There was an assumption embedded quietly beneath much of the excitement around artificial intelligence: that machines would gradually reduce the importance of human language proficiency. If software could translate instantly, summarise documents and draft responses automatically, then fluency, especially in English, would matter less over time. Employers increasingly believe the opposite. A global survey of 1,325 HR decision-makers across 17 countries, conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of ETS, finds that 92 per cent believe workplace English proficiency is more important today than it was five years ago. More strikingly, the increase is being driven not despite artificial intelligence…
Author: Liji Narayan | HRKatha
Liji Narayan | HRKatha
HRKatha prides itself in being a good journalistic product and Liji deserves all the credit for it. Thanks to her, our readers get clean copies to read every morning while our writers are kept on their toes.
As many companies cut jobs citing artificial intelligence (AI), Walmart is presenting a different message. At its annual Associates Week in Bentonville, Arkansas, leaders told employees that AI will be used to make their jobs easier, not eliminate them. The company has already introduced AI tools across its business, training staff to use platforms including OpenAI’s models. Executives highlighted how AI is helping solve everyday problems—such as a freight manager’s system that reduces unnecessary truck travel, saving costs and giving drivers more time at home. Other uses include analysing customer feedback, improving self-checkout systems, and predicting demand shifts in the…
Chip Roy, Republican congressman of Texas, has introduced a bill in the US congress that could change the H-1B visa system in a big way. The H-1B visa allows American companies to hire skilled foreign workers, and many Indians use it to work in the US. The new bill, called the ‘American White-Collar Worker Jobs Act of 2026’, will end the current H-1B lottery. Instead, visas would be given based on higher wages. Companies will also have to show they tried to hire American workers first by posting jobs in the US and offering them to qualified American applicants before…
What does ‘rage applying’ mean? Rage applying refers to the impulsive act of applying to multiple jobs out of frustration with one’s current workplace. Unlike strategic job hunting, rage applying is emotional rather than planned. Employees apply not because they have carefully evaluated opportunities, but because something at work has pushed them beyond their tolerance threshold. A dismissive manager. A poor appraisal. A denied promotion. A meeting that becomes the final irritation after months of accumulated frustration. The trigger may appear small. Usually, it is not. Rage applying is rarely about a single bad day. More often, it is the…
Infosys has said it will focus on reskilling its workforce instead of cutting jobs to deal with changes brought by artificial intelligence (AI). Salil Parekh, CEO, Infosys has said that the company is seeing strong demand from clients in areas where it has good skills such as AI, cloud, and enterprise platforms. Speaking after recent layoffs announced by rival TCS, Parekh has made it clear that Infosys is not planning job cuts. Instead, the company is planning to hire around 20,000 fresh graduates in FY26. Infosys has already trained more than 2,75,000 employees at different levels in AI and related…
The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has announced admissions for the 2026–27 academic session under its special Ward of Insured Person (IP) quota, giving children of insured workers a chance to study medicine, dentistry and nursing at highly subsidised fees. A total of 783 seats have been reserved across 22 medical, dental, and nursing colleges in India. This includes 695 MBBS seats, 28 BDS seats, and 60 B.Sc. Nursing seats. Admissions will be handled through the centralised counselling process of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The biggest benefit for families is the low tuition cost. Students admitted under…
Canada’s unemployment rate fell to 6.6 per cent in May, down from 6.9 per cent in April, after employers added about 88,000 jobs, according to Statistics Canada. The increase was far stronger than economists’ expectations of just 10,000 new positions. The gains were spread across industries and concentrated in full-time work. Construction was the biggest contributor, adding 27,000 jobs, while wholesale and retail trade lost 35,000 positions. Young workers aged 15 to 24 saw notable improvements, with more full-time opportunities compared to the difficult summer job market of 2025. This rebound comes after a weak start to 2026. Between January…
Pune-based Enpro Industries has promoted Ranjeet Singh to chief human resources officer (CHRO). Before being named CHRO,he served as general manager at the company that designs and manufactures custom-engineered skids, process equipment and heat exchangers. During his term as general manager from 2021 to 2026, he led HR, administration, safety, CSR, and business excellence. This elevation marks a key milestone in his HR leadership career. Singh began his professional journey in 2005 as deputy manager-HR & admin, Parryware Roca where he managed plant level recruitment, payroll administration, employee welfare, statutory compliances, performance management, industrial relations, SAP-HR system and employee- engagement…
