transformation company, has launched a holistic programme, called Bridge To Next. The programme aims to support people with skills in SPEED — short for ‘strategy, product, experience, engineering or data and artificial intelligence or AI —living in a country directly affected by the war in Ukraine. Publicis Sapient has developed the programme in partnership with Publicis Groupe. The objective is to primarily offer support, including full- and part-time jobs for talent working from their home countries, as well as visa and relocation services for those who wish to…
Applied Materials India, the Indian subsidiary of materials engineering leader Applied Materials, Inc. has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE) at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). The programme aims to expand the talent pool for the country’s evolving semiconductor industry. The sponsored fellowship programme is open to second-year Master of Technology (MTech) students, commencing from 2022-2023. The CeNSE MTech Fellowship is designed to provide opportunities for students from traditional engineering and science disciplines, to gain expertise in electronics and semiconductor technology. Srinivas Satya, country president, Applied Materials India, is “delighted…
Elon Musk has reportedly shot off an email to Tesla employees asking them to come back to office, as remote work is no longer an option. The CEO of Tesla is done with his employees working from home and wants them to return to regular work-from-office soon. According to reports, the billionaire has made it clear that work-from-home is no longer acceptable at Tesla. He has warned that those who wish to work from home or are unwilling to return to office must put in at least 40 hours a week in person in the office or leave Tesla. The…
Razorpay, the Indian payments solutions company, has revised its health insurance policy for all its current employees, to include LGBTQIA+ and live-in partners, as well as same-gender partners and their families. Additionally, the policy also covers gender reassignment surgery, infertility treatment and so on. This revamping has made its health-insurance policy more inclusive for its 2,300-strong workforce. The insurance cover will include, gender reassignment surgery without a cost limitation, and only subject to co-pay, said the firm. Razorpay has also increased the maternity benefit cover from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000. This initiative is a step in the right direction…
Sonata Software, the global IT services and technology solutions company, has appointed Balaji Kumar as its chief human resources officer (CHRO). Kumar will be based out of the corporate office in Bangalore, and will be responsible for the HR function for the Company, globally. Sami Dhir, whole-time director and CEO, Sonata Software, is confident that given “his rich experience”, Kumar will definitely “be able to drive our people strategy and vision, create the best-in-class capabilities to create success for our employees, attract top talent and continue to drive towards our core values”. He hopes that Kumar will contribute significantly to…
According to a report published in the Saudi Gazette, there has been an increase of six per cent in the job-engagement rate of public-sector employees in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) over a period of about three years. The same reached 74 per cent in 2020, from 68 per cent in 2017, as per the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD). That means, there has been a half per cent increase than the targeted percentage of 73.5 in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 for the year 2020. The Ministry said that the number of public-sector employees in the…
First time in its history, Air India has announced a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS). HRKatha has access to a copy of the service regulation standing order signed by Suresh Tripathi, CHRO, Air India, offering a VRS to employees. As per the order, the permanent employees of Air India have an option to take voluntary retirement. The eligibility criteria to apply for the VRS is that the employee should have attained the age of 55 years or have completed 20 years of continuous service in the organisation. Additionally, for certain employees, the Company has relaxed the eligibility age bracket of 55…
Since Monday, about 2000 workers at the Maraimalainagar plant of Ford India, in Chennai, are on a sit-in and sit-out protest. These laid off workers hope to receive a respectable severance package from the management of Ford India. As per media reports, the management will be designing a severance package by 1 June, 2022. In fact, one of the union members has told the media that if the offer seems respectable the workers will accept it, but if it is not, they will all continue to protest. About 1000 workers are sitting inside the Maraimalainagar plant, while about 700 are…
In a world of uncertainty, where the startups that once saw a boom are now laying off people in thousands due to a fund crunch, Synaptic, an alternative data-insights startup, has raised about $20 million in a Series B funding round. The round was led by Valor Equity Partners. As per a company statement, this funding will be invested in product innovations, data science capabilities, partnerships with data vendors, and also for expansion of its team in the important financial centres of the world. Rohit Razdan, co-founder, Synaptic, said that they will increase employee headcount to 160 over the next…