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Software giant <keyword id="6354512" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="infosys" source="Orion">Infosys</keyword> softening its stand on <keyword id="64527" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="moonlighting" source="Orion">moonlighting</keyword> has allowed its staffers to take up external work with prior permission, sources stated on Friday. The company has intimated to the employees its new policy through email. The email from the company states that any employee, who wishes to take up gig work, may do so, with the prior consent of their manager and <keyword id="15318360" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bp-hr" source="Orion">BP-HR</keyword>, and in their personal time, for establishments that don't compete with Infosys or Infosys' clients. The corporate world has been discussing moonlighting for quite some time. Techies working for other companies has become a trend and concern in the industry with startups readily offering very attractive offers to utilize the skills of the talent working for other companies. <keyword id="197349" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rishad-premji" source="Orion">Rishad Premji</keyword>, the Chairman of <keyword id="10862" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="wipro" source="Orion">Wipro</keyword> repeatedly issued statements against moonlighting and had also asked the startups not to only focus on immediate fortune. The company had earlier announced the firing of hundreds of employees for integrity issues. Rishad Premji also shared how an employee in an important position was shown the doors for lack of integrity and later the company did not give him a clean relieving letter. He also shared that it did not take more than 10 minutes to fire 20 staffers of higher positions who showed a lack of integrity. The insiders in Infosys stated that the step would help the company to find solutions for many challenges that are being faced presently. The decision would help the employee to carry out the work of his or her choice. The step by Infosys will draw sharp criticism and set a new trend in the corporate world, experts say. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/tata-consumer-products-profit-grows-36-to-355-crore-in-q2-fy23/articleshow/94992535.cms">Tata Consumer Products profit grows 36% to ₹355 crore in Q2 FY23</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/zerodhas-co-founders-nithin-and-nikhil-kamath-donate-100-crore-in-fy22/slidelist/94991823.cms">Zerodha’s co-founders Nithin and Nikhil Kamath donate ₹100 crore in FY22</a>

Infosys to now allow moonlighting with prior permission, say sources

<keyword id="6354512" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="infosys" source="Orion">Infosys</keyword> is the latest entry to the list of IT firms clamping down on moonlighting employees. However, the IT behemoth is mulling a system that will allow employees to work on external projects too. Without elaborating on the numbers, <keyword id="15256520" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="infosys-ceo-salil-parikh" source="Orion">Infosys CEO Salil Parikh</keyword> said that over the last year, the company has let go of its employees found working with other companies. "Where there are confidentiality issues, we have let them go," Parikh said on Thursday at the press conference announcing the Q2 results. Parikh however said that Infosys is mulling a policy that allows employees to work on other projects within and outside of Infosys. Earlier <keyword id="10862" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="wipro" source="Orion">Wipro</keyword> Chairman <keyword id="197349" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rishad-premji" source="Orion">Rishad Premji</keyword> had expressed concerns over the issue of moonlighting employees. A few weeks ago, Premji stated that Wipro had fired 300 employees on this count. Amid reports of IT companies delaying or putting fresh recruitments on hold, <keyword id="10389637" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="infosys-cfo-nilanjan-roy" source="Orion">Infosys CFO Nilanjan Roy</keyword> said that there was no delay in onboarding freshers. He said that Infosys hired 40,000 freshers in the first half of the financial year. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/soon-you-wont-be-able-to-fake-your-age-on-instagram/articleshow/94853597.cms">Soon, you won't be able to fake your age on Instagram </a><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/twitter-will-soon-allow-you-to-control-who-can-mention-you-in-their-tweets/articleshow/94852135.cms">Twitter will soon allow you to control who can mention you in their tweets</a>

Infosys too cracks whip but mulling policy to allow moonlighting

<ul><li>The stock has lost nearly half its value and overall profits have declined. </li><li>The prospects for the future are still cloudy due to reliance on banking, financial services, and insurance. </li><li>These are the five charts and a table on how the company has fared under <keyword id="296498" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Neemuchwala">Neemuchwala</keyword>’s leadership</li></ul>Six months after <keyword id="10862" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Wipro">Wipro</keyword>’s iconic leader <keyword id="6419840" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Azim-Premji">Azim Premji</keyword> stepped down, its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abidali Z Neemuchwala has resigned from the company citing family commitments, nearly 4 years after he took the corner office. Wipro tried to cushion the blow by announcing that Neemuchwala will stay on until a successor is found. Yet, the stock went down 2% in the morning trade⁠— the total fall since the senior Premji stepped down is now up to 10%. 
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 Wipro is ranked four among India’s tech titans In the last few years, Wipro has continued to lag behind peers like <keyword id="6357150" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tcs">TCS</keyword> and <keyword id="6354512" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> in terms of market value. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Company </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Market capitalisation </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">TCS </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹799595.66 crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Infosys </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹332656.48 crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">HCL Tech </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹163484.75 crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Wipro </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹134913.03 crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Tech Mahindra </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹78585.71 crore </td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">As of Jan 31, 2019; Source: Moneycontrol.com </td></tr></tbody></table> The leadership of Neemuchwala Neemuchwala spent 23 years in TCS but he was made the CEO of Wipro just 10 months after he joined -- to steer the company out of its hurdles. However, the former IIT Mumbai alumnus had reportedly little experience in <a href="http://neemuchwala">client facing roles</a>, which is crucial for a software exporter like Wipro. The profit after tax in the financial year ending March 2016 was nearly ₹10,600 crore, three years later it was lower by 7%. And, the prospects are not looking very good either. 
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 As recently as October 2019, global investment bank Morgan Stanley placed Wipro in the ‘underperform’ list, blaming the management. “The company management is uncertain of macro environment, and with growth lower than peers, Wipro should sustain lower P/E (price-earnings) multiple,” said<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/foreign-brokerages-give-thumbs-down-to-wipro-post-q2-numbers/articleshow/71614624.cms?from=mdr"> Morgan Stanley.</a> The ‘price to earnings ratio’ measures its current share price relative to its earnings per-share (EPS). It is a way of the company. Higher the P/E ratio, more valuable the company. After the most-recent earnings for the three months ending December 2019, Neemuchwala hinted that the worst is behind for Wipro. “If you look at the portfolio, I do feel good that things that we had set out to both reengineer our portfolio and address Wipro-specific issues, as well as a lot of the investment in capability that we have been doing where we get the mind share and traction with customers with a very robust set of deal wins gives me confidence that those issues are behind us,” <a href="https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2020/01/14/wipro-limited-wit-q3-2020-earnings-call-transcript.aspx">Neemuchwala said in a call with analysts</a>. Not just Wipro, Indian IT has struggled as a whole The challenges, especially the reliance on banking, financial services, and insurance, are not unique to Wipro. Between Brexit, the US-China trade war, and a plethora of other challenges on the global scale, the growth in the BFSI segment has been volatile at best for most IT companies. 
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However, Wipro was lagging behind its peers on the recovery path at the end of December 2019. 
 
