Why Great ‘Number Twos’ Rarely Become ‘Number One’
Great deputies keep large organisations running, absorbing complexity and preserving institutional memory. Yet when the CEO seat opens, boards often choose a candidate with a more strategic, outward‑facing profile, sometimes an outsider. The paradox is that the very operational indispensability that makes a Number Two valuable also signals a lack of future‑oriented visibility. Consequently, many high‑performing second‑in‑commands remain in place while a different leader is promoted to define the next phase.
Aarti Kapoor to Head People & Organisation Ops for Region International, at Sandoz
Sandoz, the global generic and biosimilar medicines maker, has appointed Aarti A. Kapoor as head of People & Organisation Operations for its International region. Kapoor arrives from McDonald’s, where she served as director of global HR operations and service delivery....
Tribunal Restores Salary Rights for BSNL Employee
The Central Administrative Tribunal ordered Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to continue paying full salary to a junior telecom officer until his retirement, overturning the company’s 2019 decision to force his retirement on grounds of mental illness. The employee, hired...
Microland Gets Vithal Acharya as CHRO
Vithal Acharya has been appointed chief human resources officer of Microland, the AI‑first tech‑infrastructure services firm. He joins after a stint as partner at Stanton Chase India and a career spanning senior HR roles at HCL Technologies, GE, Sterlite Power,...
Kavita Singh Moves From UB to Thermax Group as Group CHRO
Kavita Singh leaves United Breweries after more than five years to become group chief human resources officer at Thermax Group. Her career includes CHRO roles at Hindustan Zinc and senior HR positions at A.P. Moller‑Maersk across multiple regions. Singh is...
SYSTRA India Appoints Renu Bohra as CHRO
SYSTRA India has appointed Renu Bohra as its new chief human resources officer, succeeding a two‑year stint as CHRO at NBC Bearings. Bohra arrives with more than three decades of HR leadership across heavy‑industry, logistics and engineering firms, including senior roles...
Fleetx.io Has Promoted Gargi Rajan to VP-HR
Fleetx.io announced the promotion of Gargi Rajan to Vice President‑Human Resources. Rajan, who joined the AI‑driven fleet and logistics platform in April 2025 as Head of HR, brings over 15 years of experience across technology, manufacturing, and e‑commerce firms. Her career includes...
300 Employees at Tata Motors Opt for VRS
Tata Motors launched a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) in April, the first since its 2025 split of passenger and commercial vehicle units. The offer targeted about 750 permanent staff aged 40‑55 and ran from April 10‑30, providing compensation based on tenure,...
Microsoft’s First Voluntary Exit Plan, 8000+ Eligible
Microsoft has introduced its first U.S. voluntary retirement program, targeting employees whose age and tenure sum to 70 or more. Roughly 8,750 staff members—about 7% of the U.S. workforce—are eligible. The offer includes up to 39 weeks of pay for...
The Mentor Nobody Officially Called a Mentor
Recent HR commentary highlights that the most influential mentors often lack formal titles. Executives like Vinod Rai, Raja Varadarajan, and Sujiv Nair credit housekeeping staff, junior peers, and family members for pivotal leadership lessons. These informal mentors taught listening, empathy,...
Arunachal Pradesh Raises DA and DR to 60%
The Arunachal Pradesh government approved a 2 percent increase in dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR), raising the rate from 58 percent to 60 percent of basic pay and pension. The change, effective retroactively from 1 January 2026, will benefit more than 69,000 state...
ReBIT Gets Deep P as Head of Talent Acquisition
Deep P has been appointed head of talent acquisition at ReBIT, the Reserve Bank of India’s wholly‑owned technology subsidiary. He joins after more than two decades of recruiting experience across IT, BFSI, ITeS and retail sectors, most recently serving as...
Match Group Slows Hiring as Company Pushes AI-Focused Workforce Strategy
Match Group announced it will slow hiring to reallocate resources toward building an AI‑native workforce. CFO Steven Bailey said the focus will be on employee training, internal AI tools, and technology upgrades rather than expanding headcount. The company posted Q1...
Rajeev Singh Rejoins Yokohama ATG as CHRO
Yokohama ATG announced the appointment of Rajeev Singh as its chief human resources officer, effective April 20, 2026. Based in Mumbai, Singh will head the company’s global HR function across India, the United States and Europe. He returns to the...
Delhi HC Upholds Compulsory Retirement of IAF Civilian Employee in Forgery Case
The Delhi High Court upheld the compulsory retirement of a civilian carpenter employed by the Indian Air Force after he was found guilty of forging union receipt books and collecting subscription fees without authorization. The bench rejected the employee’s claim...