After eight years of association with ASK Asset & Wealth Management, Vincent Stanley has been elevated to associate director and head of human resources, wealth and international businesses. Stanley joined ASK in June of 2018 as assistant vice president-HR. Less than three and a half years into this role, he was promoted to vice president-human resources. April of 2023 saw him being elevated to senior vice president-HR. He is backed by over two decades of experience. After obtaining an MBA in Human Resources in 2005, Vincent Stanley joined Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail in September of 2005. Over two years…
The European Union (EU) may lose up to 1.3 million jobs this year because energy prices have gone up following the US-Iran conflict. The European Commission said on 4 June, 2026 that industries using a lot of energy will face the biggest problems. The car industry is expected to be hit the hardest. The Commission estimates that up to 6,00,000 jobs in car manufacturing could be at risk. Other sectors such as construction, metals, chemicals, and transport could lose around 56,000 jobs together. Clean energy projects are also in trouble. Around 85,000 jobs in battery making and nearly 59,000 jobs…
AHEAD, the Chicago-based global IT company that engineers digital platforms for enterprise transformation has announced the opening of a Bangalore office, the third one in India. The launch follows the opening of AHEAD’s delivery centre in Gurugram in 2023 and its Hyderabad office in 2024, establishing a three-city India footprint that now forms a core pillar of AHEAD’s global delivery model. The company has more than 700 employees across its India Centre of Excellence and provides consulting, transformation and ongoing support for AI, cloud, cybersecurity, platform engineering and end-to-end IT outsourcing to some of the world’s largest organizations. The new…
Developer platform GitLab has laid off about 14 per cent of its workforce, equal to roughly 350 employees, as part of a major restructuring. The public technology company, that provides a comprehensive AI-powered DevSecOps platform, is exiting operations in 22 countries, reducing management layers, and investing heavily in infrastructure to handle the surge in AI-driven workloads. Bill Staples, CEO, GitLab, explained that new agent-based AI systems are putting huge pressure on developer platforms, requiring a complete rebuild of GitLab’s core systems. This challenge is not unique to GitLab—competitors such as GitHub have also struggled with the flood of AI-powered submissions.…
Leadership beyond labels Sonali De Sarker has never viewed gender as a barrier to leadership. Throughout her career, she has worked with exceptional leaders across genders and believes that strong leadership ultimately comes down to clarity of thought, integrity, authenticity and impact. Capability and intent matter far more than labels. By staying focused on outcomes, making principled decisions and allowing her work to speak for itself, she has consistently converted challenges into opportunities. Today, as senior vice president-human resources at Epsilon India, De Sarker leads with a philosophy shaped by experience: doing the right thing matters more than being liked,…
Divya Nitin Tyagi has been elevated to the post of deputy general manager -DS group. Prior to this elevation, she was serving as assistant general manager-HR at the food and beverage services company. Backed by almost two decades of experience in HR, Tyagi has previously held leadership roles at Kusum Group of Companies, Parametrique Electronic and Mankind Pharma. She started her career in 2007 as deputy manager-HR at Mankind Pharma where she worked till August 2015. Later, she joined Parametrique Electronic Solutions as HR Manager, and spent over three years there, from September of 2015 to September of 2018. She…
After over four years of association with Niva Bupa Health Insurance, Priyanka Sharma has been elevated to the position of senior vice president & head – talent, HRBP & sustainability. Sharma is backed by over two decades of experience having begun her professional journey in June of 2005 as a project leader at Right Management. She spent over four and a half years there leading projects on talent assessment, leadership development and performance engagement for senior leadership. February of 2010 saw Sharma moving to Amway India as lead-people development. Over four years later, she switched to freelancing as a human…
Urban India appears, at first glance, to be getting healthier. Gyms are full. Meditation apps are booming. Protein consumption has become aspirational. Health insurance advertising now occupies the cultural territory once reserved for mutual funds and smartphones. Yet beneath the visible architecture of wellness sits a more anxious reality. The India Health Quotient 2026, a study by ManipalCigna and YouGov India covering 2,600 respondents across 16 cities, finds that 82 per cent of urban Indians report experiencing stress, while only 1 per cent describe their health as poor. That gap – between outward functionality and inward strain – may be…
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is scheduled to vote on 4 June on whether to replace the Biden administration’s 2024–2028 Strategic Enforcement Plan with a new national enforcement framework. The decision marks the latest step in a broader shift at the agency since the start of the second Trump administration. If the vote passes, the new framework will set the direction for how the EEOC investigates and litigates workplace bias cases for the next several years. Under Chair Andrea Lucas, the EEOC has already moved away from several Biden-era policies. The Commission has adopted President Donald Trump’s stance on…