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The street was clearly not enthused. “The soft guidance for 4Q (Jan-March 2020) indicates that reaching industry-level growth is an uphill task. We reckon that growth will continue to lag peers ahead based on soft outlook on around 50% of rev comprising BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance, Communications and Technology (hi-tech sub-segment),” said a report by HDFC securities. The incoming CEO after Neemuchwala has a tough task at hand to pick up a flailing business uphill in a tough business environment. That would also make it tougher for Chairman <keyword id="197349" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rishad-Premji">Rishad Premji</keyword> to find Neemuchwala’s replacement.

Abidwali Neemuchwala’s scorecard as Wipro’s CEO for four years

<ul><li>Infosys Chairman <keyword id="44604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nandan-Nilekani">Nandan Nilekani</keyword> believes Indians will be data rich before they will be economically rich. </li><li>This will lead to new business models like <keyword id="8177326" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="flow-based-lending">flow based lending</keyword>. </li><li>Flow-based lending will allow small businesses to access small and short-term working capital loans. </li></ul>More and more Indians are coming online as Internet penetration and connectivity improves in the country. "Indians will be data rich before they will be economically rich," stated Nandan Nilekani, the chairman of Infosys at the <keyword id="33239" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-Economic-summit">India Economic Summit</keyword> in New Delhi. He explained that data being leveraged in India is very different to how it is leveraged in the West. People were online 10 -15 years earlier and their data flowed without any restrictions. In India, the online ad market is still only at $2 billion and people are very aware of how and where their data is going. Even so, as data increases, it will bring about new business models — like flow-based lending. Chairman of Wipro, <keyword id="197349" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rishad-Premji">Rishad Premji</keyword>, feels that big data can be harnessed and that India has only "scratched the surface," of new technologies. Credit will follow the data "Historically, lending in India has been to big guys in large amounts for a long time for assets. A lot of challenges we have today are because of that," stated Nilekani. The boom in data can be a boon for small businesses. Flow-based lending means that small businesses will be able to raise small, short-term working capital loans. In cash flow lending, companies are allowed to borrow money based on the projected future cash flows. "So, millions of businesses that don’t have access to credit today will get access," he said. Around seven to eight businesses have in-principle approval from the RBI for account aggregation and 30-40 startups working on flow based lending. Even big banks are showing interest in this model. "Credit will be first example of data being empowered for users," said Nilekani.

Indians will be data rich before they’re economically rich, said Nandan Nilekani

<ul><li><keyword id="6419840" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Azim-Premji">Azim Premji</keyword>, executive Chairman and Managing Director of <keyword id="10862" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Wipro">Wipro</keyword>, to retire by July. </li><li>His son <keyword id="197349" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rishad-Premji">Rishad Premji</keyword> will be taking over his post. </li><li>Azim Premji had been the executive chairman of the IT company for 53 years.</li></ul>Azim Premji, founder of Wipro, will be resigning from his post of executive chairman and Managing Director by July according to <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/people/azim-premji-to-retire-next-month-rishad-chairman-md-ceo-1559817362459.html">reports</a>. His son Rishad Premji, who is currently on the board of Wipro and its Chief Strategy Officer, will be taking over as executive chairman. Premji Senior will continue to be on the board of the company. He had served as the executive chairman of the IT giant for a long period of 53 years. Meanwhile, a statement from the company also states that Abidali Neemuchwala, who has been the CEO of the company since February 2016, will also be the managing director of the company. Azim Premji, who has been at the forefront of IT growth in India, is a graduate in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. According to the company’s website, Premji is responsible for turning Wipro into a “$8.5 billion Revenue IT, BPO and R&amp;D Services organization with a presence in 58 countries.” Premji, who is also one of the biggest philanthropists in India, had founded the non-profit organization Azim Premji Foundation in 2001. In March, Premji also earmarked all of his economic benefits for philanthropy, setting aside 34% of Wipro shares worth $7.5 billion. His total contribution to philanthropy now stands at a whopping $21 billion, including 67% of economic ownership of Wipro Limited. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/wipro-chairman-azim-premji-has-now-increased-his-charity-contribution-to-a-total-of-21-billion/articleshow/68395458.cms">Azim Premji has now set aside $21 billion to charity, 67% of economic ownership of Wipro</a>

Wipro founder Azim Premji to retire, son Rishad to take over

For India Inc, <keyword id="70846" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Harvard-Business-School">Harvard Business School</keyword> has Jay Kotak, the elder son of Uday Kotak, senior vice chairman and managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, prepares to be attend the coveted Harvard Business School, BI India lists down a five such next gen business leaders who are alumni of this Ivy League School. 
 
Images: Indiatimes.com

5 junior India Inc business
leaders who are Harvard alumni

Rumours were rife stating that <keyword id="197349" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rishad-Premji">Rishad Premji</keyword> would be joining his father’s company <keyword id="10862" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Wipro">Wipro</keyword> in the coming months. Now, another report is out that suggests that <keyword id="2546889" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Azmi-Premji">Azmi Premji</keyword>’s son is going to join daddy’s company soon. He seems to be the preferred choice when it comes to handling financial matters. 
 Apparently, the current <keyword id="53346" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="CFO">CFO</keyword> <keyword id="193587" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Suresh-Senapaty">Suresh Senapaty</keyword> is going to retire in the last quarter of this financial year. With this vacancy Rishad is the right person to fill the CFO’s spot and learn the ropes of the company that is popular for IT services. The move is set for 2016, however some inside sources said that Rishad might take up the board job earlier than predicted. 
 Rishad did his master from <keyword id="70846" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Harvard-Business-School">Harvard Business School</keyword> and BA in economics from Wesleyan University. He is trying to fit in his father’s shoes, who is much grounded and hardly takes a wrong decision. We have seen on numerous occasions that the scions of a big multi-national often fail to take the business to the next level. Will Rishad mana<keyword id="45528" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="GE">ge</keyword> to go the extra mile for the company so fondly created by his father? Going by his education and his previous work experiences at Bain and Co along with GE capital he might do well. But, we will come to know exactly in a few years’ time. 
 
