Jobs are back; upsurge in hiring as slump eases

Jobs are back and India Inc is witnessing an upsurge of 15 percent in hiring trend, thanks to the improving economic climate. However, experts say it is too early to say that the situation has returned back to 'normalcy'. 

"We see the movement happening across the sectors and it looks like worst is over. But the current scenario can not be considered as normal but it is better than bad," executive search firm GlobalHunt India professional leader Sunil Goel said. 

If everything goes fine then it will take a year to reach to a normal situation, he added. 

In last two quarters (January-March and April-June), hiring was almost 0-5 percent across industries but in current quarter, average hiring has increased 5-15 percent across industries. 

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/Jobs-are-back-upsurge-in-hiring-as-slump-eases/articleshow/5064753.cms

US firms plan to re-hire former workers

With the economy showing signs of recovery, American firms are looking to re-hire employees they laid off in the past, mainly in the finance and manufacturing sectors, says a latest report. 

According to a report by global career transition and coaching firm OI Partners, about 40 per cent of employers are planning to re-hire some former workers they laid off as either full-time employees or as consultants and freelancers. 

The reason behind hiring former employees is that their skills are known to the employers and they consider former employees fit into the company's culture and environment. The employers think that re-hiring a former employee is less risky than recruiting a new one, the report said. 

It noted that nearly half of financial services firms surveyed are planning to recruit some laid-off employees, 47 per cent of manufacturing companies and 42 per cent ofservices companies plan to re-hire some laid-off workers. 

"Financial services and manufacturing were among the industries affected most by the recession, and made the deepest workforce cutbacks. That is why they may be more ready than other sectors to re-hire some employees they had to let go," OI Partners Chairman Tim Schoonover said. 

Apart from employers' confidence about an ex-employee, the other reason behind hiring is that there is shortage of experts in speciality areas such as information technology, marketing, and finance. 

On the other hand, government agencies and non-profit institutions are least likely to re-hire laid-off workers, followed by health care employers. 

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/US-firms-plan-to-re-hire-former-workers-/articleshow/5061868.cms

Animation, gaming jobs set to double by 2012: Nasscom

The animation industry is likely to have the going good in respect of jobs. Nasscom’s projections suggest that employment in this sector will double from 14,700 now to 29,500 by 2012. Similarly, the gaming industry too will create a huge number of jobs in the next three years, with the projections being 10,700 jobs by 2012 from a meagre 2,300 people now. 

Responding to a ET questionnaire over phone from Delhi, Sangeeta Gupta, vice-president of Nasscom said: “The animation and gaming industry in India has immense scope to grow. Given the financial meltdown, many western countries are actively looking at destinations like India to develop animation content within moderate budgets. The increased interest of Bollywood and the regional cinema industry for animation, has boosted growth also. The Indian animation industry has moved from a pure offshore model to co-production model. While the domestic sector contributed with manpower and infrastructure, international producers helped with marketing and distribution.”

Ms Gupta said that according to Nasscom therefore, animation and gaming companies will witness a significant growth by 2012. “At present, there are some 250 animation companies in the country. By 2012, we expect the number of such companies to swell to around 400. The number of gaming companies will also double from around 50 now to 100 by 2012.”

The Nasscom vice-president estimated that the turnover in the animation sector could cross $1 billion by 2012 from $492 million in 2008. Similarly, turnover in the gaming industry stood at $167 million in 2008, but is likely to go up to $830 million by 2012.

Ms Gupta said Nasscom was keen to provide quality training to those, who want to pursue a career in animation. It has already approached the IT ministry for setting up a formal accreditation board for the animation industry.

“The board will come up with a curriculum, which will be taught by all animation training institutes. We feel that there is an immediate need to standardise the courses that existing institutes offer,” the Nasscom vice-president said.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/Animation-gaming-jobs-set-to-double-by-2012-Nasscom/articleshow/5063402.cms

70% students do not want cos to use social networks for hiring

Amid the growing importance of social networking sites in corporate hiring process, as much as 70 per cent of students are not in favour of companies using sites like Twitter or Facebook to offer them jobs, a survey says. 

According to a survey by hiring solutions provider TMP Worldwide and Targetjobs, 70 per cent of surveyed students did not want businesses to use sites like Twitter or Facebook to "sell" jobs to them as they believe "employers should not exploit social media" for their own benefit.

However, the survey revealed that 79 per cent of the respondents consider social networking sites were key to employers engaging with them.

