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Friday, October 10
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The wave of panic created by the global economic crisis has hit the education sector as well. But do students need to panic about their
careers? Counsellors think otherwise.
"While students need to be more careful when choosing careers and thinking of alternatives, they definitely don't need to panic," says Usha Albuquerque, career counsellor. Albuquerque does, however, caution that banking, financial services, retail management, travel and hospitality sectors may witness a slowdown.
Her advice: "Think of long-term goals while opting for a career. If a career in finance is what interests you, go ahead. You may not end up working with a multinational but you could always get a job as a chartered accountant, company secretary or financial analyst. The only reason these jobs have been losing their appeal, of late, is that students didn't consider them as glamorous as investment banking," she added.
On the same lines, Jitin Chawla, career counsellor and educationist, says that while investment banking has definitely taken a hit, opportunities in corporate banking and private equity, among others, remain robust and continue to grow. Chawla believes that in the immediate future, recruiting will be affected in banking and insurance sectors. On the other hand, he adds, retail, agriculture (food processing) and real estate are sectors that wouldn't witness much change.
Students should look for stability, feels Sunita Roy, counsellor, Apeejay School, Sheikh Sarai, Delhi. "We advise our students to consider entrepreneurial ventures, which can ensure stability and are gratifying as well.
Besides, there are many sectors with great potential which have not been tapped so far, such as energy. Careers in such sectors should also be explored." Other areas that Roy believes will remain unaffected by the economic slowdown are careers in electronics, robotics, pharmaceuticals and event management.
Devashish Dhall, who is pursuing an MBA in banking and insurance from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU), Delhi, is not worried at all. He prefers to look at the positive side of the present scenario, otherwise considered terribly grim.
"It will create a more skilled workforce," he says, as students will be encouraged to pursue specialised MBAs and higher qualifications. Besides, competition will also be high, as more people would fight for lesser number of jobs.
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They never thought that the cross-over from college campus to office cubicle would take so long. But, for dozens of bright young men and w
omen all over the country, the wait before they join their first job is proving to be extremely frustrating.
Twenty-three-year-old MCA student Vijay V was recruited by Satyam Computers Services Ltd, Hyderabad, as a software engineer a few months back. He was given a tentative joining date of June 23 when he received the offer letter. But, when the time came for joining, Vijay was in for a rude shock; he was told that his joining had been postponed by a couple of months. "I am still awaiting a call from the company. I tried several times to contact the organisation but, initially, nobody answered our calls," he said on Tuesday. It was after a lot of trying that he got a senior official to tell him that the company had slowed down its intake and those waiting to join would be able to do so by December.
Vijay's is not a stray incident. Mayur Mehta (name changed), recruited by Wipro in Hyderabad, is also facing a similar problem. He, too, was given a tentative date of June but the company got in touch with him saying it would soon update him about his new joining date.
Students blame the prolonged wait to step into office on the global economy slowing down and affecting IT companies in India. But companies begged differed.
Satyam Computer Services Ltd global head-HR S V Krishnan said: "The usual trend is that the bulk of campus recruits join in the third and fourth quarters. Our projected growth rates still put us on the trajectory of meeting our guideline of recruiting 14,000-15,000 employees this year."
A TCS spokesperson from Kolkata said the company this year had hired almost double the number of people it generally does. "The slight delay in joining is mainly because our training facilities have not grown with the number
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The economic slowdown is going to impact education, especially campus recruitments. Both immediate and long-term effects are being pred
icted, which include change in pay packages, profiles and hiring strategies. Additionally, students are likely to opt for more qualifications after graduation, instead of entering the job market.
"On one hand, the high-end pay packages will take a backseat with investment banks withdrawing from the placement process. Last year, Lehman Brothers made an offer of Rs 18 lakhs to a Delhi University (DU) graduate and this year they have backed out," said Seema Parihar, chairperson, Central Placement Cell, DU.
"Other companies that were taking up global projects will also reduce recruitment, as they may not get as many projects now. As the economic slowdown will also affect the use of credit cards, the BPO sector --- call centres in particular --- will also reduce recruitment," she added.
Vaibhav Sharma, member, Placement Cell, Delhi School of Economics (DSE), also predicts a change in the profile of recruiters and the jobs that would be offered. "It will be product-centric companies rather than the people-centric ones that would emerge as top recruiters. These include companies dealing with manufacturing, insurance and telecom. Within consultancy firms, the hiring would be directed towards talent management and talent retention profiles instead of strategic planning," he said. Sharma also believes that students would now have to settle for Indian companies, with fewer MNCs coming forward.
Veer Singh, vice-chancellor, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, is waiting for the recruitment process to begin before drawing any conclusions. However, he believes legal services would witness a positive change. "I think the demand for lawyers is going to increase, as the present situation would require a great amount of documentation with drastic changes taking place at the top-level in organisations," he added.
And would the market slowdown affect recruitment at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) as well? Sanjay Dhande, director, IIT-Kanpur, thinks otherwise. "Every year, top companies visit the IITs and this will not change. However, in the long term, the market slowdown may affect postgraduate education with students opting for additional qualifications, instead of settling for just one," he said.
Echoing a similar sentiment, Peter Cappelli, professor of management, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, US, said: "This would be a good time to sit out the downturn by going to business school and picking up a qualification while the economy is down. This way, you won't miss anything." Students, too, believe they have little to fear.
While some have drawn their own market estimates and are planning accordingly, others have decided to wait and see how companies' respond. "We don't think there is any reason to panic before the placement process begins. The scenario can only be gauged by the summer placements for first-year students," says Akshay Sinha, second-year student, XLRI-Jamshedpur.
