SAP says hiring actively in China, India

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HONG KONG (Reuters) - Germany's SAP AG, the world's biggest maker of business software, plans to increase its workforce by about 7 percent in China and India, hiring as many as 600 people in coming quarters as it targets expansion in fast-growing Asia.

SAP, which derives 16 percent of its revenue from Asia-Pacific including Japan, aimed to increase employees by 200-300 each in China and India, where its staff strength was about 2,600 and 5,500 respectively, a senior executive said.

"China and India are the two places where we are scaling the most," Stephen Watts, president of SAP Asia-Pacific and Japan, told Reuters in an interview.

India was its biggest subsidiary in Asia-Pacific including Japan, where the company employs about 11,500 people, he said, adding that SAP was looking at bringing in people in consulting, account management and support.

"Given that the company is getting into the innovation cycle, we are bringing very strong high value-added solutions to the market," said Watts, who is based in Singapore and visiting Hong Kong.

SAP, which competes with Oracle Corp globally and companies such as Kingdee International Software Group Co Ltd in China, sees huge potential in public sectors, retail, and in financial services such as banking and insurance in Asia.

The software company's revenue in the second quarter was 513 million euros ($733 million) in Asia-Pacific including Japan, up 20 percent from a year earlier, largely boosted by markets such as Japan, China and India, it said in a statement.

Globally, revenue totalled 3.3 billion euros during the second quarter, when SAP also took market share from arch rival Oracle for the first time in 1-1/2 years.

SAP said it expected to reach the high end of its 10-14 percent growth forecast in 2011 for software and related services, confounding fears of a slowdown in economically fragile Europe.

"This is Asia. We should be growing faster than the world. I think that is sustainable," Watts said.

He added that SAP was also not ruling out acquisitions, but declined to elaborate. Last year, SAP acquired Sybase for $5.8 billion, and in 2007 it bought Business Objects for 4.8 billion euros.

"We are always absolutely always going to consider that as an opportunity. Is there anything planned that I can talk to you about today? No," he said.

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India hiring outlook falls steeply - Manpower

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prospects for job seekers are gloomier in most major economies than they were three months ago, as weak U.S. and European economies begin to affect employers' confidence in other parts of the world, according to a quarterly hiring survey by ManpowerGroup.

Manpower Chief Executive Jeff Joerres describes the global jobs climate as tenuous, comparing it to a ball atop a hill: given a slight nudge, it could roll either forward or back.

"A collection of little things on the margin can move the ball," Joerres said.

The global staffing services company said the fourth-quarter hiring outlook is lower in 21 of 39 countries and territories, including the United States. Prospects are stronger in 13 economies and unchanged in five others versus the third-quarter.

When compared with the fourth quarter of last year, the job outlook is stronger in most countries and territories, the United States among them. The U.S. index, however, declined sequentially for the first time in nine quarters, suggesting the unemployment rate is likely to go higher.

The U.S. net employment outlook -- which measures the difference between employers who say they expect to add jobs and those planning to cut them -- was down one point from three months ago. Of the 13 U.S. industry sectors Manpower tracks, only one -- education and health services -- showed stronger hiring plans.

"Companies remain on the sidelines when it comes to hiring," Joerres said. "Until there's more visibility (about) demand improvement, we're going to see companies completely resistant to adding workers for the fear that they'll have to reduce that same cost."

U.S. President Barack Obama 's plan to stimulate jobs growth can help sentiment but will probably not boost hiring in the near term, Joerres said. Lower payroll costs will not induce a company to hire but could help those employers that were going to add workers anyway: instead of taking on nine workers, a manager might offer jobs to 10.

Obama has proposed a $447 billion jobs plan, involving tax cuts and public works spending, that he hopes will help rescue a faltering U.S. economy.

"Much of what was proposed makes sense," Joerres said. "Other things are to try to look like we're doing things and probably don't have a lot of efficacy."

Manpower's U.S. survey dates back to 1962 and is based on interviews with 18,000 employers. It is considered a leading indicator of labor market trends.

