Author: Liji Narayan | HRKatha

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has appointed Aarthi Subramanian as executive director-president and chief operating officer, for a five-year term, from 1 May 2025 to 30 April 2030. She is also part of the Board of the Indian information technology multinational. According to a BSE filing, her appointment is subject to the approval of the shareholders. Subramanian has been associated with the Tata Group for more than 30 years now, serving in various leadership positions. She has also served as executive director and global head of delivery excellence, governance and compliance at TCS. This role had her overseeing global risk and…

DHL Group, the global logistics brand recently conducted its second GoHelp Disaster Response Team (DRT) training in Bangalore, India, strengthening resilience and preparedness against disasters in the South Asia region. The first training was conducted back in 2013. The two-day training held from April 5-6, 2025, at a DHL facility in Bangalore, was attended by over 30 employees from Blue Dart, DHL Express, DHL Global Forwarding, and DHL Supply Chain. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), a specialised force in India formed to respond to natural and man-made disasters, attended the training as observer. “It has been over 20 years…

After a decade-long tenure with IDFC First Bank, Vivek Singh has moved on to take up the role of CEO, Home Credit India. An alumnus of Bharti Vidyapeeth, from where he completed an MBA, Vivek Singh began his professional journey as area sales manager, ICICI Bank. There, he lead the loan business for Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, collaborating with a team of five relationship managers for three and a half years. Singh’s next stop was Tata Capital where he joined as national sales head-commercial vehicle. His stint lasted almost seven years. It was in February of 2015 that he moved to…

A new digital feature introduced by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) allows employees to generate and activate their Universal Account Number (UAN) with the help of the Aadhaar-based Face Authentication Technology (FAT). Earlier, the UAN was generated by the employers, which increased the likelihood of errors in terms of entering their personal details, such as name or mobile number. Additionally, it was a little long drawn and complicated requiring users to use their Aadhaar OTP to activate. There was also the worry of employers not sharing the UAN details with employees. With this digital feature, the objective is to…

HG Infra Engineering has got itself a new chief human resources officer in Rachna Mohan. She was earlier senior vice president-human resources, Gensol Group. An alumna of the Indian Institute of Planning and Management, Rachna Mohan began her professional journey as an assistant manager-sales, with SQL Star International, in 1998. Three and a half years later, she moved to SAK Consumer Retail Services, as assistant manager, human resources. Mohan’s next stop was Aman Resorts where she served as manager-HR for three years before moving on to Vana, Dehradun, as manager-human capital for over four years. March of 2016 saw her…

Unilever has elevated Ambika Sivadoss to the role of vice president-human resources, home care and head of talent, India. Her association with the company began way back in 2009, when she joined as HR manager-organisation effectiveness. Three years into this role, she was elevated to HR business partner-skin care/cleansing, working out of Singapore, with the marketing teams of Pond’s, Vaseline, Lux, Lifebuoy, and so on. September of 2013 saw her being promoted to HR business partner-personal care. For the next almost two and a half years, she worked with the hair, oral care, deodorants, skin care and skin cleansing marketing…

Till now, the uniform allowance was paid to Central government employees only once in a year, in the month of July, irrespective of when they joined service. Therefore, those who joined after July had to wait till July of the following year to get their uniform allowance. Now, the latest circular issued by the Finance Ministry says that this allowance will be paid on a pro-rata basis more than once annually. This revision in policy will ensure that even new employees who have joined after July will be able to enjoy the benefit without having to wait till next July.…

In the sun-soaked state of Goa, where tourism meets tradition, Deltin has launched an innovative recruitment initiative that’s changing the employment playbook. The Indian luxury gaming, entertainment, and hospitality powerhouse has formed a strategic alliance with one of Goa’s most beloved football clubs to introduce “BE THE GAMECHANGER” – a recruitment campaign as ambitious as it is thoughtful. This groundbreaking partnership represents the perfect marriage between Goa’s undeniable love for football and its need for sustainable employment opportunities. Deltin’s campaign strategically leverages the massive popularity of the beautiful game to connect with potential candidates across the state, creating a recruitment…

Puma has roped in Arthur Hoeld for the role of chief executive officer (CEO). Hoeld has spent over 26 successful years with Adidas, where he is presently serving as chief sales officer. Hoeld who has worked as a trainee with BP Chemicals way back in 1995, was also associated with Bartle Bogle Hegarty London as account manager from 1996 to 1998. His long association with Adidas began as an advertising manager, Europe, in 1998. Soon he moved up to the role of global advertising manager in May 2000. Less than three years later, he was heading global communications for Adidas.…

