MUMBAI: In a bid to cut costs, 3i Infotech, plans to implement initiatives such as offshoring and a four-day work-week for its US employees, a top company official said.

3i Infotech is a leading information technology services firm.

“Apart from debt management, we plan to focus on cost reduction during the current fiscal. We plan to give a four-day work-week to at least 400 US employees,” 3i Infotech’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, V Srinivasan, told news agency here.

Presently, 3i Infotech has a staff strength of 13,500 with around 4,500 employees working overseas.

Increasing offshoring, which involves moving work from onsite to India and other low-cost destinations will help the company in reducing its costs, he said.

“Offshoring of work will help in cutting costs,” Srinivasan said.

He, however, did not disclose how much savings the company would effect by these initiatives.

Asked whether the company planned to up its headcount, Read more…

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: Pfizer Inc, the world’s biggest drugmaker, said third-quarter profit rose 26%, beating analysts’ estimates, as it fired workers to cut costs.

Net income increased to $2.88 billion, or 43 cents a share from $2.28 billion, or 34 cents, a year earlier, the New York- based company said today in a statement. Profit excluding certain items was 51 cents a share, beating the 48- cent average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Revenue declined 3% to $11.6 billion, topping the $11.4 billion estimate of 12 analysts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Pfizer completed its $68 billion purchase of Wyeth this month adding the pneumonia vaccine Prevnar and expanding its business into over-the-counter medicines. Pfizer is counting on products gained from Wyeth to help offset losses in two years when generic copies of its top- selling Lipitor cholesterol pill enter the market.

“The Wyeth acquisition has investors focused on the future,” said Catherine Arnold, an analyst with Credit Suisse Group AG in New York, in a research report before the release of earnings. “Pfizer brands are under pressure as expected, illuminating the strategic importance of the Wyeth deal. Cost saving efforts will be Read more…

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CHENNAI: On a day when labour strife in Manesar, the auto hub in North India took an ugly turn with a company official getting beaten up by workers, there is some positive news on the labour relations front coming in from the South.

Nokia India signed its first wage revision pact with the ruling DMK’s union in Tamil Nadu, the Labour Progressive Federation (LPF), as a result of which over 5,000 employees of the cell-phone maker here will see their salaries go up by Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,300 per month.

It is crucial for Nokia to ensure that its operations run smoothly in Tamil Nadu as its plant at Sriperambadur near Chennai is now the company’s largest manufacturing facility in the world.

The tripartite agreement ( 12( 3) reached last week between Nokia workers’ progressive union, affiliated to LPF and the management before the deputy commissioner of labour, provided for increasing the monthly canteen allowance to Rs 1000 from Rs 850 and paying a night shift allowance of Rs 20, which will fetch Rs 200 for 10 shifts in a month.

The revision has come a boon to employees, mainly hailing from nearby rural centres as they will get arrears for the last nine months. Nokia has also agreed to pay a bonus of 8.33 % ( one month wage) to employees. The Finnish mobile handset maker major has set up its largest electronic hardware manufacturing unit on 210.87 acres allotted at Sipcot industrial park, Sriperambadur. The State Government has also extended a structured package of assistance to the MNC.

LPF general secretary and Nokia union President, M Shanmugam told ET as the workers were keen on clinching an early revision, an intermediate or short term wage settlement was concluded covering the period April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010.

“It is a big victory for the employees working in a multinational company and the wage revision has been concluded smoothly though a collective bargaining. While LPF affiliated unions are functioning in various public and private sector companies, this is the first time it is representing a large workforce in the Sriperambadur industrial corridor”, he said.

Prior to the revision, the employees, who joined Nokia in April 2007, were getting a consolidated pay of Rs 4400 to Rs 5800 per month. Now, the intermediate settlement has fetched a hike of Rs 1500 to Rs 1750 for those with an experience of 16 months and 24 months ( including the 15 month training period).
Those working with experience of above two years and upto 36 months, have secured an increase of Rs 2000 to Rs 2250 and above 36 months, Rs 3000 to Rs 3300.

As per the accord, the union and management will resume the talks in January to reach a long term settlement for revising the wages and allowances from April 1, 2010. It will provide for fixing DA and other allowances.

Responding to an e mail sent by ET, Nokia said, “Nokia employees, the factory management and the union met in the presence of Deputy Commissioner of Labour, Government of Tamil Nadu. The issue has been resolved through mutual dialogue and the work in Read more…

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NEW YORK: Companies across the world have continued to send employees overseas to take advantage of business opportunities, despite a reduced budget for international assignment programs during the economic downturn, a KPMG survey says.

According to a survey of 470 human resources (HR) executives by the global consultancy, firms are implementing a variety of options to potentially save costs associated with long-term or standard assignments.

Some of these options include short-term assignments (STAs), currently being used by 79 per cent of firms, while permanent transfers is being utilised by 45 per cent of organisations, the survey said.

“KPMG survey results mirror our experience with clients. We saw that companies/employers often adjusted parts of their programs and examined alternate assignment types based on their business needs, but continued to send assignees to work on long-term business opportunities overseas,” KPMG LLP managing director of Global Mobility Advisory Services Achim Mossmann said.

“As the decline in global economy affected almost every area of business and most firms assessed cost-effectiveness of their operations, international assignments were no exception,” Mossmann added.

The KPMG survey also revealed that firms made changes to various policy provisions to save costs.

For example, to help determine the cost of living adjustment (COLA) calculation on their assignee packages, 31 per cent of the Read more…

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