The survey results follow a disappointing U.S. jobs report that showed zero new jobs were created in August and the unemployment rate held steady at 9.1 percent.

INDIA, CHINA FEEL U.S. SLOWDOWN

Manpower's global survey, which polled more than 65,000 employers, found evidence slow U.S. growth was affecting job creation elsewhere. India's hiring outlook fell steeply from the third quarter, partly because its information technology industry relies on U.S. sales.

Employers in China are also expecting less robust hiring in the next three months.

"Even the emerging economies, with their growing middle classes, still can't avoid the effect of the U.S. slowdown," Joerres said. "China has a great middle class demographic but they still rely a lot on export goods to the U.S."

Rising labour costs have also made Chinese companies, especially small businesses, more reluctant to add workers, the survey found. Europe's austerity programs are also hurting demand for goods produced in emerging markets, Manpower said.

The weakest hiring outlooks are in Mediterranean countries hit by an ongoing debt crisis, including Greece, Italy and Spain. These countries' problems are affecting confidence in northern Europe, including the Netherlands. Central European economies such as Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic showed mostly lower readings.

In Asia-Pacific, spending on reconstruction after a destructive March earthquake lifted Japanese employers' optimism to its highest reading in three years. Sentiment in Hong Kong , Taiwan and Singapore was little changed and dipped in Australia.

In the Americas, employers in Canada and Mexico are less optimistic than three months ago, but the outlook brightened in Colombia and Brazil.

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Facebook hires NIT Warangal student for Rs 45 lakh

Facebook hires NIT Warangal student for Rs 45 lakh
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It's raining lucrative jobs at NIT Warangal which has had the best placement season so far. The 51-year-old institute started it's recruitment drive on August 15 and already has a 21-year-old fourth year BTech computer science student securing the highest ever pay package of Rs 45 lakh per annum.

The offer, made by Facebook, has created a record of sorts here. The institute confirmed that the student will be joining the technical wing of the social networking giant, as soon as he completes his course in March next year.

This has set a new benchmark at NIT Warangal in that the highest salary any student from the institute had bagged so far was Rs 20 lakh per annum. From the 2010-11 batch as many as three students had got jobs that paid them Rs 20 lakh per annum, sources at NIT said. It is not just the 21-year-old whizkid who has bagged a hefty package this year.

According to sources, the salaries offered to students so far range anywhere between Rs 5 to Rs 12 lakh per annum. The recruitment process for this year that started on August 15 is expected to last till March 2012. Sources said that most of the recruiters so far are IT companies.

About 30 students from computer science stream of the institute have already been recruited. Eight companies have come in for recruitment in the first round so far. According to NIT officials, this year other than the usual brand of companies several new ones have expressed interest in hiring. "Companies have now shed the recession blues completely and are looking for fresh candidates to recruit.

Many of them like Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle and Google could recruit more number of freshers than they did last year," said a senior professor from the institute. Last year, 92% students from the B Tech batch of the institute and 50 % students from M Tech batch were recruited by companies.

The average pay package offered by companies last year was between Rs 6 and Rs 7 lakh per annum. The institute officials are expecting a considerable increase in the pay packages this year. NIT professors said that this year, several companies have been vying for the first interview slots with students.

"Most of the IT companies are willing to pay really well to bright students who get absorbed in the first or second interview. The companies who come for interviews later could offer bigger packages to students. We'll have to wait and watch what the salary trend this year is," said an official from NIT.

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Jan Lokpal Bill

Jan Lokpal Bill
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The Jan Lokpal Bill (Hindi: जन लोकपाल विधेयक), also referred to as the citizens' ombudsman bill is a proposed independent anti-corruption law in India. Anti-corruption social activists proposed it as a more effective improvement to the original Lokpal bill, which is currently being proposed by the Government of India[1]. The prefix Jan (translation: citizens) was added to signify the fact that these improvements include input provided by "ordinary citizens" through an activist-driven, non-governmental public consultation.[2][3]

The Jan Lokpal Bill aims to effectively deter corruption, redress grievances of citizens, and protect whistle-blowers(a person who tells the public or someone in authority about dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, public or a private organization or a company).

