1.
Amid struggle for cash and growth, Snapdeal decides to cut
staff
Operations managers across the country have been sent e-mails
to “right size” their respective teams.
In
its struggle to cut down losses and raise more funds to stay afloat, Snapdeal
is looking at cutting its third largest cost—employee cost—by rightsizing its
workforce. Reports say, the latest cut down at Snapdeal could see 1000
employees losing their jobs. Apparently, operations managers across the country
have been sent e-mails to “right size” their respective teams.
The
cut down looks like an important move for the company at a time when the last
recorded loss was about 2,096 crore rupees. Employee expense being Snapdeal’s
third largest expense after marketing and advertising, rose to a whopping 148
per cent from the last fiscal year.
Jasper
Infotech owns FreeCharge and Vulcan Express in addition to Snapdeal. Vulcan
Express, which is Snapdeal’s logistics arm, is expected to trim down the most
as its contract workers may be reduced over the next two months.
Besides,
the decision to reduce its workforce also comes on the back of the company’s
decision to shut down Shopo, the online consumer-to-consumer platform for small
sellers that it relaunched in 2015, and in which chief executive Kunal Bahl had
said the company would invest $100 million.
2.
11 out-of-the-box
employee benefits that people love
Employee benefits can’t always go by the rule book. It has to
have a wider appeal like an ad-campaign.
In an endeavour to
retain talent, companies have been on their toes to offer new and innovative
incentives. However, in their efforts to outpace each other, many once-hot
perquisites have become passé. Still, every now and then one does come along
that manages to delight people—because of its ingenuity, uniqueness or
life-changing potential. To that end, Glassdoor identified 20 companies
offering benefits that really appeal to people. Here are some of the
interesting ones, in no particular order:
IKEA: Ikea
offers up to four months of paid parental leave to both part-time and full-time
employees, who have at least a year’s experience at the company, regardless of
whether they work at a retail store or the corporate headquarters.
Reebok: Reebok
encourages employees to reach their personal fitness goals by providing an
on-site gym with CrossFit classes.
Bain & Company: The
Best Place to Work in 2017, it holds an annual two-day, global Bain World
Cup soccer tournament open to all employees. Last year’s event was in
Brussels. The 2017 tournament will be held in Los Angeles.
Goldman Sachs: Goldman
offers coverage for gender reassignment surgery, a benefit the company has
offered since 2008.
Facebook: It
provides healthcare coverage and free housing for interns.
Scripps Health: It
cares about the wellbeing of its employees’ furry family members, offering pet
health insurance for cats and dogs.
Starbucks: It
provides full tuition reimbursement for its employees, covering an online
bachelor’s degree programme through Arizona State University.
American Express: Its
parental leave policy offers up to five months of fully-paid leave for both
mothers and fathers. Birthing mothers generally receive an additional six to
eight weeks under salary continuation for medical leave. Parents are also given
access to a 24-hour lactation consultant, and mothers travelling for business
can ship their breast milk home for free.
Deloitte: Deloitte
offers two sabbatical programmes: an unpaid one-month sabbatical that can be
taken for any reason, and a three- to six-month sabbatical that can be availed
to pursue personal or professional growth opportunities with 40 per cent pay.
Microsoft: It
offers an annual $800 ‘StayFit’ reimbursement programme to help cover the cost
of gym memberships and fitness programmes.
Amazon: It
offers two programmes for new parents: Leave Share, allows employees to share
paid leave with their partner if the partner’s company does not offer paid
leave. Ramp Back, gives new moms more control over easing back into work. All
perks are available for corporate, customer-service and fulfilment-centre
employees.
3.
Automation rules: Bank of America opens 3
employee-free branches
These
branches allow use of ATMs and video conferences with employees at other
branches.
Automation is
undoubtedly sweeping away a few jobs from across sectors, and taking this a
step ahead, the banking sector is especially making good use of automation and
AI. ICICI bank recently deployed software robotics to automate, regulate and
perform tasks of high density and volume that need to be carried out over
multiple applications, while increasing productivity.
Now, Bank of America
Corp has reportedly opened three completely automated branches over the past
month, where customers can use ATMs and have video conferences with employees
at other branches.
While most US banks
are cutting costs and reducing their overall branch count, Bank of America is
getting technology to overcome the challenge without actually cutting down the
number of branches extensively. It is even looking at opening new branches in
select markets.
However, the new
branches are typically smaller, employ more technology, and are aimed at
selling mortgages, credit cards and auto loans rather than simple transactions,
such as cashing checks.
Apparently, there is one
completely automated branch in Minneapolis and one in Denver, both of which are
relatively new markets for the bank's consumer business. Saving space and
infrastructure costs to the company, they are about a quarter of the size of a
typical branch
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