OpenAI has introduced an unusual internal mechanism for employees to flag workplace problems that they believe are slowing down work: a dedicated email address, friction@openai.com. According to a report by Fortune, employees can use the inbox to highlight faulty systems, cumbersome processes, operational bottlenecks and even routine workplace issues. Submissions are reviewed by OpenAI’s leadership team, with issues considered significant enough potentially bypassing normal processes and reaching senior executives, including CEO Sam Altman or President Greg Brockman. The initiative is designed to help the company identify and remove bureaucracy as it scales, but it has also created a new challenge…
Author: HRK News Bureau
Bank employees and officers across several parts of India have intensified their demand for the implementation of a five-day work week, with demonstrations being held in cities including Shivamogga, Nizamabad and Jammu. The protests were organised under the banner of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), which has been pressing the government to approve a five-day banking week. The latest demonstrations follow a nationwide bank strike observed on 27 January, 2026, over the same demand. In Nizamabad, employees and officers from public and private-sector banks gathered at Dharna Chowk, urging the government to act on what they described as…
Salesforce and the Directorate of Information Technology (DIT), Government of Tripura, have announced a collaboration to expand access to digital skills and strengthen workforce readiness across the state. Announced at the Destination Tripura Business Conclave 2026 in Agartala, the initiative aims to reach more than 10,000 learners by 2027. It will use Salesforce’s online learning platform, Trailhead, to provide self-paced learning opportunities to students, youth, government employees and entrepreneurs. The programme comes as artificial intelligence and digital technologies reshape workplaces, public services and businesses, increasing demand for technology and business skills. Through curated learning paths for beginner and intermediate learners,…
Indian Railways is stepping up its use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and predictive analytics for workforce management with the launch of the Centre for HR Information Systems, Research and Analytics in Governance (Chirag) at Moula-Ali in Hyderabad. According to media reports, the centre will bring workforce data, HR research and digital tools into a more integrated framework for managing the railway workforce. Chirag is expected to become fully operational by May 2028. The centre will focus on strengthening Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS), workforce planning, HR research, digital learning and policy assessment. It will also support the…
Employees across Ireland are being urged to check their pension options after the Department of Social Protection said some major employers are trying to steer workers away from the new state auto-enrollment system. The Department of Social Protection has written to ICTU General Secretary Owen Reidy to warn of “token” pension schemes. It said some employers are offering just 1% contributions, which is less than 30% of the initial 1.5% rate under ‘My Future Fund’. The Department described this as a “nominal contribution unlikely to provide any meaningful pension benefit”. ‘My Future Fund’ launched on 1 January 2026 automatically enrols…
Apollo Tyres has appointed Mayank Jauhari as group head-HR to drive its global HR strategy across markets. In the new role, he will lead the design of global rewards architecture, performance management, HR technology adoption, mobility programmes and the overall HR-transformation roadmap. He will also partner with teams across commercial operations and supply chain to align people capabilities with business growth. Jauhari joins Apollo after spending nearly a decade with AP Moller – Maersk. His last assignment at Maersk was as global human resources director from October 2025 to July 2026, where he managed HR partnerships for operations including Maersk…
When performance falls short, training is often the first prescription. Someone is not delivering. A team is struggling. A new capability is required. The instinctive organisational response is to identify a programme, put people through it and hope performance improves. But what if the problem was never training in the first place? That is the question Amit Sharma, CHRO, Gokaldas Exports, raises in the second episode of The CHRO Playbook, HRKatha’s video podcast series on how organisations build capabilities that translate into measurable performance. In conversation with Prajjal Saha, Founder & Editor, HRKatha, and John Cherian, Founder & CEO, enParadigm,…
The Delhi High Court has ruled that an accident suffered by an employee during a lunch break at the workplace can qualify as an employment-related injury under the Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923. The Court directed an insurance company to pay Rs 7.86 lakh in compensation, along with 12 per cent annual interest, to a construction worker who lost his leg in an accident 16 years ago. The case involved Yashpal, a supervisor at a construction site in Bhalswa. On 22 June 2010, while he was on his lunch break at the worksite, an iron rod fell on him from a…
Lupin has appointed Aditi Altekar as global lead–HR digital and artificial intelligence (AI) transformation, effective August 2026. In her new role, Altekar will lead the pharmaceutical company’s HR technology strategy, digital-transformation initiatives and adoption of AI across the function. Altekar brings over 18 years of experience spanning HR technology, digital transformation, HR systems implementation and process optimisation. Her career has covered both HR and technology roles, giving her experience in translating business requirements into technology solutions and driving adoption across organisations. Before joining Lupin, Altekar served as group HR technology lead at Godrej Industries Group from January 2025 to June…
