| HUMAN RESOURCE/ MANAGEMENT |
December
2005/ January 2006 |
HIRING
TIGHTER FIT?
By Jennifer Lee
CFOs of companies in India may struggle in the coming year to find enough talent at a reasonable price. All signals are pointing toward hefty demand for workers across nearly all sectors – not just the booming IT industry.
No one is complaining, of course, about the upside – robust expansion in 2006. “I have completed two decades in the Indian recruitment industry and I can tell you that 2005 has been the best year for India,” says Kris Lakshmikanth, founder, CEO, and managing director of The Head Hunters India in Bangalore. “Personally, I feel that 2006 will be [even] better.” Among the top reasons for strong employment: GDP growth, now 7.7 to 8%, which Lakshmikanth expects to increase to 10% in the next few years.
As a result, new areas are surging such as retail, infrastructure, automobiles, engineering, tourism, and airlines. Staffing companies are struggling to keep up. HR outsourcing provider TeamLease, which already employs 20,000 full-time and temporary workers, says it will add 9,000 workers to its payroll by March.
“Overall,” says Lakshmikanth, “there is a strong 'feel good' factor in the board rooms across the country across sectors, leading to increased employment generation.” Cisco Systems will create 2,000 high-end jobs when it sets up a US$2.2-bn research and product development center over the next two years. Accenture, already with a staff of 12,000, plans to hire another 5,000 to 6,000 in 2006. IBM, with 20,000 employees in India, will add 10,000 more.
The downside is that companies will find themselves paying more, particularly for higher-end talent. Lakshmikanth does not see a significant increase in wages at entry levels. But salaries for experienced employees are going to rise sharply, he says. “For people having around eight to ten years experience, we can predict a salary increase in the teens. If someone switches jobs, then he can get an increase of 20% to 35% for the same city. If he has to relocate, we can add another 15%,” notes Lakshmikanth.
Top executives will also see big increases: Lakshmikanth anticipates salary increases at the executive level to be between 20% and 40%. So if you are a CFO thinking of looking for a job in India, higher salaries aren’t such a bad thing after all.  |
CFOs on the Move
Alain Jacques Gilbert Li, citing personal reasons, has resigned from his posts as executive director and CFO of IDT Holdings (Singapore) Limited, listed in Singapore, and of its parent, Hong Kong-listed IDT International Limited. The IDT group of companies designs, develops, manufactures, and markets LCD-based consumer electronic products … ICI, the UK specialty products and paints maker, in August lost its CFO, Tim Scott, when he died from a heart attack while on a business trip to New York. His day-to-day duties were temporarily assumed by David Gee, vice president of finance, and John McAdam, ICI’s chief executive, who took over his duties to the board. The company has now hired a replacement: Alan Brown comes to the position from Unilever, where he was executive chairman of Unilever China and Hong Kong … Au Siu Kee joins Henderson Land Development as executive director and CFO, where, according to a company statement, he will take home HK$10m a year. He is already familiar with the Henderson group – he has been a non-executive director at Hong Kong Ferry and Miramar Hotel and Investment, both associate companies of Henderson … Jane Jie Sun Hao will leave Applied Materials in the US, where she was head of external reporting, to join Chinese travel consolidator Ctrip.com International as CFO … At the Singapore Exchange, Seck Wai Kwong, currently executive vice president and CFO, becomes senior executive vice president, but will remain CFO. – Jennifer Lee |