Image:FB

Is Rishad Premji Joining The Wipro Group As Its Next CFO?

BANGALORE: <keyword id="10862" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Wipro">Wipro</keyword>’s <keyword id="6362476" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="investments">investments</keyword> in new technologies and platforms have generated more than ten times returns since <keyword id="197349" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rishad-Premji">Rishad Premji</keyword> has taken over as head of strategy at the nation’s third largest software exporter. 
 Rishad, son of <keyword id="6364480" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chairman">chairman</keyword> Azim <keyword id="6420349" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Premji">Premji</keyword>, has led the company to also invest in two startups, the valuation of one of them has more than tripled in just 12 months. 
 
“These investments have helped different business units keep up with growth numbers and helped drive growth and we believe we have generated over 10x returns over the last three years (considering if we had to buy these technologies now),” said an executive from Wipro’s strategy division. 
 
The executive declined to share details of the investment, but said it could be millions of dollars over the past 36 months. 
 
The company plans to invest more in innovative ideas through a $100 million corporate venture fund. Rishad Premji has been named to spearhead that venture. 
 
Some experts say the returns on corporate venture funds aren’t usually as high as that of independent venture funds, which makes this performance of Wipro “extremely good”. 
 “Certainly, a 10 times return is extremely good from the perspective of financial returns of either independent or corporate venturing funds,” said Josh Lerner, professor of <keyword id="48051" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="investment-banking">investment banking</keyword> and head of the Entrepreneurial Management unit at <keyword id="70846" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Harvard-Business-School">Harvard Business School</keyword>. 
 
Wipro declined to provide details of its investment. “Any data points that are being talked about or written are all speculation and cannot be relied upon,” it said in a statement. 
 Rishad Premji joined Wipro in 2007 as business head of the vertical that provides services to the banking and <keyword id="6354241" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Financial-Services">financial services</keyword> sectors. He was elevated to the current role of head of strategy four years later. Under his watch, Wipro has backed companies in technologies that are called disruptive because they are capable of disrupting the existing market, as well as picking stakes in US-based startups focused in data analytics and machine-to-machine learning. 
 
He has been assisted by Anil Raibagi, head of mergers and acquisitions. 
 
Wipro’s $5-million (about Rs 30 crore at current exchange rate) investment in US-based Axeda in June 2013 underlines the team’s successful bets. When Wipro first made an investment to pick a stake of close to 8%, Axeda was valued at $50 million. In July this year, Nasdaqlisted PTC acquired Axeda for $170 million in cash, taking the value of Wipro’s ownership to more than three times its initial investment. 
 
PTC and Axeda declined to comment whether Wipro will exit the investment. Wipro said any decision will be taken once the transaction is concluded. 
 
“Since he (Rishad Premji) took charge, the strategy team (which includes Wipro’s M&amp;A division) has been more proactive than being very reactive,” said an executive directly familiar with the changes. “Initially, we (Wipro) were dependent on investment bankers to make the pitch on what the company should invest in. After he joined, investment banks just give the names and in some case we don’t even require them, as internally we evaluate which companies we should invest.” 
 
On partnerships, Anurag Srivastava, who is overseeing the firm’s youngest business unit called Change the Business, has helped Wipro partner with at least 30 startups since 2011. One such partnership of Wipro is with Pingar, a New Zealand-based text analytics company. 
 
Over the last 12 months, Pingar has been helping Wipro’s existing and new clients on “auto-tagging and classification capabilities across multiple enterprise content management solutions”. 
 
“Typically, corporate venture funds have both strategic and financial goals. Strategic goals may be identifying potential acquisition targets, getting a window on new technologies, or paving the way for joint ventures,” said Lerner of HBS. “These strategic returns can often be very important, but are more difficult to measure, especially for outsiders.”

