“The headcount reductions have begun and will continue into 2009… the company also plans to forgo 2009 salary increases in most of the company’s markets,” Unisys Corporation said in a statement.

Unisys said that it is exploring a wide range of cost-reduction options and that actions currently underway are expected to reduce its annual cost structure by more than USD 225 million.

The cost-reduction actions –led by new Unisys Chairman and CEO Ed Coleman — are part of an overall programme to simplify the company’s business structure, concentrate its resources more effectively and drive improved market success and profitability, Unisys added.

The initial cost-reduction actions are focused on reducing selling, general and administrative (SGandA) expenses and controlling or reducing labor costs across the board.

“The company plans to reduce its spending on third-party expenses, facility consolidations, head-count reductions and a suspension of company matching contributions to the US 401(k) plan, which had been costing about USD 50 million annually,” the statement added.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/241/20081223/1265/tbs-unisys-to-axe-1-300-jobs-suspends-sa.html

With 35.5 percent votes, Wi-Fi has beaten Sky+, Sat Navs, iPods and Blackberries to win the poll conducted by a leading gadget magazine.

In the survey by ‘Stuff’ magazine, the readers were asked to choose the greatest technological innovation of the past ten years.

More than a third voted for Wireless Internet.

SKY+, the personal video recorders (PVR) by Sky, at the second place, has emerged as the best known and best loved PVR.

“It really has given power to the consumer to allow them to watch what they want when they want,” the Telegraph quoted Fevzi Turkalp, who runs the Gadget Detective website, as saying.

Sat Nav, provided in almost every car now, stood at the third place, while energy-efficient Hybrid Cars have marked fourth place in the list.

Apple’s iPod has taken the fifth place in the list.

Simon Osborne-Walker, the publisher of Stuff magazine, said that he was confident readers had managed to sum up the best of the last decade.

“It’s been an amazing ten years for technology. Gadgets have gone from being big black boxes under the television to lightweight, portable devices,” he said.

Stuff’s list of the best technological innovation of last decade:

1. Wireless Internet – 35.5 percent

2. Sky+ – 16.9 percent

3. Sat Nav – 16.6 percent

4. Hybrid Cars – 8.9 percent

5. iPod – 5.6 percent

6. Chip and Pin – 5.6 percent

7. Nintendo Wii – 3.9 percent

8. Skype – 1.7 percent

9. Oyster Card – 1.5 percent

10. Blackberry – 1.1 percent

Other – 2.6 percent

http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20081223/393/ttc-wifi-tops-best-technological-innovat.html

The cuts announced by Chief Executive Vikram Pandit on Monday affect 15 percent of Citigroup’s workforce, and are in addition to 23,000 jobs eliminated between January and September.

Citigroup plans to slash expenses by as much as 20 percent, and spend a total of $50 billion to $52 billion in 2009. That compares with $61.9 billion over the last four quarters.

The cuts will be global, affecting many regions and business lines, including the retail and investment banks, a person close to the matter said. About one-half will come from layoffs and attrition, and the rest from the sale of units, such as the German retail banking business.

Pandit became Citigroup’s chief executive last December, and has faced much criticism from investors and others for failing to implement a workable turnaround plan. The New York-based bank has lost $20.3 billion in the last year, and some analysts do not expect it to make money before 2010.

“As the economy continues to weaken they will have greater credit losses,” said Michael Holland, founder of money manager Holland & Co in New York. “Cuts will lessen the losses, but they in no way guarantee profitability.”

Pandit told employees in a memo that Citigroup has spent the last year “getting fit,” and projects a “difficult” 2009 for clients and customers.

Citigroup’s latest cuts are the most by any U.S. company since the global credit crisis began last year. They are also the second most ever, trailing the 60,000 that International Business Machines Corp <IBM> announced in 1993, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

The latest cuts would leave Citigroup with about 300,000 employees, down 20 percent from the end of 2007 and about the same number it had at the end of 2005. People at the bank said the cuts should be made by the first couple of months of 2009.

STOCK UNDER PRESSURE

Shares of Citigroup, a component of the Dow Jones industrial average, fell 19 cents, or 2 percent, to $9.33 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Last week, Citigroup stock fell into the single digits for the first time since Sanford “Sandy” Weill created the bank in 1998 from the merger of Travelers Group Inc and Citicorp.