If made into law, the bill would create an independent ombudsman body similar to the Election Commission of India called the Lokpal (Sanskrit: protector of the people). It would be empowered to register and investigate complaints of corruption against politicians and bureaucrats without prior government approval[4]. First passed the Lok Sabha in 1968[5], the bill has failed to pass the Rajya Sabha and become law for over four decades.[6]

In 2011, civil activist Anna Hazare started a Satyagraha movement by commencing an indefinite fast in New Delhi to demand the passing of the bill. The movement attracted attention in the media, and hundreds of thousands of supporters, in part due to the organizational skills of Arvind Kejriwal [7]. Following Hazare's four day hunger strike, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated that the bill would be re-introduced in the 2011 monsoon session of the Parliament[8].

Accordingly, a committee of five Cabinet Ministers and five social activists attempted to draft a compromise bill merging the two versions but failed. The Indian government went on to propose its own version in the parliament, which the activists reject on the grounds of not being sufficiently effective and called it a "toothless bill"[9].[why?]

The All-India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations, representing the Dalits and backward castes, expressed opposition to the bill proposed by Anna Hazare as well as to the government's version of the bill. The confederation opposed Hazare's proposed bill saying that it will be above the constitution and that proposers of the bill have support from elements who oppose reservation.[10]

Background

The Lokpal bill was first introduced by Shanti Bhushan in 1968[5] and passed the 4th Lok Sabha (Upper house) in 1969. But the Rajya Sabha was dissolved before the bill got through the Rajya Sabha (upper house of the Parliament of India).[11] The Subsequent versions were re-introduced in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005 and in 2008,[12] but none of them passed. The bill is inspired of setting up an independent commission like Independent Commission Against Corruption (Hong Kong) (ICAC).[13][14]

Renewed calls for the bill arose over resentment of the major differences between the draft 2010 Lokpal Bill prepared by the government and that prepared by the members of the associated activists movement — N. Santosh Hegde, a former justice of the Supreme Court of India; Lokayukta of Karnataka; Shanti Bhushan; Arvind Kejriwal; Prashant Bhushan, a senior lawyer in the Supreme Court; and members of the India Against Corruption movement[2].JAN LOKPAL

The bill's supporters consider existing laws too weak, full of contradictions and insufficiently empowered to combat corruption.[15][16] On the other hand, critics of the Jan Lokpal Bill argue that the bill attempts to supersede existing constitutional bodies and attempts to create a super-institution with sweeping powers, which can be dangerous for the future of democracy.[17]

Key features of proposed bill

Some important features of the proposed bill are:[2]

1. To establish a central government anti-corruption institution called Lokpal, supported by Lokayukta at the state level.
2. As in the case of the Supreme Court and Cabinet Secretariat, the Lokpal will be supervised by the Cabinet Secretary and the Election Commission. As a result, it will be completely independent of the government and free from ministerial influence in its investigations.
3. Members will be appointed by judges, Indian Administrative Service officers with a clean record, private citizens and constitutional authorities through a transparent and participatory process.
4. A selection committee will invite short-listed candidates for interviews, videorecordings of which will thereafter be made public.
5. Every month on its website, the Lokayukta will publish a list of cases dealt with, brief details of each, their outcome and any action taken or proposed. It will also publish lists of all cases received by the Lokayukta during the previous month, cases dealt with and those which are pending.
6. Investigations of each case must be completed in one year. Any resulting trials should be concluded in the following year, giving a total maximum process time of two years.
7. Losses caused to the government by a corrupt individual will be recovered at the time of conviction.
8. Government officework required by a citizen that is not completed within a prescribed time period will result in Lokpal imposing financial penalties on those responsible, which will then be given as compensation to the complainant.
9. Complaints against any officer of Lokpal will be investigated and completed within a month and, if found to be substantive, will result in the officer being dismissed within two months.
10. The existing anti-corruption agencies (CVC, departmental vigilance and the anti-corruption branch of the CBI) will be merged into Lokpal which will have complete power and authority to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.
11. Whistleblowers who alert the agency to potential corruption cases will also be provided with protection by it.