Rishad Premji Led Investments Bring Big Bucks To Wipro

New Delhi, India's top billionaires, including Gautam Adani and Sunil Bharti Mittal, mega stars from film industry such as Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan and cricketing icons from Sachin Tendulkar to M S Dhoni are among those invited for pre-wedding celebrations of Mukesh Ambani's youngest son, Anant early next month. Ahead of the wedding ceremony in July, guests from around the world have been invited to three-day pre-wedding festivities beginning March 1, at Gujarat's Jamnagar, which houses Ambani's mega oil refineries. Anant Ambani, the youngest of the three children Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani have, is set to marry Radhika Merchant - the younger daughter of <keyword id="20720133" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="viren-merchant" source="keywords">Viren Merchant</keyword>, CEO of Encore Healthcare, and entrepreneur Shaila Merchant. With Jamnagar not having five-star hotels, ultra-luxury tents housing best of facilities, including tiled bathrooms are being erected for the guests. The guest list includes international business leaders like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Adnoc CEO Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, and EL Rothschild chair Lynn Forester de Rothschild, sources said. Indian business magnates invited include Gautam Adani and family, Tata Sons chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran , Aditya Birla Group Chairperson Kumar Mangalam Birla, and his family, Godrej family, Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani, RPSG Group head Sanjiv Goenka, Wipro's Rishad Premji, banker <keyword id="19998917" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="uday-kotak" source="keywords">Uday Kotak</keyword>, vaccine maker Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla, Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal, Hero's Pawan Munjal, Roshni Nadar of HCL, Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala and Sun Pharma's Dilip Sanghi. Top cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar and family, MS Dhoni and family, Rohit Sharma, K L Rahul, Hardik and Krunal Pandya and Ishan Kishan too are on the invitee list. <keyword id="19897820" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bollywood" source="keywords">Bollywood</keyword> will be represented by mega stars Amitabh Bachchan and family, Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan and family, Amir Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna, Ajay Devgn and Kajol, Saif Ali Khan and family, Chunky Pandey, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt and <keyword id="19895145" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vicky-kaushal" source="keywords">Vicky Kaushal</keyword> and Katrina Kaif. Madhuri Dikshit and Sriram Nene, Aditya and Rani Chopra, Karan Johar, Boney Kapoor and family, Anil Kapoor and family, <keyword id="19946417" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="varun-dhawan" source="keywords">Varun Dhawan</keyword>, Sidharth Malhotra, Shraddha Kapoor and Karisma Kapoor, Rajnikanth and family are are on the invitee list. The three-day-long event will be themed, according to 'Event Guide' sent to the invitees. Chartered flights have been arranged to ferry guests from Delhi and Mumbai to Jamnagar and back. Guests are expected to arrive by mid-day on March 1. Hollywood pop-icon Rihanna, along with Diljit Dosanjh and others, will enthrall the guests with their performances. Day 1 celebrations are called 'An Evening in Everland' where guests are expected to wear elegant cocktail attire. Day 2 will host 'A Walk on the Wildside' with 'jungle fever' being the suggested dress code. It is set to be held outdoors in the Ambanis' animal rescue centre in Jamnagar. The guests will then proceed to 'Mela Rouge' which will be a potpourri of desi activities and the guests will wear their favourite south Asian attires. For Day 3, two events - 'Tusker Trails' and 'Hashtakshar' are planned. The first event will be an outdoor affair where the guests will enjoy the natural beauty of Jamnagar and for the last and final event, they'll be dressed in 'heritage Indian Wear'. All the guests will be provided with personal laundry services, saree drapers and other custom assistance, the nine-page event guide said.

Billionaires to Bollywood: All invited to Anant Ambani's pre-wedding festivities

<ul><li>‘Challenge accepted,’ said Gurnani to <keyword id="15681942" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="chatgpt" source="Orion">ChatGPT</keyword> maker OpenAI CEO <keyword id="257641" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sam-altman" source="Orion">Sam Altman</keyword> who had said it was totally hopeless to compete with his company on training foundational AI models.</li><li>Gurnani has taken a contrarian stance to that of the industry recently on the <keyword id="64527" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="moonlighting" source="Orion">moonlighting</keyword> issue.</li><li>He had created a unique approach to downsizing when his company took over troubled Satyam Computers. </li></ul>Come December, <keyword id="351287" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="c-p-gurnani" source="Orion">C P Gurnani</keyword> is all set to hang his boots as <keyword id="43217" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tech-mahindra" source="Orion">Tech Mahindra</keyword>’s CEO, but that’s not making him take a back seat. Unlike most tech CEOs and other top leaders in general, he is unafraid to speak his mind. So much so that Gurnani made OpenAI CEO Sam Altman back down and clarify his comments that it’s hopeless for India to compete with his company on AI. The first to respond was Gurnani who ‘accepted a challenge’ on behalf of India — to create a ChatGPT-like product. “From one CEO to another, challenge accepted,” Gurnani said after Altman said, “The way this works is we're going to tell you, it’s totally hopeless to compete with us on training foundational models, you shouldn’t try and it’s your job to try anyways,” responding to a question on the capability of small team of Indians to try it. Altman’s comments, however, ended up reportedly offending the likes of minister of state for IT and electronics, Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Meanwhile, the 64-year-old Gurnani, never one to shy away from taking on challenges or voicing his opinions, however contrary — has taken the bull by the horn one more time. A votary of moonlighting Not too long ago, when moonlighting was a hot debate, almost every tech major including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys opposed it calling it an ‘ethical issue’. In fact, Wipro’s executive chairman Rishad Premji was a vocal opponent, claiming to have fired people for taking up side hustles while being employed with the company and ‘working’ from home. Amidst a sea of dissent, Gurnani was one of the first voices who supported moonlighting – only asking his employees to be open about it. He asked them not to cover up the extra work as it would aid their resumes. “If you go by my word, if someone is meeting the efficiency and productivity norms, and he wants to make some extra money as long as he is not committing fraud, he is not doing something against the values and ethics of his company, I have no problem. I would like to make it a policy. So, if you want to do it, cheers to that, but be open about it," Gurnani had said. ‘People were not toxic’ Such out-of-the-box thinking and policies are not new for Gurnani. After the shocking Satyam scam, where its founder admitted to falsifying accounts, Mahindra &amp; Mahindra bought the company and brought Gurnani to run it. Almost all the employees of the beleaguered company had turned persona non grata. However, he said, “The company’s accounting books were toxic, the people were not.” Amidst dealing with legal and regulatory issues, he did roadshows lasting many months to convince clients to stay with the company. However, as the immediate task was to improve profitability of the company, he had to do what he dreaded — fire around 18,000 people. The firing was not done at one go however. The company gave a small salary for six months, set up job fairs, trained them and even had psychiatrists to help tide over the crisis – until they found another job. As with moonlighting and the Satyam restructuring, Gurnani brings his unique perspective to artificial intelligence (AI) as well. The chemical engineer from NIT Rourkela isn’t worried about AI taking over human jobs – he believes it will give humans more leeway to create emotional connections and relationships, and of course bring in more creativity to work and life.