Well over 100,000 jobs have been lost at the world’s largest banks and brokerages since the global credit crisis began. In the last month, Goldman Sachs Group Inc began cutting 3,200 jobs, and Morgan Stanley said it will cut 10 percent of jobs in the unit housing its investment bank.

Citigroup said it has a “very strong” capital position, and according to the person close to the matter has no need to further cut its dividend, which has already been reduced twice this year.

Still, many investors remain wary. Through Friday, the bank’s stock was down 68 percent this year, leaving Citigroup with a market value of $51.9 billion.

That’s barely twice the $25 billion of capital it received from the U.S. Treasury Department’s bank bailout plan, and down from more than $270 billion in late 2006.

“We have a bull market in fear,” said Henry Asher, president of Northstar Group Inc in New York.

Citigroup also said its board will make decisions on executive compensation after Dec. 31.

That prompted criticism from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who urged the bank to follow Goldman’s decision on Sunday not to pay bonuses to top executives this year.

“It seems only fair that top executives should shoulder their fair share of these difficult economic times,” Cuomo said. “It would send exactly the wrong message for Citigroup’s top brass to collect bonuses while investors, taxpayers and now Citigroup’s own employees suffer.”

DIVERSIFICATION DOESN’T HELP

Citigroup was built principally by Weill, who ceded control to Pandit’s predecessor, Charles Prince, in 2003. Analysts have said Citigroup never invested enough in technology or to make the bank’s various parts work well together.

Its geographic diversity, including operations in more than 100 countries, is now also working against it as customers in such countries as Brazil, India and Mexico find it harder to stay current on payments.

At the same time, Citigroup’s ability to grow at home is relatively limited. Last month, Wells Fargo & Co derailed Citigroup’s attempt to buy Wachovia Corp and its $418.8 billion in deposits.

The bank has tried to downplay reports of dissension among directors regarding the performance of Pandit and the bank’s chairman, Sir Win Bischoff. Last week, lead director Richard Parsons said the board supported management’s plans.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/137/20081118/736/tnl-citigroup-to-slash-52-000-jobs-sees.html

As an employer, I may see resumes from thousands of job seekers. Not only am I not able to help all of them realize their dreams, I have no desire or motivation to do so. Employers are rarely in the business of helping you realize your dreams. If anything, they are far more interested in their own dreams. Employers are looking for people who will help their company make more money than those people will cost the company. Otherwise, there is no business motivation to hire anyone at all, right?

Ideal job candidates will:

* Have experience doing the actual job that is available.
* Have a history of being a reliable, competent employee
* Be loyal to the new employer
* Get along well with current employees of the company
* Be trained or educated at a level needed by the current position being filled
* Have demonstrated the ability to make positive contributions to the company’s profitability
* Be able to learn new tasks quickly
* Have a good work ethic
* Be able to work with reasonably little supervision
* Be conscientious about preserving or improving the level of quality the company currently enjoys.
* Be a real asset to the company.

Have you read your resume recently from the prospective of your future employer? Does your resume display any of the traits of the job candidate your future employer would want? If all you have accomplished on your resume is to list your former jobs, your awards and your education, you probably have addressed none of the needs of the recruiter, human resources staff or manager who will be reading your resume.

You may need to highlight a few choice accomplishments at your most recent job. For example, did you make a good suggestion that saved the company time and/or money? Did you do anything better, faster or more efficiently than prior people in your position? Most employees can point to several things along those lines without giving away any trade secrets.

If you have never had a paid position, you may need to mention the organizational skills you used on one of your volunteer positions or even a group project at school. Almost everyone can find some kind of evidence in their past of some of the items listed above. This is an area where a professional resume writer or employment counselor can be particularly valuable.

Also, it may help you to talk it over with a family member or a friend. Once you realize how much you have to offer, find ways to get that information to your employer. You have 5 opportunities to do this: 1. your resume, 2. your cover letter, 3. letters of recommendation 4. the interview, and your follow-up thank you letter. Your task is to make a list of all of your positive qualities that will interest your future employer and then decide which of the five methods would be best to use to convey that information.

