New appointments had been the highlight of the last week. Neil Mills resigned from his post as chief executive officer (CEO) of SpiceJet Ltd. Mint reported that Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya Birla Group, resigned from the board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In another development, Tata Starbucks, the 50:50 joint venture between Starbucks Coffee Company and Tata Global Beverages Ltd, appointed Manmeet Vohra as Director, Marketing and Category.

The National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco), a Navratna public sector unit having an annual turnover of Rs. 7200 crore and foreign exchange earning of Rs. 3200 crore in 2012-13, finally got a full time chairman cum chief managing director after three years. As the week progressed the news of a much anticipated appointment came in as Cadbury India confirmed the news of former PepsiCo India head, Manu Anand’s joining. Anand will replace Kripalu as the India head of Mondelez International that owns Cadbury India.

Talent and hiring news was another area which hit headlines. NASSCOM said that software services companies in India will hire fewer graduates from colleges compared with last year as the business environment has become unpredictable and the number of employees quitting their jobs has dropped.

Realty major DLF reduced its employee strength by 1,100, or about 30 per cent, during 2012-13 after outsourcing its construction and facility management activities, PTI reported. However, Essar-owned Aegis, a global outsourcing and technology services company, said it plans to create more than 5,000 jobs at its centres in the US over the next four months.

Quite a few studies hinting at the state of talent were released this week. A report by Aspiring Minds, an employability solutions company, said that MBA graduates from top B-schools lag behind in practical understanding of management in workplace. A new global study from human capital solutions firm CareerBuilder IT managers, engineers, sales representatives and marketing professionals and administrative assistants are just some of the profiles that are hardest to fill in the world.

The week also saw some reports highlighting that almost two-thirds of graduates passing out every year - barring the handful of top B-schools, including the IIMs - are struggling to find meaningful employment.

Meanwhile, Maruti Suzuki has threatened to shut its key Manesar plant in Haryana as it faces the prospect of paying additional compensation — worth over Rs 500 crore —for the 600-odd acres of land where the plant sits.