After a long and successful tenure of over two decades with Intel, Kanupriya Gupta has joined UnitedHealth Group as vice president-total rewards. Gupta, an alumna of Lady Sri Ram College for Women and the Symbiosis Centre for Management and HRD, began her association with Intel as a business analyst, in 2004. Hardly over a year into this role, she was promoted to HR business partner. Two years later came another promotion that made her compensation and benefits consultant. In October 2012 she was elevated to business HR partner. Eight months later she was made India compensation &d benefits and HR…

Indian workforce-mobility platform, BorderPlus has acquired Onea Care, a German healthcare- recruitment firm. As Ayush Mathur and Mayank Kumar, co-founders of BorderPlus explained,“This acquisition is a major step toward ensuring that Indian nurses and healthcare professionals have access to structured, fair, and high-quality job opportunities in Germany.” The platform “will continue to explore such opportunities across key markets to expand our presence and support Indian skilled healthcare talent explore global career prospects.” This growth strategy will allow for “a transparent and trustworthy route for Indian nurses to get recruitment opportunities.” Additionally, it will help check the issues related to llegal…

Have priorities changed for human resources leaders in the past year? Sure they have. While focus areas of the HR function that were high on the list of priorities in 2024 have gone down in 2025, other areas have climbed up on the list this year. According to Mercer’s ‘Global Talent Trends 2025 Highlights: Risks & opportunities for HR leaders in India’, on the 13th position on the list of priorities for 2024 was ‘delivering on DEI goals’. However, in 2025, this has climbed up to position 7. That means Indian HR leaders are taking their diversity equity and inclusion…

Employees who were part of the Zomato Associate Accelerator Programme (ZAAP), a year-old customer-service training initiative, have been laid off. Rather, these Zomato employees, about 500 in number, have lost their jobs to Nugget, the in-house customer-support platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Most of the impacted employees are from Gurugram and Hyderabad offices. Nugget, which took more than three years to be created, is able to handle at least 15 million interactions a month across all Zomato platforms. That includes Blinkit and Hypercure too. With Nugget being able to solve up to 80 per cent of customer queries, the…

Salila Pande, who was chief general manager, State Bank of India, is now managing director and CEO, SBI Card. In this new role, she will be responsible for leading the company’s strategic vision and overseeing all facets of its business operations. An alumna of University of Lucknow, Pande studied financial risk management (FRM) from GARP, USA and is a Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB). Pande’s association with State Bank of India dates back to 1995. For about 24 years, she served the bank in various leadership roles, in the US, Singapore, Delhi and Mumbai. She was part…

The Madras High Court stated that although maternity leave is granted to married women, the registration of the marriage is not compulsory for seeking maternity leave, unless the very validity of the marriage is questionable. In the said case, the petitioner was employed as an office assistant in the District Munsif cum Judicial Magistrate’s Court, when her husband died in 2020. Sometime later, she developed a relationship with another man and eventually got married and became pregnant. However, when she applied for maternity leave, her application was rejected because she failed to produce a marriage certificate and the Judicial Magistrate’s…

Fluor Corporation, a global engineering and construction firm has elevated Tracey Cook to the position of chief human resources officer (CHRO). Cook joined Fluor in 1989 and has served in various roles in finance and operations over the years. In June of 2021 she was promoted to vice president-corporate mergers and acquisitions/president equipment division. In 2023 she was again promoted to vice president-HR strategic business partner-segments. An alumna of the University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business, Tracey Cook spent over two decades with AMECO, a business line of Fluor Corp. For over six years, from 2002 to…

After an “incredible 38-year journey in healthcare HR,” as Ajay Bhat’s social-media post says, he is retiring from his role at Intas/Accord. Bhat has spent over 13 years with Sun Pharma, as deputy general manager-human resources, from 1989 to 2002. He was general manager-human resources, Zydus Group for two years, from 2002 to 2004 during which he led the people-development project with Mckinsey. He served as vice president-human resources, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, leading HR practice and shouldering the responsibility of talent management and people-development strategy. December of 2005 saw Ajay Bhat joining Abbott, as regional human resources director. Nine years into…

