Latest News in Detail

TCS cuts 10% staff at UK office

NEW DELHI: In reportedly another round of firing, Tata Consultancy Services has cut the headcount at its UK office by around 10%.


According to the site Silicon.com, as part of a cost-cutting drive, India's largest software exporter has reduced the size of its United Kingdom workforce to 4,500. The company has pulled back sales and admin staff from delivery centers and customer offices in the UK to fill other posts in India.

The report quotes, AS Lakshmi, Head, UK & Europe, TCS, saying that “In the current circumstances, we felt it was prudent to reduce the selling, general and administrative spend that we had, therefore we took the decision to look at how many people we need and to send some of them back.”

According to earlier reports, in February the company laid a part of its marketing team and some employees from the consulting division in UK.

Also, at the same time, a business daily reported that 130 employees of TCS in the country, servicing financial services company Legal & General, could lose their jobs as they have been put on a 90-day consultation period.

TCS has around 5,000 people working at some 50 locations in the UK, with a further 750 plus staff at its site in Peterborough.

TCS recently won a $54.7-million IT deal from the UK-based Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.

HCL lands Microsoft outsourcing deal

Computer giant Microsoft has signed a $170-million five-year contract with India's HCL for outsourcing work for its online business productivity suite.
HCL will provide 600 employees to support the contract and nearly 250 workers have already begun work on the project.

Microsoft has not said whether this contract is to replace any existing agreement it has in India, or if this deal is an expansion of its current outsourcing scope.
Despite the recent job cuts, Microsoft has been expanding its online services business and has recently announced plans to make its Business Productivity Online Suite, a software-as-a-service offering, available for trial and purchase in 19 countries.

IT workers face visa troubles down under

Friday, April 10, 2009 (Sydney):Indian IT majors are expanding fast in the Australian market but there is a glitch as the government has put restrictions on the number of visas to be granted to the IT professionals. The restrictions include the increase in the minimum salary paid to the immigrant workers. This will increase the operational costs of these IT majors.

"It is a problem as visas are restricted. We will have to prove that the professionals we are hiring will be productive for the Australian economy," said Manoj Nagpaul, GM (Australia), Wipro.

Indian technology workers accounted for more than half the sector's annual intake last financial year. The number of visas granted till June 2008 was 27 per cent higher than the previous year, which is seen as one of the major reasons for the visa restrictions.

But what this means for the expansion plans of Indian IT companies. Despite the visa restrictions, the companies are still upbeat on their plans even if it means higher employee costs.

"We are expanding and are even looking at increasing workforce," said Varun Kapur, GM (Australia), TCS.

Nagpaul added: "We are expanding in terms of increasing people and opening new operations."

The IT majors hope that these work visa restrictions are temporary in nature and would be relaxed when the economy improves.

But the fact is that the costs as well as the expansion plans of the IT companies and job opportunities for the Indian IT professionals may suffer for the time being.

Indian hand in Lahore attack, claims Pak cop

New Delhi: Lahore Police claims to have evidence of Indian hand in the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, according to Pakistani media reports.

The Lahore Police announced having information about those responsible for the assault in a press conference.

The senior police officer did not give any details of the evidence but said arrests will be made soon.

Meanwhile, authorities enhanced security on Friday in Islamabad after sounding a security alert in the wake of renewed terrorist threats, officials said.

The US embassy temporarily suspended its visa and consular services "due to heightened security" with instructions for US diplomats to avoid unnecessary movement and venturing out in public.

American citizens could contact the embassy in case of emergencies, but routine services would resume on Monday, an embassy statement said.

Embassy operations were scaled down only in Islamabad while the US consulates in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar remained open.

Islamabad has been the scene of deadly terrorist strikes in a recent wave of violence.

Some private schools, mostly serving Pakistan's elite, were also closed after receiving warnings from unknown sources, media reports said.

A senior Taliban commander said on Sunday that terrorists would be carrying out two bombings every week in revenge for US drone attacks on Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan.