Human Resource Community

According to an internal email sent by Microsoft Corp. CEO Satya Nadella, the company will not be increasing full-time staff salaries this year and will also be cutting back on its budget for incentives and stock awards. A request for comment from Reuters received no immediate response from the tech giant. The report quoted Nadella as stating, “Last year, we made a significant investment in compensation driven by market conditions and company performance, nearly doubling our global merit budget…this year, the economic conditions are very different across many dimensions.” Microsoft stated in January that it would lay off 10,000 employees, adding to the tens of thousands of layoffs that had already been reported throughout the IT sector as it struggles with slowing revenue growth in an uncertain economy. Microsoft has now dedicated its whole attention to generative AI, an area that the business community considers to be an advantage. Microsoft has been integrating artificial intelligence technology into its Office products and Bing search engine in partnership with OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT and has also gotten billions of dollars in funding from Microsoft. Source: Reuters

At the soon-to-be-opened Cognizant Google Cloud AI University, 25,000 Cognizant employees will receive training on Google Cloud AI technology. According to a statement from Cognizant, the institution would provide a range of courses, including basic AI introduction courses, advanced courses on Google Cloud’s products, and particular AI use cases. Tuesday saw the extension of the relationship between Cognizant and Google Cloud, which will help organisations all over the world embrace artificial intelligence (AI) faster. Cognizant will also establish new Google Cloud AI Innovation Centres in Bengaluru, London, and San Francisco as part of this development. These innovation hubs would bring together techies, cloud specialists from both firms, clients, and university students to enable cooperation. According to Ravi Kumar, CEO of New Jersey-based Cognizant, “By expanding our long-standing alliance with Google Cloud to leverage our existing technology capabilities, upskill our talent, and deliver advanced technologies to our clients, Cognizant will play a critical role in supporting the global shift to responsible AI use.” According to Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, “Generative AI has the potential to create significant business value by streamlining how we work, creating new consumer experiences, helping people better utilize data, and much more.”

According to a recent Supreme Court decision, an individual cannot be denied pension benefits just because their employer made incorrect deductions. Calcutta State Transport Corporation and others’ appeal was denied by the bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Rajesh Bindal. The appeal was filed in opposition to the High Court’s March 5, 2021 division bench judgement ordering the employer to release Ashit Chakraborty and others’ pension benefits. The company asserted in its appeal that the employee got notifications concerning typical withdrawals from his pay for the contributory provident fund. The employee did not object to these deductions at the time though. Only after his retirement did the problem come up. The company felt that he should not be qualified to receive benefits from the pension scheme in light of these facts. The employee responded to the appeal by stating that since he had decided to enrol in a pension scheme, it was the employer’s duty to correctly calculate his pay and make the necessary deductions for the various categories. Employee shouldn’t be punished or made to suffer as a result of a mistake the company made in this process. In agreement with the employee’s claim, the court rejected the corporation’s defence that other employees in same situations would also be eligible for similar treatment. The court reasoned that this would not preclude it from providing the employee the remedy he is entitled to. The judgement further noted that his rightful claim for a pension cannot be denied because certain improper deductions from his pay were made and he was classified as a member in the CPF scheme.  

The crisis-hit Go First was directed by the aviation regulator, the DGCA, to immediately cease all direct and indirect ticket sales till further orders. The airline operator has been required to respond within 15 days of receiving the notice, and a decision will be made about the continuation of their Air Operators Certificate (AOC) based on the response they provide. GoFirst has also been instructed to stop directly or indirectly booking and selling tickets with immediate effect and until further orders. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), “Go First has issued a show cause notice to Go Airlines (India) Limited (Go First) under the relevant provisions of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, for their failure to continue the operation of the service in a safe, efficient, and reliable manner in light of the sudden cancellation of flights and initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process under IBC by Go Airlines (India) Limited.” Earlier, the airline announced that it will stop selling tickets until May 15 and postpone all flights until May 12. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which has reserved its order, has received a plea for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings from the carrier. According to the source, the airline has been told to halt directly or indirectly booking and selling tickets with immediate effect and until further orders. A decision about the continuation of the airline’s Air Operators Certificate (AOC) would be made based on the airline’s response, which must be provided within 15 days of receiving the show cause notice, the source stated.

Shopify has announced that it will be selling the majority of its logistics operations to the supply-chain technology company Flexport, which will result in a 20% reduction in employment. Over 2000 workers at the company are thought to be impacted by the decision. The company will now be smaller as Flexport will shortly purchase their logistics division, according to a note from Tobi Lütke, CEO of Shopify, to shareholders and workers. As a result, some of Shopify’s staff would be leaving that day. Additionally, he acknowledged that this was a challenging choice and that he was aware of the terrible impact it would have on certain people. A severance package consisting of at least 16 weeks of compensation as well as an additional week for each year of service at Shopify will be provided to affected employees. According to the memo, they will also continue to get medical benefits, have access to employee support programs, and receive outplacement services during this time. Furthermore, impacted employees will be able to keep the furniture given by the company. The affected employees have been requested by the company to return their work laptops as it is legally required to do so, but doing so will enable them to purchase a new one. All affected employees will also continue to enjoy free access to Shopify’s advanced plan, which will support their future entrepreneurial endeavours. Shopify made job cuts last year throughout the month of July. A total of 10% of the company’s employees were let go, affecting almost 1,000 workers across various industries.

