BW People's Most Read Stories 2023: From Layoffs To Leadership
2023 as a year was marked by a myriad of post covid & AI-driven opportunities, challenges, and significant transformations, as reflected in the top 25 stories covered by BW People. From the rise of moonlighting, showcasing the evolving nature of work arrangements, to the critical imperative of bridging the digital literacy gap in India, the stories underscore the multifaceted nature of the HR domain.
The increasing need for green energy professionals, discussions around major layoffs amidst corporate restructuring, and the launch of innovative upskilling platforms highlight the sector's response to evolving market demands. Conversations with HR leaders shed light on crucial aspects such as the role of HR in fostering a wellness-centric work culture, strategies for imparting life skills, and navigating the challenges of talent acquisition in a tech-driven era.
As we delve into the diverse narratives that shaped the HR landscape in 2023, these stories collectively serve as a comprehensive lens into the pulsating heartbeat of human resources, reflecting the industry's adaptability, resilience, and commitment to shaping a future-ready workforce.
Click on the headlines to read more.
Moonlighting: What Is The Best Way For Organisations To Handle This Phenomenon?
The new workplace trend called ‘Moonlighting’ means having a second job in addition to the primary job. Some people juggle between two professions. The flexible schedules of different jobs help people moonlight for extra money. Sometimes, people with multiple skills moonlight to increase their skill levels in different areas.
Bridging The Digital Literacy Gap In India
Despite initiatives aimed at promoting digital literacy, India finds itself facing a substantial gap compared to countries with highly skilled workforces. To ensure competitiveness and relevance in the global marketplace, it is imperative for the Indian government, businesses, and educational institutions to prioritise investments in digital upskilling initiatives.
The Job Market Is In Dire Need Of Green Energy Professionals: Are We Ready For The Shift?
While the outlook is exciting, talent managers in organisations in the green energy sector have a task cut out for them– the war for talent is only getting fiercer, coupled with limited experienced talent in niche areas such as manufacturing, engineering & technology and wind energy.
Citigroup Prepares For Massive Layoffs Amidst Restructuring
Citi CEO Jane Fraser highlighted major changes aimed at restructuring the bank's structure, after the divestiture from non-core markets and a strategic concentration on profitable areas.
In sync with the emerging needs of today’s technologically driven and fast-paced professional landscape, Gurukul.AI is designed to create personalised upskilling paths for every employee through an assessment of their job roles, current competencies, and proficiencies.
In Conversation With Harshvendra Soin, Chief People Officer & Head - of Marketing, Tech Mahindra
‘Wellness before Business’ should be every organisation’s mantra since a workforce can only be productive if it is healthy. Such programmes can improve individual performance, build resilience, address mental and physical health issues, provide job satisfaction and can complement efforts to build a strong employee experience and enhance organisational performance.
Pankaj Dikshit Moves To Government E-Marketplace As Its New CTO
Government e-marketplace appointed Pankaj Dikshit, CTO, GSTN as its new CTO. He possesses over two decades of experience in policy and strategy making at the apex level of private enterprise, as well as for government bodies.
A Detailed Case Study On Sugar's Sugary Policy Journey
The management believes that policies are the real communication tool for an organisation, irrespective of what the leadership speaks. Their policies are the ones that communicate the loudest with their talent. The ability to design policies that are reflective of their ethos and ambitions are critical design elements.
Why Values Like Employee Development And Social Impact Are Vital In Fintech?
Going above and beyond for positive social impact is a quality that prospective employees will appreciate when choosing their place of work. This could mean companies that match employee contributions to charities, have dedicated leave/sabbatical policies to encourage volunteering or regularly demonstrate their commitment through their deeds and actions will stand out and reap the fruits of talent attraction.
The New Collar Economy: Transforming Blue To White
In order to transform the blue-collar workforce into the white collar, one potential roadblock is linguistic barriers, organisations should solve this with a two-pronged approach-- start imparting basic English linguistic skills and in parallel offer all upskilling initiatives in a multilingual format for it to suit the needs of all of its workforce rather than just the ones who currently have basic proficiency in English.
Generative AI's Impact On Creativity: Catalyst Or Constraint At Workplace?