SBI Staff Federation Intensifies Protest over Outsourcing
The All India State Bank of India Staff Federation has called a two‑day strike, now backed by multiple bank unions and pensioner groups, over alleged outsourcing of permanent roles, a freeze on messenger recruitment, and safety concerns. The union argues...
United Breweries Appoints Parul Malhotra as CHRO
United Breweries appointed Parul Malhotra as chief human resources officer, effective July 1 2026, to lead its people agenda. Malhotra brings over 20 years of HR experience, most recently as senior director HR for adidas in Southeast Asia. The board approved the appointment, highlighting...
Cognizant Gets Anubhav Pradhan as VP-L&D
Cognizant has appointed Anubhav Pradhan as Vice President of Learning & Development. Pradhan joins from Cognite after a distinguished career at Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and HSBC, where he led large‑scale training programs for thousands of tech professionals. At Infosys...
Greaves Cotton Appoints Vinay Pawar as Group Chief Technology Officer
Greaves Cotton, the Indian diversified engineering firm, has appointed Vinay Pawar as its Group Chief Technology Officer. Pawar arrives after a 30‑year career spanning ABB, Bosch, Continental, KPIT and most recently Minda Instruments, where he led R&D and the cockpit...
HR Perspectives by P. Dwarakanath: “Build Talent for Continuity, Buy for Disruption”
P. Dwarakanath, drawing on four decades of experience, urges firms to hire for “slope” – the ability to learn and stay relevant over the next three‑to‑five years – rather than for current skills. He recommends a roughly 70‑30 split between internal...
Gauhati HC Bars Recovery of Excess Gratuity From Retired Employee
The Gauhati High Court ruled that excess gratuity paid to a retired forest officer cannot be reclaimed without proof of fraud or misrepresentation. The officer received roughly $10,000 in total gratuity, including a $1,855 addition after a retrospective promotion, while...
Delhivery Grants Fresh ESOPs to Employees
Delhivery has approved a fresh grant of 100,360 employee stock options under its 2012 ESOP scheme, effective May 1. Each option carries an exercise price of Rs 1 (≈$0.012) per share and will convert into fully paid‑up equity. The vesting schedule splits...
Coal India Rolls Out Standardised Dress Code Across Workforce
Coal India has instituted a mandatory uniform policy that takes effect this month, requiring every employee to own at least three uniform sets per year. Male staff must wear a grey formal shirt with black trousers, while female staff can...
Maruti Suzuki Promotes Saurabh Kumar to VP-HR
Maruti Suzuki India has promoted Saurabh Kumar to Vice President of Human Resources after more than a decade with the company. Kumar’s career spans nearly 20 years in HR and industrial relations, including senior roles at Tata Motors and Hindalco....
MetricStream Appoints Neha Srivastava as SVP-HR
MetricStream announced the appointment of Neha Srivastava as senior vice president of Human Resources, tasked with leading the global HR function. Srivastava will drive talent strategy, organisational effectiveness and culture as the GRC software firm scales its operations. She brings...
Careerfishing: The Résumé Inflation Game Nobody Wins
Careerfishing describes the growing practice of résumé inflation in India’s hyper‑competitive job market, where candidates stretch roles, projects and skills to match increasingly fictional job descriptions. The article argues that exaggerated postings and keyword‑driven hiring platforms create a feedback loop...
Executive Courage: The Leadership Virtue No One Wants to Practise
Executive courage is the ability to make tough, often unpopular decisions despite risk, uncertainty, or opposition. The concept, rooted in Aristotle’s virtue ethics, has become a corporate buzzword but is frequently reduced to low‑risk posturing. For HR leaders, courage is...
V-Marc India Appoints Meena Sharma as Corporate Head-HR & Admin
V‑Marc India has appointed Meena Sharma as corporate head of human resources and administration. Sharma brings over two decades of HR leadership, including roles at Samtel Avionics, Uniparts India, UKB Electronics, and a virtual CHRO stint at Mentech General Trading....
Estée Lauder Expands Global Job Cuts, Restructuring Plan
Estée Lauder has expanded its restructuring plan, targeting 9,000‑10,000 job cuts—about 17.5% of its 57,000‑strong workforce—to generate roughly $1.2 billion in annual savings. The cuts focus on department‑store roles as the company pivots to digital channels like Ulta, Sephora, Amazon and...
