HR News: 04 Sep, 2017

1.

Uber starts tapping faculty from B-schools

It has hired Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei as SVP for leadership and strategy function.

Uber is well known for hiring graduates from top B-schools for various management roles. Now the cab aggregator has taken a step further and started approaching B-school faculty for various management roles.
It has hired Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei as SVP for leadership and strategy function. She will report to Travis Kalanick, CEO, Uber.
Frances has served at Harvard Business School as senior associate dean for executive education. She is well recognised for her contribution in organisational transformation.
Frances will join the company as full time employee and will work with Liane Hornsey, CHRO, Uber. She will help Liane and advise her in areas like company strategy and planning, organisational transformation and design, and management and leadership. Being a lady with proven skills and qualities, she will coach and help in architecting Uber’s cultural philosophy.

2.

Volkswagen offers early retirement proposal

The move is a part of its initiative Transform 2025+, which aims at cutting the workforce and improving productivity.

Volkswagen has decided to cut costs by offering its employees a contract for early retirement. According to a statement given by the auto maker, about 9,300 employees have agreed to opt for the contract.
The company’s human resources board member Karlheiz Blessing released a statement that said the company had a goal of reaching 9,300 contracts signed for early retirement. As per the company, the employees wishing for early retirement can sign the contract until July 31. 
This early retirement offer is mainly targeted at employees born between 1955 and 1960. 
However, the company said that it is not forcing its employees to sign the contract for early retirement. The initiative aims at benefitting both the parties.

3.

Schneider Electric signs MoU with engineering colleges to address skill gap

Schneider will provide lab equipment, and help build world class infrastructure in areas of electricity, automation, energy management and renewable energy and its associated areas.

Schneider Electric India has signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Kalinga Institute of Technology (KIIT) and CV Raman College of Engineering in Bhubaneswar to address the skill gap in the country. The global specialist in energy and automation will train and develop a pool of highly skilled workforce for electricity, automation and energy management markets.

With the coming of digital technologies, the skill set required in the workforce for electricity, automation and energy management markets has changed drastically. According to a report by Mckinsey & Company, in the next three to four years, it is expected that the IT sector workforce will become redundant and will require re-skilling. The consulting firm suggests investing in building capabilities and re-skilling the workforce to stay relevant.
Schneider Electric has already helped both the engineering colleges to set up Industry Incubation Centres under its guidance. Schneider will provide industrial training to the college students in areas of electricity, automation and energy management. This will help in building a pool of highly qualified, relevant and industry-ready workforce.