Difference between government and activist drafts

Highlights

Difference between Jan Lokpal Bill and Draftll 2010

Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's Ombudsman Bill):

1.Lokpal will have powers to initiate suo motu action or receive complaints of corruption from the general public.
2.Lokpal will have the power to initiate prosecution of anyone found guilty.
3.Lokpal will have police powers as well as the ability to register FIRs.
4.Lokpal and the anti corruption wing of the CBI will be one independent body.
5.Punishments will be a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of up to life imprisonment.

Draft Lokpal Bill (2010):

1.Lokpal will have no power to initiate suo motu action or receive complaints of corruption from the general public. It can only probe complaints forwarded by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
2.Lokpal will only be an Advisory Body with a role limited to forwarding reports to a "Competent Authority".
3.Lokpal will have no police powers and no ability to register an FIR or proceed with criminal investigations.
4.The CBI and Lokpal will be unconnected.
5.Punishment for corruption will be a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of up to 7 years.

Detailed

The following table details differences between the Government and activist backed versions[19][20].[21]

Comparision SlideShow uploaded by India Against Corruption.

Issue

Prime Minister
The Jan Lokpal Bill - Can be investigated with permission of seven member Lokpal bench.
Government's Lokpal Bill - PM can be investigated by Lokpal after she/he vacates office

Judiciary
Jan Lokpal Bill - Can be investigated, though high level members may be investigated only with permission of a seven member Lokpal bench
Government's Lokpal Bill - Judiciary is exempt and will be covered by a separate "judicial accountability bill".

Conduct of MP's
Jan Lokpal Bill - Can be investigated with permission of seven member Lokpal bench.
Government's Lokpal Bill - Can be investigated, but their conduct within Parliament, such as voting, cannot be investigated

Lower bureaucracy
Jan Lokpal Bill - All public servants would be included
Government's Lokpal Bill - Only senior officers (Group A) will be covered

Anti-corruption wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
Jan Lokpal Bill - The Anti-corruption wing of the CBI will be merged into the Lokpal
Government's Lokpal Bill - The Anti-corruption wing of the CBI not be merged into the Lokpal.

Removal of Lokpal members and Chair
Jan Lokpal Bill - Any person can bring a complaint to the Supreme Court, who can then recommend removal of any member to the President
Government's Lokpal Bill - Any "aggrieved party" can raise a complaint to the President, who will refer the matter to the CJI.

Removal of Lokpal staff and officers
Jan Lokpal Bill - Complaints against Lokpal staff will be handled by independent boards set-up in each state, composed of retired bureaucrats, judges, and civil society members
Government's Lokpal Bill - Lokpal will conduct inquiries into its own behavior.[19]

Lokayukta
Jan Lokpal Bill - Lokakyukta and other local/state anti-corruption agency would remain in place.
Government's Lokpal Bill - All state anti-corruption agencies would be closed and responsibilities taken over by centralized Lokpal.

WhistleBlower Protection
Jan Lokpal Bill - Whistleblowers are protected by Lokpal.
Government's Lokpal Bill - No protection granted to whistleblowers by Lokpal

Punishment for corruption
Jan Lokpal Bill - Lokpal can either directly impose penalties, or refer the matter to the courts. Penalties can include removal from office, imprisonment, and recovery of assets from those who benefited from the corruption
Government's Lokpal Bill - Lokpal can only refer matters to the courts, not take any direct punitive actions. Penalties remain equivalent to those in current law.

Investigatory powers
Jan Lokpal Bill - Lokpal can obtain wiretaps ( to make a connection to a telegraph or telephone wire in order to obtain information secretly), issue rogatory letters, and recruit investigating officers. Cannot issue contempt orders.
Government's Lokpal Bill - Lokpal can issue contempt orders, and has the ability to punish those in contempt. No authority to obtain wiretaps, issue rogatory letters, or recruit investigating officers.