InvoiceCloud has appointed Sharon Joy as head-human resources, India, as the company continues to scale its Hyderabad Global Capability Centre (GCC). Based in Hyderabad, Joy will lead the people function for the India operations, covering talent, leadership, culture and employee experience. She will work with Biju Davis, SVP and India site leader, and Jessi Marcoff, chief people officer, to support the centre’s expansion across technology, product development and operations. Joy brings more than two decades of HR experience across technology, consulting, financial services and product-led organisations. Her experience spans talent strategy, employee lifecycle management, HR business partnering, leadership development, diversity…
The Punjab Assembly has passed two bills that could have a direct impact on employment conditions and household expenses in the state. One focuses on bringing outsourced government workers into direct contractual employment, while the other seeks to regulate fee increases by private schools. The Punjab State Outsourced Personnel (Transition to Contractual Engagement) Bill, 2026, was passed unanimously. It proposes shifting around 26,000 to 28,000 outsourced workers into direct contractual engagement with the state government in its first phase. Under the proposed framework, eligible Group C and Group D workers would no longer be engaged through private outsourcing agencies. Instead,…
In an official communique, Hindustan Zinc said it is fast-tracking young talent into leadership, with 10 per cent of its leaders now below the age of 35. The update was shared on International Youth Day 2026. The company claims that 62 per cent of its total workforce is under 35, with women making up 26.3 per cent of employees. According to the statement, this mix is helping reshape mining and metals into a more technology-driven, inclusive and future-ready sector. Hindustan Zinc further stated that it has hired nearly 700 young professionals in the last two years. This includes 335 campus…
Cybersecurity company Rapid7 is cutting around 12 per cent of its workforce. The company is restructuring its organisation and redirecting resources towards its core platform and AI-led security capabilities. The restructuring began in the second quarter of 2026 and is aimed at simplifying the company’s organisational structure and aligning teams more closely with its Core Platform Solutions. Around 12 per cent of employees have been informed that their roles will be affected. Rapid7 expects the restructuring to result in charges of approximately $10 million to $11 million. Most of the costs are expected to come from employee severance and related…
Enterprise-process intelligence company, Celonis has more than doubled its India workforce to over 300 employees from around 140 last year, as the company strengthens the country’s role in its global operations. Most of the employees are based in Bengaluru, with hiring expanding particularly across engineering and customer-facing roles. The company is also building capabilities across pre-sales and post-sales functions that work closely with customers. Celonis plans to continue expanding its India team, with the workforce expected to become an increasingly important part of its global engineering operations. The company sees India as a strategic location not only for engineering but…
India’s unemployment rate saw a marginal uptick in the April-June quarter, driven largely by stress in rural areas, even as cities reported some relief, according to the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the National Statistics Office. For persons aged 15 years and above, the unemployment rate stood at 5.2 per cent in April 2026, up from 5.1 per cent in March 2026 and the same month last year. This marks a six-month high. The rise was entirely led by rural India. Rural unemployment climbed to 4.6 per cent in April from 4.3 per cent in March. In…
Yubi, an AI-powered financial technology platform that acts as an operating system for debt lifecycle has elevated Mitesh Nijhara to head HR – banking, effective August 2026. In the new role, he will oversee HR initiatives for the company’s banking vertical, including talent planning, organisational design, employee engagement, and alignment with business growth objectives. The elevation follows his tenure as head HR – collections at Yubi from May 2023 to July 2026, a role where he managed people operations for one of the firm’s core functions. The company cited his extensive background in HR business partnering, people management, and scaling…
OpenAI has bought back around $7 billion worth of shares from its employees, giving workers at the privately held AI company an opportunity to realise part of the value of their equity without waiting for a public listing. The employee share sale values OpenAI at approximately $852 billion, matching the valuation from its latest fundraising round in March. That funding round reportedly raised $122 billion, significantly expanding the company’s financial resources as it continues to invest in artificial intelligence. The transaction also provides employees with greater liquidity at a time when OpenAI remains privately held. Technology companies are increasingly using…
