Living Life after the Slowdown...

Is the slump finally over?



The economic slump that began last spring seems to be drawing to a close.

US-based Corbett Technologies Inc hired eight people this month. The firm, which

helps government agencies safeguard information stored on computers, plans to

add 82 more over the course of the year, doubling its workforce of 85.

It’s all in the title...

The name of the game is uptitling. And it keeps employees happy without having to increase their salaries. More and more workers in the UK are being given fancy new job titles instead of pay rises–with dustmen being called garbologists. Receptionists are now ‘head of verbal communications’ and secretaries are ‘senior corporate events and seminars managers’. The gardener is the ‘technical horticultural maintenance officer’; while the window cleaner becomes an ‘optical illuminator enhancer’. The toilet cleaner is the ‘technical sanitation assistant’. Guess who the regional head of services, procurement and infrastructure is? The caretaker, of course. And the stock replenishment executive is the shelf stacker! At the executive level, a marketing manager becomes director (marketing), multimedia products and promotion services’. Two in three workers in a survey reckoned their firms had dished out more long titles in the past two years, according to The Sun. Nearly half of those surveyed, thought a new job title would improve their job satisfaction even if they did the same work as before. They said it made them feel valued and was a good career move. Paul Rapacioli, Director of Reed.co.uk, told The Sun: "At parties here it’s not done to discuss salaries, swapping job titles breaks the ice."

NTT US arm to trim workforce



Japan-based Internet services firm, NTT Communications Corp., said that US

unit Verio Inc would lay off one fourth of its workforce and merge its data

centers to streamline operations.

Skilled workers in vogue



The developed economies would soon be competing to attract skilled workers

from countries like India, according to the vice-chairman and managing director

of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani. He said that the shortage of skilled

workers in US would peak at 15 million over the next 10-15 years. Germany, Japan

and Australia are also forecasting massive dearth of professional talent.

"India is uniquely placed to capitalize on this opportunity. For this, we

must develop effective, world class infocomm infrastructure and services,"

he added.

Life beyond the book



If a corporate career doesn’t offer you the scope to learn and sharpen

consumer responsiveness, then the human resources management (HRM) will not be

relevant. That seemed to be the viewpoint amongst HR practitioners that was

aired at a seminar ‘New dimensions for HRM’ organized by the Maharashtra

Institute of Labour studies (MILS), Mumbai. Commenting on driving strategic

change, Gautam Chainani, vice-president, HR Hughes Telecom, said, "Change

is what happens to the organization and strategic change is what you make it

happen by creatively satisfying the employee needs and pooling in their diverse

skills." The seminar came to an end with the concluding note that

"Advance into planning and leveraging human talent. But the primary need is

to strengthen the basic element in HR by lending the much-needed sensitivity and

human touch."

Under-employment rises



National Sample Survey Organization says the proportion of Indians

participating in economic activities has gone up during the nineties. Over 39%

of the Indian population in 2001 comprised workers, as against 37.5% in 1991.

But if the employment level has gone up, so has underemployment. About 22% of

the workers were marginal workers (those who work less then half a year, i.e.

183 days) in 2001, as compared to less than 9% in 1991.

Verizon to shave off 1,000



In its drive to reposition the staff, Verizon Wireless Inc, the biggest US

mobilephone operator, will fire 1,000 employees, or less than 2% of its

workforce. According to the company spokesperson, Jim Gerace "It’s more

about the right number of employees in the right positions. The likelyhood is we

may add employees in the overall this year".

Team DQ