Finding all of your fine qualities will not only help you construct a more informative resume package, it will give you greater confidence as you look for a job. Job hunting is always easier when you believe in yourself first!

http://www.jobopeningsblog.com/jobs/2006/09/what_do_employe.html

Ending a job is similar to ending a marriage or other long-term relationship in that there are always two sides to the story. Employers know they are only hearing your side, so you need to be careful how you describe the departure. Leaving a job is different in one important way: your next partner or spouse will probably not call your previous partner for a reference. Your prospective employer probably will.

How can your handling of your departure from a job be the most beneficial to your career?

Here are some rules and/or suggestions that may be helpful:

1. Even though you think your former employer mistreated you and was wrong to fire you, you cannot “bad-mouth” your former employer while talking to your new or prospective employer. If you do, what your new employer is likely to hear is this: “Look out! This person is a trouble-maker!” or “I now know what this person will say about us when they leave.” or “I need to call this person’s former boss to get their side of the story.” As unjust as it may seem to you, your honest opinion of your former employer is not a good topic of conversation for a job interview.
2. As you prepare to leave your old job, try to keep the departure as impersonal and professional as you possibly can. Storming off in a fit of anger will do nothing to help your career, even if it feels wonderful at the moment. Assisting your replacement, although potentially painful, will paint you as the “true professional” who puts the welfare of the company above personal feelings and grudges. It will also give you something positive to tell a new employer about an otherwise unflattering story.
3. Do not lie about why you were fired or why you decided to leave. However, you do not need to share all of the intimate and unpleasant details. If you can talk (briefly) about how you think you should have handled the problem differently, at least that will let your new employer know that you are mature enough to learn from your mistakes. If your situation is especially sensitive or complicated, try to get some counseling from an employment professional or even from an attorney who is familiar with employment disputes.

Having said all of this, you should recognize that there are always exceptions. If lives or property or fortunes are at risk, you need to follow your conscience and report illegal or unethical behavior of your former employer. There may also be times when a loud angry statement (as in the movie “Norma Rae”) is the only right thing to do. You will need to consider all ethical, legal and moral dilemmas in each situation. The rules and guidelines listed above will apply in most common situations when you leave an employer in a way that is less than mutual consent.

http://www.jobopeningsblog.com/jobs/2006/10/rules_for_leavi.html

Here is my best list of super employee qualities:

*
Able to work independently with little supervision
*
Superior written and verbal communication skills
*
Excellent work ethic
*
Strong decision making skills
*
Knowledge of all office equipment and all PC software
*
Advanced research abilities
*
Advanced analytical abilities
*
Impeccable ethical standards
*
Flawless credit record
*
Perfect health
*
The ability to travel anywhere any time and without notice
*
The ability to work late any day without advanced notice
*
No hint of any kind of drugs (prescription or otherwise) in the past present of future
*
Strong leadership skills
*
Experience doing the exact job in question
*
Well-read and well versed in business and current events
*
Actively athletic
*
Well-dressed
*
Professional
*
Good-looking
*
Flawless employment record
*
Flawless educational record
*
Willing to work on commission or for a promise of future profits
*
Excited about your business with the ability to contribute profitable ideas

Does that about cover it, Mr. or Ms. Recruiter? I know the list is an exageration and I know employers can’t even mention some of the items on the list. However, does it change the fact that employers tend to have expectations that can easily be called an “impossible dream.”

Has anyone ever met any of these super employees? Of course not, because they don’t exist. OK, if there is no such person or if the job description is so unrealistic that no one could possibly fit the profile, why do employers continue to ask for the impossible?

As an employer, should you persist in asking for the impossible? As a job seeker, how should you handle an employer who seems to have such unrealistic expectation?

