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TCS likely to lay off 1,300 staffers

India’s biggest software exporter by sales, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), will lay off less than a percent of its global workforce

over the next few months, as these employees failed to meet performance standards, a company spokesperson said. This roughly works out to 1,300. The company has a total employee count of around 1.3 lakh.

IT companies are adopting stringent appraisal, cost-trimming and productivity-boosting measures as they grapple with the global economic slowdown.

TCS employees said on condition of anonymity that layoffs have started at the company’s development
centres in Chennai, where over 200 employees have been asked to leave in the last fortnight.

When contacted, a member of the TCS corporate communication team confirmed the development but did not put a number or place to it.

“This is mostly employees who have been given a second chance to improve and haven’t. They will be sent over a period, in the next few months. This will constitute less than a percent of our global workforce. We had to let go of 500 people last year on performance issues.”

This comes less than a week after the company’s CEO S Ramadorai said the company would review the variable pay component for its employees and also increase the working hours.

Asked about job cuts, he had said the company wasn’t planning to cut jobs immediately but might have to if the situation worsened.

Employee expenses make up at least 53-54 % of the company’s total cost. Going by its analyst presentation for the third quarter ended December 2008, TCS had a total employee count of 1,30,343.

Source from: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/TCS-likely-to-lay-off-1300-staffers/articleshow/4240932.cms





Audi's Q5 to hit Indian roads in June:

Ingolstadt (Germany): Notwithstanding the slowdown in the auto industry, German luxury carmaker Audi will launch its latest sports utility vehicle 'Q5' in India in June, besides giving a facelift to its existing sedan 'A6'.

"The only SUV in India from our stable is Q7, which is doing extremely good even in the present situation. But still some people prefer a smaller SUV and because of this, we have decided to offer Q5 in the Indian market," Audi spokesperson said in Ingolstadt.

Q5 was launched in Europe in November 2008, with four versions in both petrol and diesel engines. It is priced between 38,000 Euro and 50,000 Euro in Germany.
"In June this year, we will launch only two variants of Q5 in India, homologation of which are currently on. These vehicles will be sold there as a completely-built-unit (CBU) and will be exported from the company's Ingolstadt facility," the official said.

The company, which has committed an investment of 30 million Euro till 2015 in India, would introduce the car with 3.0 litre TDI (diesel) and 2.0 litre TFSI (petrol) engines for Indian consumers.

Audi sold 350 units of Q7 in 2008 in India, the spokesperson said, "which is the highest selling figure in its class in the market". It sold a total of 1,050 units in India in 2008.

Besides, the company would also give a facelift to its existing sedan A6 for the Indian market. "It will be launched even before Q5 will be introduced," the spokesperson said.

The other models, that the company sells in the Indian market includes sedan -- A4 and A8 ¿ and sports cars -- TT and R8. It assembles A4 and A6 in the Aurangabad facility where group firms Volkswagen and Skoda also manufactures their cars.

Source from: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/audis-q5-to-hit-indian-roads-in-june/432376/


H-1B visa holders to get pink slips at Microsoft:

Washington: Microsoft, which has recently announced shedding some 5,000 jobs, will be giving pink slips to H-1B visa holders too, despite acknowledging that this category of workers has a significant contribution to the company's success.

Microsoft, in a letter to Senator Charles Grassley, has said the H-1B work visa programme helped hire the best available talent of the world.
The present Microsoft line can be seen in the context of the policies of the Obama regime, which gives preference to companies hiring Americans in giving bail-out.
H1-B employees have always accounted for less than 15 per cent of Microsoft's US workforce, the level that is used in immigration law to determine whether a company is "H-1B dependent," the letter said.

Answering a specific question from the Senator on H-1B people losing their jobs, Microsoft said: "Workers on H-1B visas and other temporary work visas make up only a small percentage of our overall workforce, but they were also among the employees impacted by the reductions announced in January. Employees outside the United States were also impacted."

Source from: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/h1b-visa-holders-to-get-pink-slips-at-microsoft/430668/