Over the next five years, the global job market will experience significant disruptions as the economy deteriorates and businesses increase their adoption of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). According to CNN, the World Economic Forum reached that conclusion after surveying more than 800 companies for a report. The WEF, which annually holds a summit of world leaders in Davos, Switzerland, discovered that companies anticipate shedding 83 million positions and adding 69 million new ones by 2027. According to CNN, this will cause a net loss of 14 million jobs, or 2% of the present workforce. During that time, a variety of factors will fuel labour market turbulence. Jobs will be created in large numbers thanks to the transition to renewable energy sources, while losses will be caused by poor economic development and excessive inflation. Meanwhile, the rush to implement artificial intelligence will have both positive and negative effects. To manage and utilise AI tools, companies will need new employees. By 2027, the average number of jobs for data scientists, analysts, machine learning specialists, and cybersecurity experts is expected to increase by 30%. At the same time, as machines increasingly take the place of people in some situations, the spread of artificial intelligence will jeopardise many jobs. According to the WEF, there may be 26 million fewer record-keeping and administrative positions by 2027. The highest losses are anticipated for executive secretaries and data entry clerks, according to CNN. Despite the recent buzz surrounding tools like ChatGPT, automation has only recently begun to take off. The WEF estimated that 34% of all tasks related to business are being carried out by machines. That is barely higher than the 2020 figure. Source: CNN

Sanitary workers employed by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB), and gram panchayats and municipalities around Telangana would benefit from a monthly pay raise of Rs 1,000. More than one lakh sanitation workers around the State are expected to benefit from the action and receive a hike in their salary beginning in May 2023. The hike will be implemented right away, as per the declaration made by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao in the new Secretariat. Rao also declared that the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) staff will soon receive raises in salary. The Finance Department has been given the go-ahead to put the same into effect. A year ago, hundreds of GHMC sanitation workers organised a protest to demand the payment of their unpaid wages. At least 300 employees of the GHMC participated in the protest, which was held outside the commissioner’s office. They carried signs that criticized the chief minister and shouted protest slogans. At the time, the president of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Employees Union (GHMEU) had demanded that the GHMC replace the biometric machines it had been renting with new ones it had purchased, in order to ensure that attendance is recorded accurately and that employees are not wrongfully denied pay because of malfunctioning equipment. At a time when the CM had been discussing making outsourced workers permanent, about 700 existing staff members had been fired without being paid, which caused a great deal of resentment.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Infosys and Aramco was inked to advance the HR technologies of the latter. Through this partnership, the two parties will work together to better understand and use HR data and analytics, accelerate automation and the usage of related tools, and enhance the employee experience through the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Infosys takes pride in its “globally benchmarked” learning and development initiatives. “Through this collaboration, we intend to bring our digital expertise and tools to Aramco’s HR practice to deliver a world-class employee experience,” said Ashiss Kumar Dash, EVP & global head of services, utilities, resources, and energy at Infosys. “By aiming to incorporate high-level AI and automation into their employee-management model, we will attempt to help Aramco scale and enhance their talent model,” he added. Aramco’s HR platform will integrate digital transformation practices and solutions from Infosys in order to improve employee digital experiences, which will boost engagement and productivity. Additionally, Infosys will use AI to close skill gaps in Aramco’s workforce, address challenges with employee learning and development, and ensure that talent is appropriate for the opportunities offered. In order to improve learning and training efficiency and decrease time and costs, this partnership will also attempt to assess how automation may replace boring and repetitive HR tasks. The algorithmic decision-making capability that will assist Aramco in keeping up with trends and locating appropriate recruitment channels would be beneficial to the company as well. SVP of human resources at Aramco, Faisal A. Al-Hajji, stated that “This collaboration will allow us to explore ways to further upgrade our focus on customer-centricity and transform our digital HR offerings.”  

HCLTech, one of the few large IT firms that onboarded all of the freshers it hired in FY23, wants to keep the campus recruitment trend going in FY24 to lessen reliance on laterals. “Our aim is to see how best we can train freshers and utilise them on projects. Our supply side planning metrics show that they can be absorbed,” CEO C Vijayakumar said. In FY23, the company hired nearly 27,000 freshers. Some of them are still getting training, according to Vijayakumar. HCLTech, the only major IT services company to provide figures for the year, has stated that 15,000 new employees will be hired in FY24. According to Vijayakumar, there are some long-term projects in industries such as manufacturing and hi-tech where clients are cutting back on tech spending, forcing some personnel on these projects to sit on the side-lines. Source: TOI

Apple formally launched two of its India stores this week in Delhi and Mumbai after a long wait, but that’s not all. There are indications that the company may double the number of people working at its contract manufacturing facilities in the nation, to over 200,000. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, has asked the government for assistance so that Apple can increase the number of Indian component suppliers it works with. Cook has also urged the Indian government for help in preparing the workforce there to meet Apple’s needs. Apple’s primary focus in India is on contract manufacturers’ iPhone assembly lines. The company, though, wants to expand its offerings to include iPads and AirPods as well. Currently, Apple’s three Indian suppliers—Foxconn, Pegatron, and Wistron—are in charge of assembling its iPhones. According to a report cited by PTI, Apple has created 100,000 employment in India. It’s interesting to note that women in blue-collar jobs account for the majority of roles, roughly 72%. The report also emphasizes that many of the women workers are first-time job seekers and that the majority of these employment have only been available for 20 months. According to reports, there is a lot of room for expansion, investments, job creation, and export opportunities in the relationship between Apple and India. As part of its efforts to lessen its dependence on China, Apple has been seeking to increase the size of its production facilities in India. Currently, Foxconn and Wistron Corp., two Taiwanese electronics manufacturers, are in charge of assembling Apple products like iPhones in India.