C P Gurnani and the contrarian stance

<ul><li><keyword id="6358815" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="tech" source="Orion">Tech</keyword> majors like <keyword id="12873900" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="wipro-tech-mahindra" source="Orion">Wipro, Tech Mahindra</keyword> and other MNCs have either put off recruitment of freshers or asked them to wait. </li><li>Experts, allaying fears of recession in US and Europe affecting IT industry in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>, state that the trend is not new.</li><li>The present trend could be the result of workability of pipeline projects. </li></ul> There is uneasiness among a major section of students whose onboarding process has been delayed by major tech companies. Tech majors like <keyword id="10862" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="wipro" source="Orion">Wipro</keyword>, Tech Mahindra and other MNCs have either put off recruitment of freshers or asked them to wait until they are intimated. The freshers awaiting onboarding in Wipro have launched a full fledged campaign on social media, questioning Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji's integrity and commitment as he spoke strongly about ethics in connection with moonlighting. "The career of thousands of students like me is at stake. We cleared the Wipro exam in 2021. We rejected offers from other companies. But, it's been one year and we are still not onboarded. Wipro is either delaying or rejecting without any clarification," fresher Nithin said. Another fresher <keyword id="15167860" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rushikesh-rupnar" source="Orion">Rushikesh Rupnar</keyword> stated that "it's been 9 months since I received my offer letter. There is no update regarding onboarding since then. Are we a joke to them? So many students out there are waiting to join". The <keyword id="15167857" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="nascent-information-technology-employees" source="Orion">Nascent Information Technology Employees</keyword> Senate (<keyword id="12917180" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="nites" source="Orion">NITES</keyword>), an NGO working for the welfare of IT employees, stated that the trend is not confined to Wipro. "After Wipro, we have received complaints from employees of various IT companies regarding delay in onboarding. Unfortunately the CEOs bragging about work ethics and transparency are left with no humanity." "If the workers are organised, all they have to do is to put their hands in their pockets and they have got the capitalist class whipped," NITES asserted. IT firms should be held accountable for endangering the professional futures of the employees and trainees. Companies play a good game about their beliefs and ethics on the surface, but in reality, It's just crony capitalism, one of the IT job aspirants alleged. The students who have formed a group online with the "Wipro onboard us" title, stated "please update on our career, group respected <keyword id="15167858" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rishadpremji" source="Orion">RishadPremji</keyword> sir please update about the onboarding of freshers, why this ego system on freshers." "I hope u r reading this reply and you got to help us soon. Wishing good health and happiness to the people who re supporting us in struggle of Wipro on-board." "Please update on our career group submitted respected RishadPremji sir we don't know how the moonlighting effected your company, but your hiring process and holding freshers on-boarding effecting the lives of 20k+ freshers. Is our lives not valuable?" NITES had also filed a complaint with <keyword id="9286293" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="union-ministry-of-labor-and-employment" source="Orion">Union Ministry of Labor and Employment</keyword> urging to initiate action against the Wipro for delaying onboarding of more than 2,000 students. Wipro has stated that it will honour all offer letters. However, experts, allaying fears of recession in US and Europe affecting IT industry in India, state that the trend is not new. They say since China is being hit post Corona period, India could be more resilient. The present trend could be the result of workability of pipeline projects. If pipeline projects are getting affected for various reasons, the companies will strategise their moves by holding new recruitments or withdrawing offers. "This trend is an old one and the situation is projected like it is the end of IT industry which is wrong. The focus is on adopting to new technology, which is being focussed by all major tech companies. They are doing best prepare work force for new challenges," an expert said. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/musk-again-offers-to-buy-twitter-for-54-20-a-share-report/articleshow/94655083.cms">Musk again offers to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share: Report</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/competition-commission-gives-conditional-approval-to-sony-zee-merger-deal/articleshow/94654411.cms">Competition Commission gives conditional approval to Sony-Zee merger deal</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/upi-is-indias-favourite-payment-mode-with-transactions-worth-30-4-trillion-in-april-june-says-report/articleshow/94642629.cms">UPI is India’s favourite payment mode with transactions worth ₹30.4 trillion in April-June, says report</a>