Are you an employer that relies on annual or biannual reviews? Here’s news—Annual reviews are passé. Gen Z are more for project-based reviews or feedback every month. In fact, 77 per cent of Gen Z feel this way. The problem is that a whopping 71 per cent of recruiters are still following the old way of quarterly, biannual or annual reviews. Why does Gen Z seek regular feedback? It is because this generation is all about fast iterations, quick remedial action, and unambiguity when it comes to career growth. Gen Zers see their job as a challenging game, says Unstop’s…

Government of Kerala has revised the rules of its compassionate employment scheme under which dependents of government employees who happen to die while in service are given jobs. As per the latest amendments/ revisions, no matter what the circumstances of death are, the dependents of deceased government employees will be able to seek compassionate employment. However, they will not benefit from the scheme if the deceased employee was enjoying an invalid pension till before their death. This pension is usually given to employees who are mentally ill or suffer from some physical disability. It is reported that the scheme will…

Ramganesh Iyer has been roped in to play chief operating officer (COO), Mahindra Finance. Iyer—who has studied electrical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, and completed a PGDM from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad—began his professional journey as a consultant with The Boston Consulting Group, in 2004. In November 2006, he became co-promoter and director of PARK Financial Advisors, a boutique wealth management and corporate finance advisory firm, catering to high net-worth customers in Mumbai and Bangalore. When the wealth management business was sold to Karvy, Iyer was part of the core team helping build out this business unit…

After a successful tenure with Nuance, which was acquired by Microsoft, Beth Conway has taken up the role of executive vice president and chief people officer at UKG. A graduate from Siena College, Conway studied general management and business administration at Harvard Business School. Her professional journey began with Key Bank as HR generalist, in 1998. She then moved to CA Technologies, as employee relations specialist, in 1999. Within a year she was promoted to manager, HR, working out of San Diego. The year 2003 was witness to Conway playing HR director at CA Technologies, Florida. Seven years later she…

A recent town hall meeting saw Andy Jassy, CEO, Amazon, telling employees that the e-commerce platform is altering the way it looks at promotions. He reportedly stated that the most successful leaders are those who are able to get the most out of the limited available resources to them. Jassy made it quite clear that Amazon does not believe in maintaining large teams; that the company has witnessed better results and impact working with smaller teams. Citing examples from the past, he stated that success in the future will only come from smaller teams. He also recalled that in the…

After a successful four-year long tenure at Varroc, Narayan Ramachandran has joined CANPACK India as India HR head. Backed by over two decades of experience, Ramachandran began his professional journey as HR executive with e3R Infosystems, in 2002. He moved to eGain Communications in 2003, as assistant manager-HR. Almost three years later, he switched to Syntel Inc. as HR business partner. Ramachandran’s next stop was Mphasis where he joined as HR business partner for three business verticals. His association with Dresser Rand, a Siemens business, began in June of 2010. He joined as manager-HR and within three years was elevated…

Siemens is preparing to trim its global workforce by about 6,000 employees. About 50 per cent of the cuts will happen in Germany as the company tries to cut costs amidst slowing demand and market conditions. The objective of the cuts is to align production with the fall in demand. About 5,600 jobs roles will be axed in total in the Digital Industries unit by the end of fiscal 2027, of which 2,600 jobs will be axed in Germany itself. Interestingly, Digital Industries was reportedly the unit that brought in maximum profits for Siemens till recently due to the popularity…

The quick commerce or q-commerce sector is growing in leaps and bounds. Service is so fast that sometimes the item we want is delivered to us within seconds of placing the order over the phone. And yes, this sector is a source of livelihood to many. Karnataka leads with the highest employee distribution (20 per cent), followed by Maharashtra (19 per cent) and Telangana (13 per cent), highlighting these states as major hiring hubs in the q-commerce space due to their high population density, tech-savvy consumers, and robust infrastructure which facilitates fast deliveries. States such as Haryana and West Bengal…

On a regular working day, professionals often find themselves sifting through dozens of e-mails, a good number with attachments, looking for relevant information and data when they have a deadline to meet. Add to that a couple of PowerPoint slides and presentations and half a dozen important phone calls and you have a heady cocktail guaranteed to give you stress or a migraine if not both. Therefore, it is not surprising that the “biggest challenge to moving fast is the difficulty to find the right information,” say employees. ‘The State of Teams 2025’ report by Atlassian reveals that even when…