Tomorrow’s workforce needs to be ‘trilingual’, with deep domain expertise, digital and technology knowledge, as well as proficiency in data analytics – to maximise the potential of this next wave of AI. Additionally, employees with specialised skills in areas like data science, AI, machine learning, and data engineering, among others, will be better prepared to thrive in a fast-evolving tech environment.
In Conversation With Sunitha Lal, CHRO, Ather Energy
Offices are a microcosm of the macrocosm, a reflection of the community outside. When someone joins a team, they not only offer their knowledge and competence; they also bring their beliefs and worldview. It's more crucial to foster a culture of open communication, recognise that everyone is equal but that no two people are the same, and engage in frank discussions about culture.
Swati Rustagi Commences Her New Stint At Paytm As A CHRO
Rustagi is embarking upon a new journey, after quitting from Amazon stores as Director Global Talent Strategy & Leadership Development World Wide Stores.
In Conversation With Soonu Wadewala, Head HR, Axis Securities
The role of HR in imparting life skills to employees is crucial in enabling them to navigate life effectively and contribute positively to the workplace. Life skills development, with a particular emphasis on self-awareness, should be an essential component of HR programmes to help individuals understand their emotions, motivations, strengths and areas for improvement.
Welspun World Appoints Vikram Bector as Director and Group CHRO
As Group CHRO, Bector leads the charge in fostering an ownership mindset and driving changes in technology, capability development, agile partnerships, and cultural stewardship, all geared toward enhancing employee experiences and positively impacting the business
Microsoft Introduces New Employee Rating System For Managers
The company has introduced 'impact descriptors' for these new ratings which are ‘Lower Impact Than Expected (LITE),’ ‘Slightly Lower Impact Than Expected (SLITE),’ ‘Successful Impact,’ and ‘Exceptional Impact,' only visible to managers
Revision In CGHS Rates For Central Government Employees
Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has decided to revise and increase the Central Government Health Scheme Package rates for all CGHS beneficiaries. The centre has also simplified the referral process under CGHS for the benefit of its employees.
Driving Purposeful Workforce In The Energy Sector
Fun at the workplace is ‘work that integrates with passion leading to excitement’. Office becomes like spending an evening with friends – enjoying what we do & love the process, making people look forward to coming to the office every day. A fun working environment is always motivating & challenging.
Areness Plans To Hire 1000 More Employees Till December 2024
For legal positions, the company is hiring for different practice areas like intellectual property, insolvency, banking, litigation, real estate, public policy, and general corporate, and for non-legal areas, the company is hiring for corporate communications HR, knowledge management, law firm management, research, account management, finance, operations, and other technical positions like product managers, program managers, software engineers, technical analysts, tech-consultants, technical support assistants, AI & data science professionals.
Qatar Airways Employees To Enjoy 5 Week Bonus
The profit-sharing bonus contrasts sharply with regional rival Emirates, where employees were previously awarded a bonus worth 24 weeks of pay.
LTI Mindtree Delaying Onboarding Process For Freshers Alleges Labour Union
The labour union had demanded the company to immediately stop the practice and respect the rights of the freshers who have already been waiting for an extended period of time.
In Conversation With Deepshikha Mukerji, Regional HR Director, Abbott India
Employee satisfaction is a great indicator guiding retention. One important practice that leaders must follow is listening to the employees – checking in and seeing what they are thinking and feeling. For instance, having periodic surveys instead of just an annual survey to understand evolving employee experiences and proactively engaging with them on an ongoing basis.
Amdocs Plans To Lay Off 6.5% Of Workforce In 2nd Job Cut Round
Earlier in 2023, the company let go of about 700 employees and approximately 2,000 employees in the second round of job cuts to ensure sustained growth and to periodically initiate efficiency processes aligning with the organisations strategic plan.
Haleon To Lay Off Employees In Cost-Cutting Measure
The producer of Sensodyne toothpaste and Advil painkillers has a headcount of more than 24,000 employees globally. The staff members were informed about hundreds of job cuts during a series of meetings and consultation processes.
Economic Uncertainties Provoke Qualcomm To Layoff 5% Of Its Workforce
The company stated that given the current macroeconomic environment, they implemented further spending reductions and streamlined operations without losing sight of the diversification opportunities ahead. Combined with the actions we have already taken in the quarter; we expect to reduce non-GAAP operating expenses by approximately 5 per cent relative to a run rate exiting fiscal '22.