Freshers feel the heat as IT majors put onboarding on indefinite hold

<ul><li>Companies have faced significant resistance when they have asked employees to come back to the office. </li><li>The hybrid working model has gained widespread acceptance and is likely to stay. </li><li>Some of the organisations incentivising employees are offering discounted meals, commuting benefits, etc.</li></ul>Life after the pandemic has returned to normal, but for those who had got used to working from home, returning to office is not a preferred option – not yet. Added to that, there is a disparity between how leadership and employees perceive working from home. In June 2020, TCS announced that it will allow 75% employees to <keyword id="123591" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="work-from-home" source="Orion">work from home</keyword> even after the pandemic is over. However, they have now backtracked on that claim. TCS has been encouraging employees to get <keyword id="9081434" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="back-to-office" source="Orion">back to office</keyword> three days a week and has ruled out a scenario where employees can work 100% from home. Infosys founder Narayana Murthy has warned younger employees against moonlighting and asked them not to work from home. Wipro chairman Rishad Premji recently made a statement saying that more employees should work from the office rather than from their homes. And, it’s not just tech companies. As much as 71% of Indian business leaders said that they prefer their employees to work more frequently from the office as opposed to working from home according to C-Level Linkedin Research. fo However, post-Covid, returning to work is a mindset shift. A report by ADP Research Institute reveals that 76.07% of employees in India would prefer having control over their working hours and would take a pay cut to guarantee the flexibility of working remotely or have the opportunity to alternate between home and office. According to a global survey by ResumeBuilder.com, 66% of employers currently require employees to <keyword id="8954729" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="work-from-office" source="Orion">work from office</keyword>, 90% of companies will require employees to return to office in 2023, 21% of companies will fire workers who do not return to the office and 88% of companies are offering incentives to get employees to return, including catered meals, commuter benefits, and higher pay. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="To work or not to work from the office" comment="subhead2" text="To work or not to work from the office">To work or not to work from the office</cmsannotation> Like companies across the world, Indian companies too are trying to adjust to the new normal. “Companies are aware that employee engagement is crucial to their performance. As a result, they have been willing to add some flexibility to the equation. Occasionally working from home for an office job is acceptable, but only with permission.,” says Mayur Taday, chief business officer, TeamLease Services, a staffing and HR firm. However, companies have faced resistance when asking their employees to come back to the office. “Like many other organizations, we encountered significant resistance from employees, particularly those who were working remotely from their hometowns. However, over time, the situation has evolved. A substantial percentage of our workforce attends the office five days a week, while others enjoy the hybrid approach. However, there is a small group of employees who still show resistance,” says Jayita Roy, VP - HR, Adecco India, a staffing and HR solutions company. Tadays says that businesses have been tolerant and non-obtrusive in permitting a gradual transition over the past nine months, but increased adherence is anticipated in the upcoming fiscal year. “Employees have largely adapted to the new normal as a result. However many who want a permanent WFH have looked for or changed jobs and landed WFH roles,” he adds. Organizations across sectors want their employees to come back to office, but each industry has its nuances. According to Pratik Vaidya, Founder &amp; MD, Karma Global, an HR and compliance organization, when it comes to BFSI, the principle is well settled. Even during pandemic times, the entire banking and financial sectors were working normally with all transactions going online. The need for physical presence of a customer in a bank was negligible and this trend continues even today. Hence the second and fourth Saturdaysh as holidays for banking and government offices are widely accepted and there is no likelihood of any change unless the Banking Associations’ demand for all Saturday offs is met by the government. However, in tech the situation is not as simple. “This is because the tech industry’ demographic holds the younger generation of people in the age group of 23 to 30. The vibrant lot seeks nourishing and nurturing of talent, career path and employee friendly workplace which they can consider as their second home,” says Vaidya. Also he says that the younger lot is more inclined towards work from home or a <keyword id="45402" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hybrid-model" source="Orion">hybrid model</keyword>, a mix of both working from office and a few days at home. The mid-level workforce is fully inclined towards the hybrid model so that they are able to stay focussed on their career growth and balance days in remote working, where they can attend to family and personal demands. The senior level is more inclined towards work from office so that they can focus on organizational goals and drive the purpose and objective of the organization. The year 2023 will thus witness a lot of experimentation in organizations. Some will settle down faster, while others will take a little longer to settle, especially those organizations with multi locational units, multi job roles, multi grades and cadres, multi objectives and goals, as expectations will be huge. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Hybrid work could be the future" comment="subhead2" text="Hybrid work could be the future">Hybrid work could be the future</cmsannotation> Linkedin Research has also revealed that 82% Indian leaders believe that hybrid work is expected to stay here for the long term. “It is true that the hybrid working model has gained widespread acceptance and this will become the norm of the future,” says Vaidya. However he adds that it will totally depend on the suitability and needs of an organization. It cannot be a standard practice across. It will vary between industries and organizations. The hybrid model comes with 4 days a week, 3 days a week, 2 days a week, once a week, few times in a month or once in a month. So it will be idealistic for each organization to decide what suits them best taking into account their vision, mission, values, culture, goals and objectives, competition, product demand and penetration, delivery and ultimately customer satisfaction. “The hybrid work model presents an advantageous arrangement for employees, as it empowers them to structure their workweek to suit both their personal needs and the needs of their team,” says Roy. She adds that a substantial percentage of their workforce attends the office five days a week, while others enjoy the hybrid approach. “We don’t see a world where employees return to the office five days a week. For now, it’s one or two days with an emphasis on flexibility,” says Chad Herring, CHRO, Zoominfo, a software and data company. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The way ahead" comment="subhead2" text="The way ahead">The way ahead</cmsannotation> We were taught of this motivational theory of carrot and stick, during school days and it holds its relevance even today. In fact, fortune 500 companies CEOs even today use a combination of carrot and stick which helps them to achieve faster progress. An element of compulsion is necessary at the same time when carrot is being offered as an inducement. Some of the organizations incentivising employees are offering discounted meals, commuting benefits, offering a decent raise, improving office space with re-decor, casual dressing on Fridays, team events on weekends, child care facilities, learning training and development programmes, and so on. At Zoominfo, employees are regularly treated to free lunches at the office. There are also snacks and drinks available at all times. For many, the last few weeks marked the first time many employees met their colleagues in person since they were hired, so teams have planned group lunches and outings. It is accepted that the pandemic has changed the way individuals view their work life as the two years of ingrained family style of work at home, and it will take some time for the employees to come out from this cocoon or home shell. Therefore, it will be imperative to build employee centric and customized work plans depending on each organisation's needs and wants, maintaining a healthy balance between the two. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/yes-bank-shares-tank-over-12-as-3-year-shareholder-lock-in-period-ends/articleshow/98601576.cms">Yes Bank shares tank over 12% as 3-year shareholder lock-in period ends</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/how-does-the-oppo-find-n2-flip-stack-up-against-the-samsung-galaxy-z-flip-4/slidelist/98601155.cms">How does the Oppo Find N2 Flip stack up against the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4?</a>

Companies want their employees back to office, but it is turning out to be difficult

