This story is from April 18, 2020

Despite lockdown, some firms keep hiring momentum

It’s not just gloom and doom in these times of coronavirus. Amid the buzz about layoffs and salary cuts, many companies, big and small, are not only pledging to not lay off employees but are also going ahead with their hiring plans.
Despite lockdown, some firms keep hiring momentum
HYDERABAD: It’s not just gloom and doom in these times of coronavirus. Amid the buzz about layoffs and salary cuts, many companies, big and small, are not only pledging to not lay off employees but are also going ahead with their hiring plans.
With face-to-face interactions out of question due to the lockdown, these companies are making the most of tech tools such as Blue Jeans, Zoom, Slack and Webex to recruit, onboard and even induct new recruits.

While Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Friday said it will not be laying off staff and will honour the 40,000 job offers made to freshers, e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart, chipmakers Micron and Intel, Pegasystems, OPPO, financial services players such as Arcesium and Blackhawk Network and digital transformation players such as Brillio are all bullish about India hiring plans.
Intel India’s country head Nivruti Rai confirmed they were continuing with hiring but refused to divulge details. Micron India MD Anand Ramamoorthy said the company would honour all the 150 offers it made in December and continues to hire selectively for critical functions.
“We have onboarded 50 employees in the last two weeks, all virtually, and expect to double this to about 100 hires by mid May,” Ramamoorthy said. Micron, which has around 1,200 employees in India, including 1,100 in Hyderabad, also gave a Covid-19 allowance of Rs 25,000 each to 70% of its employees below a certain salary level.
A spokesperson for Amazon, which employs over 62,000 people in India, said the company is continuing to hire for all open jobs across the country and is constantly evaluating hiring needs to ensure it is dedicating resources efficiently and effectively.

Hiring on as usual despite lockdown: Pegasystems MD
A Flipkart spokesperson said: “We have hired additional workforce in our supply chain and are seeking to hire for our last mile delivery. We will continue to support delivery of essentials while also creating relevant job opportunities”
Suman Reddy Eadunuri, MD-India, Pegasystems, which has about 1,600 employees across Hyderabad and Bengaluru, said the company has been continuously hiring through the lockdown.
“There is no change in our hiring pattern from last year...Usually we hire about 20% new employees and the pace is same this year. We’ve honoured all the offers already made...,” Reddy said.
Ranvijay Lamba, MD, Arcesium India, said: “Our recruitment and onboarding of new employees has continued as usual, albeit virtually. We have also been flexible with our internship dates for college students, with the projects moving online and no change to the stipend...”
At Brillio, which has an India headcount of 1,800, its chief operating and delivery officer Aftab Ullah said out of 400 openings globally across levels and technology skill areas, 60% are in India. Meanwhile, branded payments player Blackhawk Network CTO Harel Kodesh said it continues to expand its India presence.
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