http://www.jobopeningsblog.com/jobs/2008/02/super-employees.html

1. You only need one job. What this means is that the total number of jobs available in the overall market is nothing more than something to fill the pages of newspapers unable to find anything better to print. You don’t need 10,000 jobs or 20,000 jobs. Those numbers are just headlines, statistics that are used to sell newspapers. All you need to concern yourself with is the single position that is right for you.
2. Landing the perfect job is not luck; it’s preparation. Even in a tight job market, the people who get the good jobs are generally those who have prepared themselves by writing a good resume, learning about the company before the interview, and doing what they can to acquire the skills needed for a particular situation. Those who think they can improve their odds by littering the landscape with their resumes are generally disappointed with the results.
3. You can only be “scammed” if you allow it to happen. Since the beginning of time, con artists have known something that their victims apparently do not know: It is very difficult to con or scam someone unless they are greedy and lazy. If you want to get rich without working for it, you are the perfect target. The con artists are counting on that. So when you see job offers that promise a $100,000 annual salary with no experience or one that promises $10,000 in the first week in your spare time, you can now say that you have been warned. If you pay them the $39 (or whatever the amount is) for the secret to their astonishing success, you will have been conned. Pretty basic, but you would be amazed by the number of people who fall for that con every day. The really sad thing is that the numbers go up as the economy goes down. Save the $39 and use it for a good haircut on the day before your job interview.

http://www.jobopeningsblog.com/jobs/2008/06/jobs-openings-a.html

When the college president changed his methods to match the importance of the goal, everything else changed, too. He went in person to plead his case to one of the board members, and the NCAA did make an extraordinary exception that allowed Marshall University to break the NCAA rules and play freshman for the first time in history. More extraordinary events followed that first major breakthrough.

If you are in the midst of your first serious job hunting experience, fresh out of high school, college, or graduate school, consider the importance of the job you are about to accept. This first job can be life-changing, because it is the start of a career path that will probably determine the course of the rest of your professional life. Considering its importance, how many of you are simply mailing out resumes and sitting at home or in your dorm room or apartment anxiously awaiting your acceptance letters? How many of you have already received rejection letters? Do you really believe that this is how the system works? If so, we need to talk about what you should be doing.

Think about how you have met the last several people you have dated or the people who have become your best friends over the years. My guess is that you did not meet a single one by sending them your resume or even a letter. You probably met them through other friends, by attending events you both enjoyed or in class. Right?

If you translate these methods used for meeting friends into methods for meeting potential employers, they become these activities you should embrace – as soon as possible:

· PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: Become involved in professional organizations related to your major or career interest either on or off campus. Your level of involvement should include volunteering for some kind of work within the organization, however small, since that allows you to become someone the other professionals will know personally.

· DEPARTMENTAL MEETINGS: Try not to miss a single departmental picnic, lecture, or meeting. While attending the event, find a reason to talk with as many faculty and staff members as you can manage without making a pest of yourself. If you have read their publications as you should, intelligent questions or observations about their work can be a way to start the conversation. If you haven’t read their research, you can at least mention something you know about a class they have taught.

· NETWORKING: Stay in touch with people you have worked with on internships, summer jobs, volunteer projects or former classes. Your ability to find the “right job” is highly correlated with the number of people you have helping you look.

· CAREER FAIRS: Although many of these are similar to meeting a potential dating partner in a bar or “meat market”, a career fair can be a good way to learn which employers are actively seeking recent graduates. They are also a way to introduce yourself to a recruiter on a more personal level. It is important to dress appropriately for the occasion.

· PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCES: Attend professional conferences and bring your business cards and even your resume. Preparation for the conference should include reading articles written by some of the faculty or other professionals who will be presenting papers at the conference. This will give you something to discuss when you go up to introduce yourself after the lecture.

· RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIPS: If you know a faculty member who is doing some research that interests you and ask if you can help with the research. If the paper is accepted for presentation at a professional conference, you may find that the faculty (especially if he or she is already tenured) will be willing to share the stage with you. After something like that, your networking power will explode. You should know that opportunities to co-author research papers will be extremely rare for undergraduates. However, you have little to lose by looking into the possibility.

· PARENTS AND FAMILY FRIENDS: Last, but perhaps not least, accepting introductions from family friends or even parents could open up some interesting connections you might not have known were available to you. If you are being presented to these people as an equal, rather than as someone’s child, you might get your foot into a door that would otherwise be closed.

You may have noticed that the mailing of countless resumes was not on the list. That was not an oversight. It’s not on the list because resume mailing rarely works. Sure, you may get some job offers or some commission only “opportunities” if you do that, but they will rarely be the offers you want. Just as you would not find a good friend through the mail, you are not likely to find a good employer through the mail.

http://www.jobopeningsblog.com/jobs/2008/09/how-job-hunting.html

Chairman Naresh Goyal told a news conference in Mumbai that reinstating the sacked employees was his personal decision.