After a two-year long association with NACL Industries, Sriniwas CR has moved to Tata Chemicals as chief human resources officer (CHRO). Sriniwas’ professional journey began way back in 1995 when he served as placement executive, Careerist Management Consultants. Soon, he moved to Modicorp India as assistant manager-HR, where he handled plant HR for erstwhile Modi Olivetti for over two years. From 1997 to 2000 he was associated with Bellarpur Industries as assistant manager-HR. His next stop was Dr Reddy’s Laboratories as deputy manager-HR, Hyderabad. After a four-year stint he moved to Infosys Technologies as manager-HR for a period of two…
Monalisa Beck has taken up the role of chief human resources officer (CHRO) at House Of Diagnostics (HOD). She moves from Dr Lal PathLabs (DLPL) where her association lasted over a decade, having begun way back in 2015. Armed with a PGDPM in Personnel Management from Xavier Institute of Social Service, Monalisa Beck began her career as assistant manager-human resources, with Tata Tele Business Service, in June of 2008. Over two and a half years into this role, she was elevated to deputy manager-HR, following which she relocated from Hyderabad, to take care of learning and development for West Bengal,…
What is the hub-and-spoke model? The hub-and-spoke model is a way of organising systems around one central point, the hub, connected to multiple smaller units called spokes. Most coordination, resources, and decision-making flow through the hub, while the spokes execute locally within that framework. The metaphor is simple: a bicycle wheel. The hub provides structure and direction, while the spokes extend reach and stability. Remove the hub and the system loses coherence. Weaken the spokes and the organisation loses local connection. In HR, this translates into a central HR function managing strategy, systems, policies and governance, while regional or local…
The future of work is being shaped by a fundamental rethink of how organisations define sustainability, flexibility and human value. For years, organisations spoke the language of progress while continuing to operate through systems built on constraint. Internal mobility was celebrated in presentations but restricted in practice. Burnout was acknowledged but quietly rewarded. Compensation structures remained rigid despite economic volatility. Benefits stayed standardised despite increasingly diverse workforce needs. And human skills were often treated as secondary to technical capability. Mona Cheriyan, former President & Group Head Human Resources at Thomas Cook (India), believes in 2026 organisations will be judged less…
Vijay TS has moved from CureBay to Redcliffe Labs as chief people officer (CPO). He brings to the table over two decades of experience, having begun his professional journey way back in 1998, as HR and admin executive at Hyundai Motor India. He spent over seven years there as HR and admin representative for the marketing and sales division. He moved to Birlasoft as manager-HR in January of 2005. Over a year into this role, he was promoted to senior manager and HR head-Americas. This role saw him relocating from New Delhi to New Jersey for three years. He was…
Cybersecurity company SentinelOne is preparing to lay off about 10 per cent of its global workforce, equal to nearly 300 employees. The company employs around 3,000 people worldwide, including about 700 in Israel, where roughly 70 jobs are expected to be affected. The announcement is expected to be made alongside its latest financial results. Unlike many software firms hit by broad industry layoffs, SentinelOne operates in the cybersecurity sector, which has remained relatively strong. Its stock has even risen this year. However, the company reportedly faces intense competition from rivals such as Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike, which has created…
India’s creator economy is shifting from informal collaborations to structured employment. According to new data from Indeed, job postings for roles requiring content creation skills—such as influencers, content creators, and social-media marketers—have grown by 919 per cent between 2020 and early 2026. What was once a niche segment now represents a significant share of marketing jobs, showing how creators are becoming embedded within company structures. In 2020, creator roles accounted for roughly 1 in every 1,000 marketing jobs. Today, they stand at nearly 1 in every 100, reflecting a rapid rise in demand. This growth is also supported by India’s…
After a successful tenure of over four years with Google, Sumoya Ghosh has taken up the role of head of learning and development (L&D) at The Hartford India. Having interned with Randstad, KPMG and IDFC from 2014 to 2015, Sumoya Ghosh joined Accel as manager-HR, in November of 2015. Soon, she moved to Wissen Technology as HR business partner, in July of 2016. There she worked for big accounts such as Morgan Stanley, MSCI and British Telecom, and played HRBP location lead for Mumbai and Bangalore for over a year. In August of 2017, she took up the role of…
After over 16 years of association with Tata Power, Shyam S Choudhary has been appointed senior vice president and chief human resources officer (CHRO), Tata Realty and Infrastructure. Post obtaining an MBA in Human Resource from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, Shyam S Choudhary went on to complete a PhD in Business Administration and Management, from the Indian Institute of Management, Kashipur. His professional journey began as head-plant and machinery, Larsen & Toubro (ECC division), in December of 2004. For over three years he worked out of Hyderabad and Kolkata before joining Holcim as area HR manager (Kolkata); ACC…