Vigorous Hiring Activity Anticipated in Real Estate, Finance & Insurance: Manpower Employment Outlook

Manpower Group conducted the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey for the first quarter 2015 by interviewing a representative sample of 5,108 employers in India.

Participants were asked how they anticipate total employment outlook at their location to change in the three-month that ends in March, 2015 as compared to the current quarter.

These employers are highly optimistic and report dynamic hiring prospects during the period January-March. Out of all the employers interviewed, 44% of the employers foresee an increase in hiring levels whereas only 3% forecast a decrease and 34% predict no change; the figures result in Net Employment Outlook of +41%.

As per the report, ‘Once the data is adjusted to allow for seasonal variation, the Outlook stands at +45% for the second consecutive quarter. Year-over-year, hiring prospects improve by 12 percentage points.”

The striking Feature of the report is that job seekers can expect the strongest hiring pace in finance, insurance and real estate since 3Q 2012 in the period January-March, 2015, as per the employers who report a Net Employment Outlook at +48%. Compared to the previous quarter, hiring intentions improve by 3 percentage points; the same is 12 percentage points stronger year-over-year.

The survey covers seven sectors. The overall key features of the report are:

Organisation-Size Comparisons: Employers in both Large and Medium organizations-size categories forecast payroll gains during the period. With an outlook of +45%, large employers indicate bullish hiring intentions whereas with +37% Outlook medium employers predict robust gains.

Regional Comparisons: Hiring levels is expected to grow in all four regions of East, West, North and South. However South and West regions report the strongest hiring intentions where Net Employment Outlooks stand at +46% and +45%, respectively. North based employers are also bullish on hiring intentions with an Outlook of 42%, which is 31% for employers in the East.

Sector Comparisons: Workforce gain is expected by employers in all seven industry sectors during the period Jan-March. However the most strong gain is expected in the Wholesale & Retail Trade sector where employers report a Net Employment Outlook of +54%. Vigorous hiring activity is expected in the Finance, Insurance & Real Estate sector and the Services sector with an outlook of +48% and +47%, respectively. At third place is Transportation & Utilities sector with an Outlook of +45%.

Get the complete report at manpowergroup.com/press/meos_landing.cfm.

Training Program on Materials Management for Mahindra World City, Jaipur (SEZ)

NIREM recently conducted a training program on Materials Management for the employees of Mahindra World City Jaipur (Jaipur SEZ). 

It was a highly interactive program, participated by managers from different departments of the SEZ.

The seasoned faculty covered practical issues and challenges faced in material management. Among other topics, the faculty discussed the Inventory Models, Optimization Tools and Techniques; Integrated Approach to Inventory Management, Framework for Inventory Reduction etc.

However the highlight of the program was the question and answer session where practical problems were raised by the participants and effective and practical solutions to the problems were suggested by the faculty.

Bloomberg Philanthropies, UD min sign pact on smart city

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg Monday announced a partnership between Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Urban Development Ministry to advance the government's ambitious smart cities initiative.

Under the partnership, Bloomberg Philanthropies will provide funds and other assistance to Urban Development Ministry to implement the Smart Cities project in select cities.

The announcement was made after Bloomberg's meeting with Modi.

"The Prime Minister described the Smart Cities Initiative as a challenging task, which nevertheless has to be undertaken to improve the quality of life for India's urban citizens with stakeholder's participation," a government release said.

The Smart Cities Initiative is aimed to promote economic growth, improve governance, and deliver more effective and efficient public services to India's urban residents.

"Bloomberg Philanthropies will provide assistance to the Ministry of Urban Development to select cities for Smart Cities Mission funding on a continuous basis," the release said.

It said "This approach is different from the conventional approach, which involved preparation of Detailed Project Reports, and their appraisal and approval by the central government.

"It will ensure that real citizen engagement happens, as people get involved both in design and execution of city development plans. This will actualise the idea of cooperative and competitive federalism."

Earlier, Bloomberg met Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and discussed various urban development issues including the Smart City project. Source: igovernment.in

Buying A House Overseas Easier Now

Buying a house overseas, which used to be the preserve of the super rich, has now become a lot easier for wealthy Indians with the Reserve Bank of India doubling the foreign exchange remittance limit to $250,000 per individual per year. In other words, a family of four can remit $1 million (equivalent of Rs 6.2 crore) every year to purchase assets overseas.

With this move, the rupee has become almost fully convertible for most Indians. The funds remitted overseas can be used for almost any activity barring a few such as speculation in exchanges, funding terror groups or for remittances to Bhutan,Nepal, Mauritius and Pakistan.

According to Bank of India chairperson V R Iyer, the increase in the liberalized remittance scheme to $2.5 lakh reflects the confidence of the regulator in consistency in foreign inflows.

RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said on Tuesday the foreign currency remittance limit was relaxed following a review of the external sector outlook and as a further exercise in macro prudential management.

The central bank also said that it will ask the government to subsume under this limit various remittances that an individual is allowed under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, which include donations, gift remittances and exchange facilities for those seeking employment overseas and for maintenance of close relatives abroad.

Until now, this facility was in addition to remittance limits already available for private travel, business travel, studies, medical treatment, etc as described in Schedule III of Foreign Exchange Management (Current Account Transactions) Rules, 2000.

An improvement in the country’s foreign exchange reserves has emboldened the RBI to increase the limit. Announcing his policy, Rajan said the following the drop in oil prices the current account deficit has been comfortably financed by net capital inflows, mainly in the form of buoyant portfolio flows and supported by foreign direct investment inflows and external commercial borrowings. “Accordingly, there was accretion to India’s foreign exchange reserves to the tune of $6.8 billion in Q3,” said Rajan. Source: Times of India; 04 Feb, 2015