There have been signs of slowdown in the Indian talent market and this week some signs are pointing to the fact that companies are now acting on the norms of a slowing economy. Experts indicated that the rupee devaluation is also impacting talent and hiring strategies in many organisations as it has created cash flow and working capital problems in many companies. India, being an import dependent economy, has been severely hit by the Rupee devaluation with most of the sectors and industries suffering adversely.

The infrastructure sector has perhaps shown the most drastic cut downs in the workforce. Large layoffs in some of the biggest infrastructure brands such as DLF, GVK, GMR, and Lanco indicates the evident signs of slowdown in the market. The hiring focus on companies has consequently shifted to hiring for experience and fresh graduates will find it even more difficult to secure jobs. Global property consultant Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) has acquired the entire team of Lemongrass Advisors, a Kolkata-based real estate consultancy firm.

The slowdown has also affected compensation policies in companies and employees in the IT sector have been worst hit. A news report by the Hindu Business Line revealed that employees in the IT sector are unable to pay their home loans owing their stagnation in compensation over the years in the face of rising inflation. This week saw D Subbarao stepping down as the Governor of RBI and being replaced by the prolific Raghuram Rajan. Market sentiments, along with the Rupee valuation seem to have risen since Rajan has taken charge.

Appointments: Vijay Gadde, formerly a legal counsel for Juniper Networks, was appointed as the General Counsel of Twitter. Gadde is of Indian origin and has over 20 years of experience. Stephen Elop, the CEO of Nokia will move to Microsoft and is a likely contender as Steve Ballmer’s successor. Joe King, will take over as the Chief Executive at Audi India Pvt. Ltd. It was also announced that Manoj Kohli the erstwhile CEO of Bharti Airtel will move back in India in January 2014.

IR: Hero’s Haridwar plant that was shut because of worker protest was repopened on 3rd September. Workers were protesting against the suspension of one of their colleagues.

Skilling: Indian and global companies are facing a shortage of professionals with cyber security skills. There has been a large demand for information security professionals lately as incidents of cyber crime have increased across the last few months. The IT company Wipro launched a soft skills program for undergraduates and non-engineering students to increase their employability in the BPO and IT sectors.