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Thursday, October 09
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Google has adapted its free email service to help those letting loose after a few evening cocktails or succumbing to lovelorn moments from firing off messages they might regret in the morning.
Mail Goggles software comes to life after dark and on weekends, when altered states of mind are more probable, and requires that five simple math problems be answered correctly in less than a minute in order to send a Gmail missive.
"Sometimes I send messages I shouldn't send," Gmail engineer Jon Perlow wrote Monday in a website posting announcing the optional new feature.
"Like the time I told that girl I had a crush on her over text message. Or the time I sent that late night email to my ex-girlfriend that we should get back together."
Gmail users can adjust their email settings to activate the Goggles feature and dictate the times it is active.
"It will check that you're really sure you want to send that late night Friday email," Perlow wrote.
"And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you're in the right state of mind?"
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Google has adapted its free email service to help those letting loose after a few evening cocktails or succumbing to lovelorn moments from firing off messages they might regret in the morning.
Mail Goggles software comes to life after dark and on weekends, when altered states of mind are more probable, and requires that five simple math problems be answered correctly in less than a minute in order to send a Gmail missive.
"Sometimes I send messages I shouldn't send," Gmail engineer Jon Perlow wrote Monday in a website posting announcing the optional new feature.
"Like the time I told that girl I had a crush on her over text message. Or the time I sent that late night email to my ex-girlfriend that we should get back together."
Gmail users can adjust their email settings to activate the Goggles feature and dictate the times it is active.
"It will check that you're really sure you want to send that late night Friday email," Perlow wrote.
"And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you're in the right state of mind?"
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For decades, General Electric has been the largest client of Tata Consultancy Services. However, this is set to change.
With TCS inking a deal with Citigroup, the US financial giant would become its largest customer and revenue contributor. TCS is acquiring the Indian back office of Citi, which has 12,000 employees, for $505 million, and has also struck a deal, which would assure a steady revenue for nearly nine-and-a-half years.
The price which TCS is paying is nearly two times of the BPO arm's revenues, which analysts term to be an expensive deal given the current market environment.
Post the deal, Citi would contribute $280 million per year, against GE's contribution of $200 million to TCS revenues, thus over taking GE as the largest client.
Citigroup Global Services, earlier known as E-Serve International had been valued at Rs 1,200 crore, when the stock was delisted from the bourses.
The Citi deal, however, would catapult TCS to the number two position in the BPO space after Genpact.
Citi has been TCS' customer since 1992 and the latest deal is expected to enhance TCS's expertise in the banking sector. ‘‘This transaction would complement our domain expertise and bring new capabilities to TCS that will help drive growth,'' said S Ramadorai, CEO and MD, TCS.
For Citi, the sale is in line with its strategy to remain ‘‘a fit company'', reduce its operating expenses related to BPO and will allow to focus on our core financial services competencies, said Citi India head Sanjay Nayar. Citigroup Global Services (CGSL), with offices in Mumbai, Chennai and Gurgaon, provides services to Citigroup's consumer, corporate and global wealth management businesses globally. TCS intends to retain CGS management team.
The company earns 43% of its revenues from North America, 26% each from Emerging market economies and India and 5% from APAC region.
Some analysts viewed the acquisition to be positive and it would give the software services firm the much needed visibility and stability with a large customer on the backdrop of the current market situation.
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Sunday, October 05
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Two Indian IT giants are in the fray to acquire British tech consultancy Axon, media reports said on Sunday.
According to the report in The Sunday Times , Infosys had made a 407 million pounds bid for Axon but its Indian rival HCL trumped it up by offering 441 million pounds.
On Friday Axon said it was backing HCL. Infosys shares, listed in Mumbai and New York, slumped.
"One of our strategies is to reduce our dependence on America and to increase our revenues from Europe and the rest of the world. We also want to do more value-added services, and we want to leverage the customer base. So this acquisition has to meet multiple strategic objectives," said Kris Gopalakrishnan, chief of Infosys to the newspaper.
In view of HCL bid, Infosys might jack up its bid, the report said.
Gopalakrishnan said "We're now consciously growing Europe. Today our revenues are 60 per cent America, 30 per cent Europe, 10 per cent rest of the world. We want to take it to 40-40-20."
British firms like Axon make a good start. Axon specialises in serving software developed by the German firm SAP and advise clients such as Vodafone and Barclays on implementation.
Infosys, employing 95,000, has made only one overseas acquisition before - in Australia five years ago - and prefers growing organically. Its main experience of employing Europeans is an outsourcing deal with Philips that saw it take on 700 employees in Poland.
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Microsoft Corp said it is reviewing its hiring plans in light of tough economic conditions, but denied reports it had instituted a company-wide hiring freeze.
IDG News Service, citing a source close to the company, reported earlier on Friday that Microsoft sent out an internal memo calling for a hiring freeze.
Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos said the report of a hiring freeze was untrue. The company said it plans to grow and add thousands of new jobs this year, while acknowledging the need to be careful.
"Given the current economic environment we are taking the prudent step of reviewing our hiring plans and will make some adjustments as appropriate," Gellos said in a e-mail.
Microsoft, the world's largest software maker with more than 91,000 employees worldwide, has been on a hiring spree, adding more than 20,000 employees in the last two years.
Earlier this week, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said the company is not immune to the global financial crisis and that, like other companies, it will feel the sting from a decline in business and consumer spending.
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