<keyword id="64527" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Moonlighting" source="Orion">Moonlighting</keyword> has become a hot topic ever since Wipro’s Executive Chairman Rishad Premji called it “plain and simple cheating”. Many industry captains have jumped onto the bandwagon to share their views liberally on the subject matter and most of them are against it, barring CP Gurnani of Tech Mahindra. In a tweet he wrote, “My thoughts on the trending 'M word'... It's necessary to keep changing with the times, and as always, I welcome disruption in the ways we work”. <div type="twitter" handle="C_P_Gurnani" handlename="CP Gurnani" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1555109168540839937/zECHTjEe_normal.jpg" favoritecount="34" retweetcount="5" status="My thoughts on the trending 'M word'... It's necessary to keep changing with the times, and as always, I welcome di… https://t.co/WLCnZL3ELO" createdat="1661664718000" id="1563761285128663040"></div> For those who have joined this conversation late, moonlighting is nothing but taking on assignments outside of one’s regular day jobs, and may I add, full-time jobs. There are many who will support his view as it is a breach of contract, but the IT industry is fraught with human resource problems that it cannot wish away. Moonlighting trends Moonlighting may have become a conversation point in India now, but it has been a trend that’s been on the uptick in the United States since 1996. According to US Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics, multiple jobholding rate has increased to 7.2% in 2018 from 6.8% in 1996. More women in the US hold multiple jobs than men. In the US, employers tend to put in place policies for employees that require disclosures from them to avoid conflict of interest and use of office resources for other jobs. It is time, employers in India recognise the writing on the wall instead of using strong-arm tactics that will further alienate employees. Moonlighting has been around for the longest time and professionals from creative industries have toyed with the idea, but it has become mainstream only after the pandemic. <div type="image" title="Moonlighting has become mainstream only after the pandemic" msid="94231884" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Moonlighting has become mainstream only after the pandemic&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Why is the workforce disengaged? Before vilifying their employees, threatening them or by throwing the employee code at them, industry captains need to smell the coffee and ask themselves if they are in any way responsible for the disengagement that most of the IT workforce feels. Work from home may have enabled more people to explore moonlighting compared but the real cause is not that. At the start of the pandemic, WFH seemed like a very good idea to the bosses of IT companies as it led to enormous savings for them from the September quarter of FY2021. As costs declined, margins jumped and stocks rallied. Not surprisingly, the companies were willing to make this a permanent feature and were looking to repurpose their large tech parks and real estate. Two years down the line, they are taking to Twitter and calling their employees unethical and in doing so have put the spotlight on their “people problem” yet again. The pandemic has only accentuated the problem of disgruntled employees and their cry for better wages. While many of my friends who head human resource functions tell me that moonlighting is a breach of contract, people practices of India’s large IT companies can surely improve from where they are right now. Time on Floor Scratch beneath the surface or better still visit Glassdoor or Quora and search for “Time on Floor” and you will find horrifying stories of how India’s IT companies are run. One employee from a leading IT services company in Bangalore told me that he had to clock a number of hours on his seat while he was on a project, which had to add up to eight hours or more and to achieve his target he curtailed his toilet breaks and even time eating his lunch. In 2017, one tech services major sacked women who had returned from maternity leave and another one in Kolkata stopped providing women employees transport to and from the campus. The “chatter around moonlighting” has only come as the latest pain point for an industry that has found it hard to manage its people or keep them happy, which is perhaps why they rely so heavily on freshers. Moonlighting is a problem that may have surfaced after the pandemic started in 2020 and work-from-home gave people the latitude to explore other avenues of income since they were not sitting in office and saving on time. There is a deeper malaise that tech companies in India need to address upfront as the Big Techs are doing in Silicon Valley. Problem of disgruntled employees is not new From times immemorial, the IT industry in India has been battling high attrition levels and margin pressure due to wage hikes. Given the sheer number of employees that each of these companies have, it is hard to create a sense of ownership, loyalty and engagement. Nearly two decades ago, at a town hall of a large IT company, the much respected founder was asked why the variable pay was not paid out despite the very high growth trajectory of the company – those days some IT companies were growing by 100% year-on-year. The venerated founder told him that the company had its own internal goals, which were not met, therefore, the variable pay was not given. Wages at IT services companies are a lever to manage margins and to keep costs under check, thousands of freshers are hired each year. Any industry that treats employees like labour and not capital are bound to see low engagement and commitment levels. <div type="image" title="Tech CEO salaries zoomed in a decade while fresher salaries remained stable" msid="94231907" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Tech CEO salaries zoomed in a decade while fresher salaries remained stable&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> One only needs to compare the wage growth of senior management with that of freshers to see the disparity. Between 2012 and 2022 the salary of the CEO of Infosys grew from ₹80 lakh to ₹79.75 crore, while that of freshers rose from ₹2.75 lakh to ₹3.6 lakh. The story is no different for the other big IT services players (see table). Town Halls, Quora and Glassdoor are a testimony of this trend. Are employee unions the answer? In a bid to improve the working conditions of the IT and ITES sectors and make these companies adopt better human resource policies, employees came together to form a union in November 2017. The labour department in Karnataka certified the formation of the Karnataka State IT/ITES Employees Union (KITU) under the Trade Union Act 1926 and Karnataka Trade Unions Regulations 1958. The first such trade union was born in the midst of large scale retrenchment by the industry in 2017. The trade unions never took off as few employees were willing to join the union. But it does not take away the problem people have with their employers. One would wonder why would white collar workers want to come together and fight for their rights considering they are already privileged and enjoy “higher salaries” and free lunches? There is a reason as tech workers across the globe are pushing back practices of their employers be it on their business practices or treatment of outspoken employees. Tech workers across Silicon Valley too are looking at organising themselves to push their employers to adopt policies that are more inclusive. An <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/26/tech-unions-explainer/">article by The Washington Post</a> in April 2021 says, “Union advocates say discrimination faced by women and people of colour at the tech companies proves the need for stronger worker protections. Unions can also be a way for workers to have their voices heard about the issues they have with decisions executives are making, such as — which politicians to give money to or whether to sell software to the military and police.” Unlike the industrial age, the white collar unions are today seeking answers to bigger questions on equity, treatment of employees and broader company policies.

SIMPLY PUT: Moonlighting is wrong... but is it really?

