GENDER IMBALANCE AT BOARD LEVEL ?

20 Sep 2010

GENDER IMBALANCE AT BOARD LEVEL ?

As reported in Times of India ( Sept.18,2010 ), a study, conducted jointly by Standard Chartered Bank and Cranfield School of Management re: representation of women on Boards of Directors of Companies, found following figures :

·                      Canada……………………………..15%

·                      USA…………………………………..14.5 %

·                      UK………………………………………12.2 %

·                       Hong Kong………………………….8.9 %

·                      Australia…………………………….8.3 %

·                      India…………………………………..5.3 %

For India, the study tells us that women held 59 out of a total of 1112 directorships in the BSE-100 group.

What the study does not reveal is :

" How many of these 59 women were a mother / sister / daughter / wife of the promoters ?

Co-author of the report Aparna Banerji says :

Corporate India clearly has some way to go in addressing gender imbalance at “ board level ".

But that would not happen till Corporate HR Managers start hiring many more girls at the “ entry level ” - and to begin with, in the HR function itself !

Hemen  Parekh

A 126 YEAR WAIT ?

16 sep 2010

A 126 YEAR WAIT ?

The rate at which India’s State Employment Exchanges are finding jobs for those who have registered, it will take 126 year to find jobs for all of them!  Here are details:

Millions of unemployed are not even bothering to “register”.

I wonder if one of these Exchanges will agree to register my, yet-to-be-born, great, great, great, great, grand child !

Hemen   Parekh

NO JOB TAKERS?

15 Sep 2010

NO JOB TAKERS?

Problem of Ashmount Primary School ( London ) is :

It cannot find enough local Math teachers even at 40 pounds per hour.

Because UK produced only 5980 Math graduates in 2009.

Tom Hooper ( Bright Spark Education ) came to rescue of Ash mount and " found " them 100 tale-marketing Math teachers at 12 pounds per hour !

From a Call-Center like remote-teaching service in India, which turned out 690,000 Maths graduates in 2009.

It is another matter that the Indian Call-Center pays them only 7 pounds per hour on a full time basis.

Ash mount assistant head teacher, Rebecca Stacy says, “The kids really enjoy it ".

Would you say, a win-win situation?

May be. But not for the 689,900 graduates who are still jobless!

They have joined the ranks of 38 + million unemployed who have registered with State Employment Exchanges of India.

Hemen  Parekh

IN SOURCING / OUT SOURCING ?

Definitions keep changing depending upon ” who “ is addressing “ whom “ !

President Barack Obama told Indian Parliamentarians ( Nov.08,2010 ) :

“ We signed deals for India to buy $ 10 billion worth of American defense equipment – which will create 50,000 jobs in USA “

In a joint press conference with President Obama, Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh of India declared :

“ When American companies outsource to India, we are not stealing American jobs ; we are actually creating jobs in America by making American Companies cost-competitive and enabling them to sell their goods around the world “.

A day earlier, Prime Minister David Cameron ( UK ) said :

“ So , as we act to bring net migration to Britain down to the tens of thousands, I want this message to be heard loud and clear the whole world over :

 In every classroom or laboratory where a bright idea is born, every boardroom where a business case is put together , if you’ve got an idea, if you want to create jobs, and if you have the ambition to build a world beating company here in the UK, we want you ; we’ll make it easy for you “.

Hemen  Parekh        

POOR MR.SEIDENBERG !

9 Sep 2010

POOR MR.SEIDENBERG !

He got only $ 820 for every employee he laid off !

Absolutely unfair compared to Robert Iger who earned $ 6346 for every worker he sacked.

Here are the details, as reported in DNA Money/Sept. 02, 2010:

If good old U.S. of A. wants to come out of double-dip recession, it should start rewarding their CEOs  $ 10,000 for every job they ” created ” .

It is about time Wall Street / CEOs / Shareholders started thinking long terms.

With regards

HEMEN PAREKH

UNITED STATES OF UNEMPLOYED ?

8 Sep 2010

UNITED STATES OF UNEMPLOYED ?

The naming convention for newborns in the tiny village of Gunalli ( Karnataka / India ) is

·           Male child………………..GyanAppa

·           Female child…………… GyanAvva

But what if you 2 male children ?

Simple.

Call the elder one ………………Dodda  GyanAppa

Call the younger…………………Chikka  GyanAppa

That forces you to avoid a third male child !

Parents around the world have started calling their grown-up

Male child……………………………Laid-off  Larry

Female child……………………… Jobless   Jane

If all the unemployed of the world were to gather in one place, that would become the largest nation on the earth-

“  United States of Unemployed  “

With regards

HEMEN  PAREKH

WHAT IS YOUR PRIORITY ? CHARITY OR JOBS ?

4 Sep 2010

WHAT IS YOUR PRIORITY ? CHARITY OR JOBS ?

At the Business Leadership Award function in Mumbai ( Sept o2, 2010 ), India’s richest industrialist Mukesh Ambani was asked how much of his huge wealth does he plan to give away to charity ( ala Bill Gates , Warren Buffet etc. ).

Here is how Mukesh replied (approximately):

“India’s problems are different from those of developed world. India is adding 12 / 15 million people to its workforce every year. Rather than give away to charities, India’s rich should use that wealth to create jobs.

12 / 15 million jobs, year-after-year, for next 25 years .”

No wonder, unemployed jobseekers in India are cheering Mukesh!

They don’t want charity. They want jobs.

And by inducting Mukesh in its Board, World Economic Forum seems to endorse his views.

With regards

HEMEN  PAREKH