The research found that students actively use social media to research companies and validate whether employer brand messages live up to reality and almost half of students use social media sites to chat with peers about recruitment process.

In addition, about 30 per cent of students chat with current employees to check if their expectations of a particular employer were met after being taken on.

"Employers have been saying for some time that they use social networking sites to 'check up' on potential candidates, but they must now be aware that the tables have turned," TMP Worldwide Head of Planning and Research Neil Harrison said.

"Today's students use these sites as trusted places to not only communicate with friends but to also investigate potential employers; so businesses simply cannot underestimate the power of social media when it comes to brand building and engaging with undergraduates," Harrison said.

The report, which was based on the study of penultimate and final year students, also found that 42 per cent of students think social media is the ideal platform to communicate employer brand and 56 per cent agree social networking sites allow candidates to get feel for company's culture.

"Employers must not however, approach social media half heartedly. They must be consistent with their brand and maintain the values they promote online throughout the recruitment, selection and ongoing retention process," Harrison said.

The survey also serves as a warning to employers that the instant nature of social networking means negative candidate experiences especially during recruitment and on boarding can quickly be communicated between peers having a potentially damaging effect on employer brand.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/70-students-do-not-want-cos-to-use-social-networks-for-hiring/articleshow/5068764.cms

Cost of right to education: Rs 1.78 lakh crore

After the euphoria comes the real test. The cost of implementing the historic Right to Education Act over the next five years by Centre and states works out to a whopping Rs 1.78 lakh crore. 

The new law will come into force from the next academic year and since right to education is now a fundamental right, it is mandatory on the part of the government to provide what is demanded.

HRD ministry sources say the total demand of Rs 1.78 lakh crore when finetuned will only work out roughly to just one-third of the staggering amount. They said that nearly Rs 50,000 crore can be provided to the kitty by the Centre and states from the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan fund. This brings the demand down to Rs 1.28 lakh crore. The ministry expects that in the 12th Plan nearly Rs 60,000 crore will be allocated to SSA. But this will still leave the effective demand to Rs 68,000 crore. Then again, Centre will have the tough task of persuading the states to step forward to share the cost of fulfilling the commitment.

On Friday, HRD ministry sent the proposal to the finance ministry and a copy to the 13th Finance Commission for early perusal. But sources expect a long winter of discussion and negotiation with states, finance ministry and Planning Commission before it can be finalised. The focus of discussion will be the funding pattern of RTE. Currently, SSA is funded by the Centre and states in the ratio of 60:40. It will be 50:50 by the 12th Plan.

In case of RTE, chief ministers are already gearing up to do a collective bargaining. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has written to PM Manmohan Singh demanding that the funding pattern for RTE should be 90:10 between Centre and states. He has circulated the letter to other CMs as well. Earlier, Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik had demanded a 75:25 funding pattern for RTE between Centre and states. Bihar has also said it cannot bear the extra burden since it is already shelling out 25% of its annual budget on education.

The demand for additional Rs 68,000 crore will go towards improving the infrastructure in schools, student-teacher ratio and in hiring more teachers. While SSA has a student-teacher ratio of 40:1, RTE stipulates a ratio of 30:1. The RTE law stipulates that from class one to class five, if a school has 60 children there should be two teachers, for 61 to 90 children there should be three teachers, and for 91 to 120 children there should be four teachers. There are similar stipulations in case of buildings, working days, play material, games and sports equipment.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Cost-of-right-to-education-Rs-178-lakh-crore/articleshow/5065682.cms

Recession is good for health: Study

Economic downturns may not be good for your bottom line but they might be a boon to your health, according to a study on health trends during the 20 years around the Great Depression.


Researchers from the University of Michigan found US life expectancy increased by 6 years between 1929 and 1932, from 57 to 63, with the increase occurring for both men and women and for whites and non-whites.

The number of deaths from disease, accidents and infant mortality during the Great Depression also fell.

"The finding is strong and counterintuitive," said researcher Jose Tapia Granados from the university`s Institute for Social Research. "Most people assume that periods of high unemployment are harmful to health."

The findings, published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, add to previous research showing correlations between economic woes and health improvements in various countries.

This study, which covered the period from 1920 to 1940, found the health of the population generally improved during the four years of the Great Depression and during recessions in 1921 and 1938.

But mortality increased and life expectancy declined during periods of strong economic expansion, such as 1923, 1926, 1929, and 1936-1937.