False, frivolous and vexatious complaints
Jan Lokpal Bill - Lokpal can issue fines for frivolous complaints (including frivolous complaints against Lokpal itself), with a maximum penalty of Rs 1 lakh.
Government's Lokpal Bill - Court system will handle matters of frivolous complaints. Courts can give 2-5 years imprisonment and fines of Rs 25,000 to 2 lakh

NGOs
Jan Lokpal Bill - NGOs not within the scope due to their role in exposing corruption.
Government's Lokpal Bill - NGOs are within the scope and can be investigated.

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Nokia hands Accenture its hot potato

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One of Nokia’s biggest challenges is to maintain its home-grown Symbian operating system, while simultaneously producing attractive Windows-run smartphones under its brand-new partnership with Microsoft. Exactly how that would be done was one of the questions I couldn’t yet answer in my recent two-part analysis of Nokia’s future.

It turns out the challenge will be met, in part, by offloading it onto Accenture. On Wednesday, Nokia announced that 3,000 staff – mainly Symbian software engineers – would transfer to the consultancy (an additional 4,000 jobs will be lost across Nokia).

I don’t know what the Finnish for “hot potato” is, but Accenture has been handed one.

Many of the 3,000 jobs moving to the consulting group are likely to be currently located in Finland. Many Nokians think of software as the soul of the company and many Finns think of Nokia as the soul of Finnish industry.

Symbian engineers were understandably the most nervous about the Microsoft deal when it was announced in February. As Jo Harlow, Nokia’s executive vice president for smart devices, told me last month, before these latest developments:

For people who have spent most of their Nokia career working on Symbian, the strategy is a difficult decision for them, because their pride…. has all been in the Symbian space. There’s intellectual momentum behind our strategy decision and I think the emotional commitment is building – it’s slightly behind the intellectual decision, which I think is human nature.

Accenture says that over time, it “will seek opportunities to retrain and redeploy transitioned employees” so that they aren’t stranded when Symbian comes to the end of its natural life, probably sometime in 2012. But maintaining the “emotional commitment” of Nokia veterans during that period – when some 150m Symbian smartphones still need to be sold – remains a delicate task.

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U.S. downgrade not a cause of alarm - Basu

A rating downgrade of the United States, by Standard & Poor's, is not a cause of alarm, Chief Economic Adviser to Finance Ministry Kaushik Basu said on Monday.

Shares across Asia fell sharply on Monday despite efforts by global policymakers to stem a collapse in investor confidence after S&P downgraded U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+ last week.

In early trade, the BSE Sensex fell 2.5 percent on Monday, while the rupee weakened past 45 to the dollar for the first time in five weeks following a global equities rout.

In an announcement early on Monday before the markets opened for trading, India's central bank said it would ensure adequate rupee and forex liquidity, a move to calm the jittery markets

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US rating downgrade may hit India IT hiring by 1/4th

Hiring activity in the Indian IT sector, one of the biggest employers in the country, could fall by about one-fourth due to thedowngrade of the USA's credit rating and the deepening economic crisis, experts said.

It might take at least 5-6 months for the recruitment activities of the IT sector to gain momentum, they said.

"We are expecting overall almost 26 per cent dip in recruitment in IT industries from first quarter of FY'12. It'll take at least 5-6 months to get momentum in hiring in IT industries," MyHiringClub.com Founder and CEO Rajesh Kumar said.

"Due to the economic crisis in the US, the Indian IT job market is also going to be affected badly. The major reason behind this is cost-cutting in Indian companies' US division. In the near future, Indian IT companies having offices in the US are going to face a surplus in their existing manpower strength," he added.

Echoing a similar view, Info Edge (India) Group President (Finance) and CFO Ambarish Raghuvanshi said, "Recruitment would be lagging in the IT space..."

The US accounts for almost 60 per cent of the revenues of the $60 billion Indian IT industry.

Experts believe that job activity in other industries would be negatively impacted as well.

"Apart from IT, hiring activity in other industries is also going to impacted," Concord HR Works CEO Sekhar Ghotgalkar said.

The reaction comes after the US lost its 'AAA' credit rating for the first time in history, as ratings agency S&P was not convinced with the efforts being made to tackle the country's debt problems. This resulted in a bloodbath in the Indian markets.

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