After scary <keyword id="8764262" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="covid" source="Orion">Covid</keyword> warnings by almost every agency for the last two years, there’s finally some good news, the World Health Organization said — ‘that an <keyword id="15062230" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="end-is-in-sight-for-Covid" source="Orion">end is in sight for Covid</keyword>. It’s a relief to people wanting to go back to the ‘old ways’ but like many predicted since the pandemic, a lot that has changed will stay on. The pandemic created billionaires out of two <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/gautam-adani-mukesh-ambani-account-for-59-of-indias-top-10-billionaires-wealth/articleshow/94348058.cms">teenagers</a>, who banked on the people wanting to order groceries online. Why didn’t I think of it? <div type="image" title="The pandemic created billionaires out of two teenagers in grocery business" msid="94388134" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The pandemic created billionaires out of two teenagers in grocery business&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> What has changed, though, is a lot more people have stopped wearing masks as public health experts suggest that COVID-19 has<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/covid-is-endemic-but-its-not-time-yet-to-take-off-that-mask/articleshow/94085484.cms"> become</a> endemic in India. <div type="image" title="People have stopped wearing mask in public places" msid="94388315" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;People have stopped wearing mask in public places&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> But looking beyond the obvious, here are some things which won’t end even after COVID does. Revenge shopping and tourism Revenge shopping continues to remain strong 30 months after India entered its first nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. According to a Business Insider India report, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/online-festival-sales-likely-to-be-28-higher-than-pre-covid-levels-at-11-8-billion-report/articleshow/94076810.cms">online festival sales that Amazon, Flipkart and other retailers are running could touch nearly $12 billion</a> – an increase of 28% over pre-pandemic levels. Apparently, people have enough money on their hands and don’t know of better ways to spend it. People like WFH – and so does the PM The pandemic has made work from home-ers out of everyone. Now, that people have gotten used to working while lying down and chopping vegetables during Zoom calls — they don’t wanna go back. Companies are, however, trying to drag them and it’s gonna be a slow process. Three out of four companies however are considering going hybrid – but India Inc remains divided on the aspect. One thing is for certain, though – WFH is here to stay, even if companies continue to crack down on moonlighting. And it’s got the blessings of PM Modi himself who said it’s a good idea to bring more women into the workforce. Rich get richer, and they hate the poor people moonlighting Thanks to the many stimulus packages, the rich got richer across the world — creating pandemic billionaires like India’s own Gautam Adani — who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/gautam-adani-mukesh-ambani-account-for-59-of-indias-top-10-billionaires-wealth/articleshow/94348058.cms">added ₹1,612 crore to his wealth every day in the last year</a>. The pandemic was tougher on daily wagers and depleted the savings of many lower middle class and middle class people too. Their situation won’t change soon and neither will the gap between the proletariat and bourgeoisie. <div type="image" title="Migrant labourers during first wave of COVID" height="900" width="1200" msid="94388736" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Migrant labourers during first wave of COVID&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Psst psst – there were also pandemic salary cuts – some were re-instated and some weren’t. The inflation however grew at a sharp place forcing people to take up side hustles and more. And no, no, the rich don’t like it when their employees moonlighting to make some more. Rishad Premji recently <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/information-tech/wipro-fires-300-staff-members-found-to-be-moonlighting-for-competitors/articleshow/94349603.cms">fired</a> 300 employees who were found doing second jobs after slugging it out 9-5 for Wipro. Children lose 2 trillion hours of in-person schooling – and immunity What about the kids? Staying indoors for two years – was trying for parents and kids alike. It’s not just the play time that the kids lost. They lost two precious years of learning too, especially poorer kids who couldn’t get online. A UNICEF<a href="https://data.unicef.org/covid-19-and-children/"> report</a> states that globally, 2 trillion hours of in-person schooling were lost. Another<a href="https://healtheducationresources.unesco.org/library/documents/hidden-impact-covid-19-childrens-education"> </a>UNESCO <a href="https://healtheducationresources.unesco.org/library/documents/hidden-impact-covid-19-childrens-education">report</a> says that the learning levels of children is lower as nearly 1 in 3 parents said they couldn’t support their child’s learning. And they will take a long time to catch up. <div type="image" title="Children lose 2 trillion hours of in-person schooling – and immunity" height="900" width="1200" msid="94388905" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Children lose 2 trillion hours of in-person schooling &amp;#8211; and immunity&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The kids are also weaker health-wise according to experts – especially the kids below 10 years of age. They had spent their immunity building years as they stayed safe indoors, according to a<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8087417/"> study</a>. Heart ailments and diabetes cases skyrocket in India After playing mind games, COVID is also affecting our hearts. The infection has kicked a lot of people into early diabetes and they also face an increased risk of heart ailments, says a <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj.o1838">study</a>. The health issues that it has caused the millions it affected, not including those still suffering from long COVID effects – will also stay on. Demanding movie goers are here to say Where did people get entertainment during the pandemic? Most governments in fact sent messages asking people to ‘stay home and Netflix’. They did, and OTT subscriptions soared. As they did so, they got used to layered stories in web series, subtle allegories and more. Now used to the ‘new-age entertainment’, they don’t want to go back to song and dance routine ‘basic’ movies and want something good enough to pull ‘em off their TVs and tabs. According to analyst reports and trade figures, 15 out of 20 Bollywood movies released in the first half of 2022 have tanked. So much so that producers are confused and Bhushan Kumar of T-Series <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-62145780">said</a> there’s confusion among producers and they don’t know what will and will not work. People want large scale entertainment like RRR, but with a twist. These demanding audiences are not going to go away soon either. <div type="image" title="People want large scale entertainment like RRR, but with a twist" msid="94389873" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;People want large scale entertainment like RRR, but with a twist&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Smaller weddings If people don’t want to step out to a theater without a good reason, they aren’t too keen on inviting unwanted people either. There has been a rush of weddings this year – but because of guest list restrictions and many people not keen on traveling out of town — the Big Fat Indian weddings are smaller. A few millennials and GenZ have caught on this trend too and some prefer it that way. Your dad can’t force you to invite the damad of your mom’s tauji’s cousin sister anymore. Condom sales halve, but where are the pandemic babies? Lack of socializing during COVID lockdowns killed half the sales of condom makers, according to the government’s response to an RTI query recently. While experts feared this would lead to a baby boom, birth rates in India’s financial capital Mumbai<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/no-baby-boom-mumbai-birth-rate-fell-in-2021/articleshow/92323729.cms"> fell</a> in 2021. Whether it was due to COVID worries or strong pull-out game, either way, experts’ fears did not come true. Here’s hoping that won’t change soon either. Inflation skyrockets – and central banks are struggling to control it Inflation has skyrocketed around the world for multiple reasons – the US flooded the markets with an unprecedented amount of dollars, exporting its inflation all over the world. The supply chain issues worsened the availability of products, while consumers went on a revenue shopping spree post-COVID. This demand and supply imbalance further increased prices – and now<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/race-for-rate-hikes-heres-how-much-central-banks-have-hiked-interest-rates-in-2022/slidelist/94344108.cms"> central banks all over the world are hiking interest rates</a> to bring inflation under control. That means the cheap home loan party might be over – and it won’t go back soon either. <div type="image" title="Inflation has skyrocketed around the world" msid="94389450" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Inflation has skyrocketed around the world&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Supply chain shocks become the norm Supply chain shocks have become the norm in the post-COVID world. China, the factory of the world, has continued with its stringent “Zero COVID” policy and that has hampered plenty of industries around the world. <div type="image" title="Car makers like Mahindra are asking their customers to wait for as long as 16 months for cars like XUV 700" msid="94389477" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Car makers like Mahindra are asking their customers to wait for as long as 16 months for cars like XUV 700&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The semiconductor chip shortage is the most glaring example, and it has not only affected the electronics industry, but also automobiles – some car makers like Mahindra are asking their customers to wait for as long as 16 months for cars like XUV 700. What is not going to change for you when COVID ends? Here’s hoping your love for getting news online won’t change either!

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SIMPLY PUT: Moonlighting is wrong... but is it really?

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