Young employees are willing to accept a low-paying job that gives them technology access as opposed to the one

that does not.

It's rather astonishing how the new generation today finds itself under the severe clasp of the social monster'. New-age demands such as social media access, device flexibility and work mobility have surfaced in the Indian business scenario as the millennials' today, as per a recent survey conducted by Cisco, are prioritising such social elasticities' over salary in accepting a job. The study not only reveals the gravity of such career demands, but also goes on to divulge that young professionals have no qualms in accepting a low-paying job, provided organisations sanction more flexibility with regard to device choice, social media access, and mobility. Mahesh Gupta, VP, borderless networks, Cisco India & SAARC says, "The proliferation of smart phones, tablets and laptops has resulted in employees wanting to use their own devices to do everything akin to accessing the company email and internet to stay connected. Employees today fancy having a workplace experience from wherever they wish to connect." But, is it likely that this social media pull can hamper productivity? "If employers can depend on their employees to get their job done right, they must consequently be considerate enough to permit their employees with access to social mediums, provided misuse is avoided," says Vinod Nair, HR head, Mahindra Finance. Providing a factual opinion, Dominic Jose, head- staffing and recruitment, Handiman Services Ltd says, "I have observed that companies that permit the usage of social media during the work hours lose 1.7 per cent of productivity as compared to the companies that prohibit it. With its wealth of applications, games and status updates that distract an employee's mind, another danger is that the access to social media makes a company vulnerable to potential breaches." The advantage of permitting social media usages are myriad, says Ravi Shankar, senior VP HR, HCL Technologies further adding, "Such networking liberties help employees in collaborating and creative ideation." "India Inc is no longer dependent on the traditional way of functioning. Thus, young professionals prioritising their social media needs over salary making it the apparent new workforce currency should come as no surprise," feels Subhankar Roy Chowdhury, executive director HR, India & MEA, Lenovo India. Consequently, we are looking at a future where the appetite for social media is bound to get the better of salary and other monetary perk demands, thereby making the adoption of this connected age' by both employers and employees a restorative function.

- Ascent Times Group

HSBC rules out large scale job cuts in India

A day after announcing trimming its global workforce by 30,000, banking major HSBC today ruled out any significant job cuts in India, a strategic market where it is fighting high attrition rate. Responding to a question on whether job cuts announced by the global management on Monday would apply to India, HSBC India Chief Executive Mr Stuart A Davis told reporters, I think India already has a very high attrition rate. We are hard-pressed to even catch up on the replacements. There is a war for talent out there, (however) as I said, there will be reallocation of resources. He said re-allocation of resources is not going to be a job cuts. I hate the word cut heads. What we are trying to do is to eliminate bureaucracies at the back-end, he added. Mr Davis further said that reallocation of resources means that if there are too much of bureaucracies at the back-end, what is needed is streamlining the back-end and use the resources in the front-end. HSBC has 50 branches across the country employing about 6,000 people. As far as India is concerned, I wont be overly concerned. The important thing is that both India and China are classified as strategic markets. So we will continue to feel for India and China, he said. The bank had on Monday said it had already cut 5,000 jobs following restructuring of operations in Latin America, the US, Britain, France and the Middle East and that it would cut another 25,000 between now and 2013, according to media reports.

Infosys to hire 25,000 for new Hyderabad centre

Infosys will recruit 25,000 for its second centre in Hyderabad. They would recruit 14,000 in the first phase and 11,000 more in the second phase of the 448-acre special economic zone campus at Pocharam on the Warangal highway. An Infosys delegation led by its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mr Kris Gopalakrishnan, met Mr N Kiran Kumar Reddy, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, and explained to him about the expansion plan in Pocharam. The facility already houses 4,000 employees. We will add the remaining in phases, a statement from the Chief Minister's Office quoting Mr Gopalakrishnan said. About 15,000 people worked in Infosys' facility at Gachibowli here. The company's Pocharam facility was in the news recently after APIIC (Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation) served a notice on the company, asking it to explain the reasons for the delay in meeting the deadlines agreed upon.

Mangesh Dubey

Roll No. 15 Div A FYMMS Sterling Institute of Management Studies Human Resource Management