The study did not look at the reasons why this was the case but Tapia Granados suggested that it may be because times of economic expansion have been linked to increases in smoking and drinking, as well as less sleep and more stress.

"During expansions, firms are very busy, and they typically demand a lot of effort from employees, who are required to work a lot of overtime, and to work at a fast pace. This can create stress, which is associated with more drinking and smoking," he said in a statement.

Also as the economy picks up, so does road traffic which also means more traffic deaths and fatal workplace injuries show a similar increase as companies take on more inexperienced workers during boom times.

Increased industrial production and road traffic also create more air pollution, Tapia Granados said, with studies showing that deaths from heart disease tend to spike on days marked by heavy air pollution.

The researchers found that deaths from five of the six top U.S. killers remained stable or decreased during the Depression with the one exception being death from suicide.

Tapia Granados said during recessions there was less work to do, so employees can work at a slower pace.

"There is more time to sleep, and because people have less money, they are less likely to spend as much on alcohol and tobacco," he said.


Source: http://spicezee.zeenews.com/articles/story42228.htm

Why people love where they live

Residents are most attached to their communities when they have fun places to gather, there's a welcoming atmosphere and there are beautiful and green spaces to enjoy, according to the "Soul of the Community" survey. The study looked at 26 communities and surveyed a random sample of more than 10,000 people earlier this year. 

Read more about the study at SouloftheCommunity.org.

"While the pain from the recession is deep, other factors far outweigh economics when it comes to determining how emotionally attached people are to their communities," said Warren Wright, managing partner for Gallup, in a news release.

Positive feelings about a community, however, do have a connection to local GDP growth over a longer-term period, according to the report.

The study, in its second year, explores the connection between economic growth and residents' emotional attachment to their communities. Gallup has shown that increasing an employee's emotional connection to his or her company leads to better financial performance of the organization; this study works to see if the emotional connection to a community similarly drives economic growth.

Why people love where they live

The report also is meant to help local leaders and residents identify what people want out of their communities, and how to create desirable environments.

"Have you ever gone somewhere and said 'I could live there?'" said Katherine Loflin, lead consultant on the project, in a phone interview. "It has to do with the welcome-ness, and if it's nice to look at," not "because they're building new business complexes or there are tons of want ads in the paper."

What keeps residents passionate about their communities are some of the things they'd show off to visitors: elements that make for a fun social life, beautiful features, or the historic town square -- things that root people in a community, she said.

The research also found:

• A perception that a place is open and welcoming to college graduates is important in order to prevent "brain drain" that can occur when students graduate and leave a place to seek employment.
  
• New residents are the least attached to their communities of any demographic group, even less attached this year than when the survey was conducted in 2008.
  
• Residents more satisfied with their jobs are more likely to have an emotional connection to their community.
  

Engaged residents

Bradenton, Fla., Grand Forks, N.D., State College, Pa., Long Beach, Calif., and Aberdeen, S.D., had some of the highest percentages of engaged residents, or those who felt highly passionate about where they live. Areas with some of the lowest percentages of engaged residents were found in Gary, Ind., Detroit, Mich., Macon, Ga., Akron, Ohio and Wichita, Kan.

While Detroit was in the bottom five, the city does have some momentum building to change that, especially with growing enthusiasm of residents between the ages of 18 to 34, Loflin said.

"People think a certain thing about Detroit and the area," she said. Residents are trying to turn that around. "They're saying we're not done with this community."

In Tallahassee, Fla., social offerings -- having fun places to gather -- were the No. 1 driver of community attachment. There, the Knight Foundation funded the first Tallahassee Film Festival and the Get Gaines Going project, to revitalize a main thoroughfare. Residents of the area are working to create a sense of place, in an effort to get local college graduates to stay and build a career, according to the release.

"A creative and diverse workforce is the key to Tallahassee's future. With guidance from the Soul of the Community study, we can continue to find ways to get there by attracting new talent and keeping our local college graduates in town," said Mike Pate, Knight Foundation's Tallahassee program director, in a news release.

Other communities studied were: Biloxi, Miss.; Boulder, Colo.; Charlotte, N.C.; Columbia, S.C.; Columbus, Ga.; Duluth, Minn.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Lexington, Ky.; Miami, Fla.; Milledgeville, Ga.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Palm Beach, Fla.; Philadelphia, Pa.; San Jose, Calif.; and St. Paul, Minn. 

Amy Hoak is a MarketWatch reporter based in Chicago.
Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-people-love-where-they-live-2009-09-29?siteid=rss&rss=1