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has received alerts about the possible exposure of certain employee-related data, with the IT major saying its customer information and operational systems have not been affected. The company disclosed the development on 10 August, saying the information referred to in the alerts appears to be more than four years old. The data is understood to be limited to basic employee information. Tata Consumtancy Services has not provided further details about the nature of the alerts or the source of the claims. According to the company, safeguards have been in place for more than two years to…
A group of democratic senators in the US has introduced a legislation to give federal employees up to 12 weeks of paid leave for family and medical reasons, a benefit that is currently unpaid for most civil servants. Led by Brian Schatz, senator, D-Hawaii, the comprehensive paid leave for Federal Employees Act was filed with eight co-sponsors including senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Alex Padilla. The bill would expand paid leave to cover all circumstances already protected under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Schatz stated that at the moment, the laws were forcing federal workers to make the…
Karnataka is planning to introduce a one-year fellowship in menopause care to train medical practitioners in addressing the physical, hormonal and mental health needs of women during perimenopause and menopause. The programme is expected to be offered through Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) and will focus on creating a specialised pool of doctors trained to provide menopause-related care. Applications are expected to open within the next three months. The fellowship is being developed primarily for postgraduate doctors, particularly those specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology. However, the final list of eligible medical disciplines will be decided by an expert…
Raychem RPG has appointed Abhishikta Tripathi as chief human resources officer (CHRO). She brings over 14 years of experience across business partnering, talent strategy, executive talent acquisition, employer branding, rewards and organisational capability. In her new role, Tripathi will lead the company’s people strategy, with a focus on leadership development, organisational capability and building people practices to support the company’s growth and transformation. Prior to joining Raychem RPG, Tripathi was HR head – commercial functions at Reckitt, a role she took up in January 2025. She was responsible for HR and people initiatives supporting the company’s commercial functions. Before Reckitt,…
SK Finance has named Vijay Sethi as its new chief human resources officer as the NBFC pushes ahead with its next phase of growth and organisational transformation. The appointment comes at a pivotal time for SK Finance, which is scaling operations across India’s financial-services landscape. Sethi joins from L&T Finance, where he served as HR head for over three years. In that role, he led a team of 100+ HR professionals and managed people strategy for the group’s rural business finance vertical — a key business with 23,000+ Cr Assets under Management (AUM), 2,300+ branches and 22,000+ employees. He also…
Titan Company has appointed Priya Mathilakath Pillai as chief people officer (CPO), with effect from April 2027. The announcement marks a key leadership transition as the Tata Group company prepares for its next phase of growth across jewellery, watches, eyewear and new businesses. Pillai currently serves as head of HR, retail and corporate at Titan, a position she has held since Dec 2015. In this role of over 10 years, she leads HR for 8000+ on-roll employees, 5000 off-roll staff, manufacturing and all support functions. She also manages HR for 800+ business associates with 15,000+ employees on their rolls, and…
A succession plan can identify the next leader. But can it tell you whether that leader is genuinely ready? That question sits at the heart of the next edition of HRKatha Futurecast, which brings together 10 senior HR leaders from across the BFSI sector to discuss The Future of Succession in BFSI: Governance, Leadership Development & Future Readiness. The conversation will explore how organisations identify and develop future leaders, assess readiness, strengthen succession governance and prepare leadership pipelines for a business environment that continues to change. The live virtual discussion will take place on Friday, 21 August 2026, from 12:30…
A single decision during a commute has cost an entire team their work-from-home flexibility. According to a post shared on Reddit that quickly went viral, an employee dialled into a client meeting while driving and stayed on the call for about two hours. People on the call said they could hear road noise, honking, and the employee managing traffic while trying to be present. Two hours later, management issued a new policy: the team would return to mandatory work-from-office effective immediately. The internal message, as described in the post, cited concerns around safety, professionalism, and the impression made on clients.…
Artificial intelligence is generating more jobs in India than it is eliminating, according to a new report by Japanese brokerage Nomura. The report estimates that AI-linked hiring across the country has outpaced job losses by over 51,000 roles. Instead of large-scale layoffs, Nomura says the technology is reshaping workforce demand and creating new opportunities in data, engineering, product, and support functions. Analysts noted that most of the gains are coming from companies scaling AI tools internally and from IT-services firms building solutions for global clients. Roles in AI development, data labelling, prompt engineering, model training, and AI governance have seen…