“I apologise for all the agony you went through,” Goyal said. “The management will have to understand sometimes in a family there are disagreements but the father of the family decides.”

Earlier, Jet Airways said it would lay off 1,100 staff in the next few days on top of the 800 flight attendants already sacked this week as part of efforts to cope with slowing demand, high fuel prices and the global credit crunch.

The job losses and protests have struck in an industry at the heart of India’s economic modernisation, with millions of middle-class Indians taking to the skies and carriers employing thousands of young men and women.

The airlines asked the government to bail them out but so far it has not acted.

The employees, who were mostly on contract or probation, found support from local party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which local media said was in talks with Jet officials for employees from the state to be reinstated.

MORE LAYOFFS

Labour laws that make it hard to lay off employees have led to a policy of hiring more contract workers in India, which has caused protests at the Indian units of Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co in recent years.

Last month, sacked employees beat to death the India head of an Italian industrial manufacturing company near Delhi.

The Indian aviation industry, which had grown at an average annual pace of more than 25 percent in the past few years in a booming economy, is forecast to post combined losses of nearly $2 billion in the year to March 2009.

Jet Airways, which has said it expects to break even in the full year to March 2010, has struggled to raise money, with the turbulent market delaying a planned $400 million rights issue as well as a stake sale by founder Goyal.

Jet, which on Monday announced a code-sharing alliance with No. 2 carrier Kingfisher Airlines to cut costs, has put its international expansion plans on hold and trimmed capacity.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/137/20081017/736/tnl-jet-airways-reinstates-sacked-employ.html

For most home-based business owners, that’s plenty of incentive to manage their time effectively. But how can you make the most of each work day? Start with these 10 tips:
Plan tomorrow today. Even the most successful and conscientious small business owners need help handling all they need to accomplish. Planning tomorrow’s schedule today is a great way to get ahead. At the end of each workday, jot down a to-do list of things you want to accomplish tomorrow, in order of priority. That will get you prepared for tomorrow, and you’ll avoid wasting time deciding or worrying about what should come next.

Get your priorities straight. Prioritize your tasks. All your activities can be broken down into categories in order of importance. If you need to be networking and finding new business leads, set a time frame for that task. Then set aside time for growing and expanding current business. Then check off all the other tasks that need to be completed by the end of the day.
Maximize downtime. Keep a notepad or tape recorder with you whenever you’re away from the office. Jot down or record good ideas whenever they occur to you. Your cell phone also is a great tool. Call yourself and remind yourself of what you need to get done. If you’re traveling, bring your laptop and cell phone with you to the airport, and catch up on email and calls while you wait.

Emulate the early bird. Set your alarm clock for an hour before the rest of the family is due to get up. Get up and get an early start crossing off to-do items on your checklist.
Take breaks. Set aside time for breaks during the day to recharge and reenergize. It’s amazing how much something as simple as a half-hour walk or lunch (not at your desk!) can do to clear your mind and help you refocus on your goals.

Strike a balance. The key to time management is balancing your activities so that your life is not all work and no play. You have to make time to do the things necessary to keep your business growing, but don’t do it at the expense of the things you need to do to keep yourself growing.

Pay attention to the little things. It’s the little things that can trip you up and waste time. For example, using dial-up for your computer instead of a high-speed connection to the Internet costs you time. Connecting a fax machine to your main phone line every time you need to send or receive a fax costs you time, as does going back and forth to a printer set up in a different room. Each of these items may only take a few seconds here or there, but in aggregate they can add up and cost you big chunks of your day.

Take out the trash. Throw away everything you don’t need as soon as it lands in your mailbox. This will keep junk email and snail mail from piling up and becoming a major distraction.

Stay focused. Yes, the laundry is piling up, and the dishwasher needs to be emptied. But the truth is there will always be things that you could be doing instead of working. But to run a successful home-based business, many times you’ll just have to ignore these distractions and stay focused on the task at hand.

Separate church and state. To manage your time working at home efficiently, you have to delegate what hours are for what. Explain to family — especially children — that you aren’t choosing work over spending time with them, but that you have to work during work hours. Once the workday is over, focus entirely on your family, and don’t let business intrude on your time with them.

http://www.home-based-business-blog.blogspot.com/