HR News: 30 Dec, 2022

1.

UAE extends Golden Visa to attract more employees

To get more workers, the United Arab Emirates is extending the Golden Visa programme. This includes scientists, researchers, and skilled professionals. Senior scholars and clerics, elite specialists in industry and the fourth industrial revolution, specialists in the field of health and education are also included in the list of workers. The UAE Golden Visa is a long-term residence visa that enables foreign talents to live, work, or study in the UAE while enjoying exclusive benefits. These benefits include a long-term renewable residence visa valid for five or ten years; the benefit of not needing a sponsor; the ability to stay outside the UAE for longer than the uaeusual period of six months in order to maintain their residence visa as valid; the ability to sponsor their family members, including spouses and children regardless of their ages; and the capacity to sponsor an unlimited number of people. 

2.

PharmEasy suffers a 270-crore loss -result of increased employee benefits

The company recently withdrew its initial public offering (IPO) due to "market conditions and strategic considerations" and witnessed a huge loss for FY22. PharmEasy, an online pharmacy and health tech platform, reported a net loss of Rs 3,992 crore for FY22, which is comparatively more than the Rs 641 crore loss incurred in FY21 (2020-2021). These numbers are according to the RoC filings by the company with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The company also recently withdrew its initial public offering (IPO) due to “market conditions and strategic considerations” and witnessed a huge loss for FY22 as its employee benefit expenses surged more than five times during the year. The regulatory filings showed that employee benefits costs surged to Rs 1,459 crore in FY22, which almost accounted for nearly a sixth of the company’s expenses, from Rs 270 crore in FY21. However, excluding exceptional items or one-time losses on impairment of goodwill, the e-pharmacy unicorn reported a loss of Rs 2,731 crore during the year, as per the filings.

 

3.

Micron to cut 10% of workforce as demand for computer chips slumps.

Amid the adverse industry conditions, Micron, a US-based semiconductor firm has announced to lay off 10 per cent of its workforce by 2023. The choice was made in response to Micron’s first-quarter FY23 performance. As per a report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company said that, “On December 21, 2022, we announced a restructure plan in response to challenging industry conditions.” It further highlights the company’s restructure plans and the reduction in the headcount by 10 per cent over calendar year 2023 through a combination of voluntary attrition and personnel reductions. Reportedly, Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO, Micron, also sited that too much supply of memory and lack of demand, as reasons for the company keeping inventory and losing power over pricing.