Weekly Roundup (Jan 1-4): News you cannot miss
The first week of the year started on a positive note for job seekers. This year, it is expected to rain jobs as multiple sectors look to ramp up their headcount. The banking sector will lead the race, thanks to the banking licenses which will make the job market very lucrative this year. Employees of Hindustan Unilever and HP Global, however, faced the harsh news of impending job cuts in their respective companies. Both companies, in an attempt to rationalize costs, is planning on heavy cutbacks on employee costs through retrenchments.
The revolution in the political landscape in the country made its impact in the corporate corridors too. News from across the country is pouring in about many prolific leaders joining the Aam Aadmi Party. Bangalore seems to have pioneered this trend- first with Nandan Nilekani likely to contest elections on a Congress ticket, and then another Infosys honcho, V. Balakrishnan joining the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). AAP seems to have benefitted by another high-profile addition, Capt. Gopinath, who pioneered the low-cost airline revolution in the country. With news pouring in about senior corporate leaders making a beeline for politics, one wonders if this is another career path which has recently opened up for the corporate leaders in the country.
The Govt has pushed up its efforts to improve employability of youth in the country, by setting up a skill council. Initially targeting 27 trades, the skill council will monitor skilling gaps in these sectors and address them by rolling out skilling programs. State Govts too provided cheerful news for employees and job seekers. Gujarat Govt. announced its plans to offer 2.5 lakh jobs over the next 10 years, while Andhra Pradesh Govt. announced 27% interim relief for its employees.
Many appointments were announced this week, the most prolific of them is the appointment of Raj Jain as the CEO of Bharti Retail and SK Sharma as the CEO of Bharat Electronics.