SIS Plans Massive Hiring Push, Eyes 5 Lakh Workforce by 2030
SIS, a leading private security firm, plans to expand its workforce from 3.46 lakh to 5 lakh employees by 2030, adding roughly 1.54 lakh new hires. The growth targets heightened demand in healthcare, manufacturing, construction and e‑commerce logistics. Simplified Indian labour codes...
Berkshire Shareholders Reject Workforce Oversight Proposal, Back Leadership and Pay Plans
Berkshire Hathaway shareholders voted down a proposal demanding a detailed workforce‑oversight report, reaffirming the conglomerate’s decentralized management of its roughly 387,000 employees across 200 subsidiaries. The board, including Warren Buffett and Greg Abel, was fully re‑elected, and investors approved the...
Ciklum India Has Appointed Snigdha Joglekar as Head of HR
Ciklum India, a global digital solutions provider, has appointed Snijdha Joglekar as its new head of human resources. Joglekar arrives after a six‑year tenure at EXL and a 15‑year career that includes senior HR roles at Calsoft, Parkar Consulting, SELA...
Bharat Intelligence’s Phala Platform Helps Tribals Get Work
Bharat Intelligence’s Phala platform has formalised labour for 2,000 tribal workers across 10,000 acres of vineyards in Nashik, delivering an average net daily income of roughly $6. The agritech startup, co‑owned by over 22,500 farmers, matches skilled workers with time‑sensitive...
HRForecast 2026: Sustainable Performance Will Become the Competitive Differentiator – Somraj Roy, CHRO, KEC International
CHRO Somraj Roy of KEC International predicts that by 2026 sustainable performance—not sheer productivity—will become the primary competitive edge. He cites four emerging signals: responsible AI that builds employee trust, reverse mentoring becoming a leadership norm, inclusion shifting from representation...
The Problem Isn’t HR. It’s How Managers Are Measured
The article argues that India’s chronic over‑work culture stems not from HR policies but from how managers are measured. Managers are judged on raw output and speed, prompting them to demand constant availability and reward visibility over quality. This creates...
Andrew Bosworth to Employees: No Opting Out of New Tracking Tool
Meta has deployed the Model Capability Initiative (MCI), a monitoring system that records keystrokes, mouse movements, clicks and screen activity on company‑issued laptops for its U.S. workforce. Employees are told they cannot opt out, though the tool is limited to...
PNG Boom in Gujarat Drives Massive Hiring
Gas distribution firms in Gujarat are rapidly expanding piped natural gas (PNG) connections as LPG shortages and new mandates push consumers toward PNG. Gujarat Gas has more than doubled its contractor base to 2,450, while Adani Total Gas added roughly...
Malaysia to Boost Jobs and Worker Protection with PACE
Malaysia has unveiled the Progressive Acceleration for Capability and Employment (PACE), a RM 710 million (~$156 million) package aimed at bolstering job stability and future‑ready skills. The plan directs RM 580 million (~$128 million) to expand the Employment Insurance System, RM 100 million (~$22 million) to fund training and...
HC Rejects ESI Evasion Attempt Through ‘Allowance’ Classification
India’s High Court ruled that firms cannot dodge Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) coverage by classifying workers as “allowances” to stay below the 10‑employee threshold. The case involved Diamond Silk Khadi Society, which claimed only nine employees, but records showed 13...
STL Appoints Anshu Mordia as CHRO
Sterlite Technologies (STL) has named Anshu Mordia as its chief human resources officer, adding a veteran with nearly two decades of HR leadership to its executive team. Mordia will oversee talent strategy, employee engagement and culture building as STL sharpens...
FACE Prep Promotes Arumugam Vadivelu to VP-TA
FACE Prep, the Indian job‑preparation platform, has promoted Arumugam Vadivelu to Vice President of Talent Acquisition. Vadivelu joined the company in 2016 as a HR manager and progressed through roles in talent acquisition, HR operations, and strategy, most recently serving...
Prakriti Singh Promoted to Director-HR, Bernstein
Bernstein has promoted Prakriti R. Singh to Director of Human Resources, elevating her from Vice President after less than two years in the role. Singh, an economics graduate from Ramjas College and MBA holder from Symbiosis, spent a decade at...
What You Didn’t Learn at Work, but Matters Most
The article argues that many of the most valuable workplace skills develop outside formal training, emerging from personal life experiences. It cites three HR leaders—Atul Mathur, who learned deep listening from his father; Shaleen Manik, who stresses adapting personal resilience...
JPMorgan Harassment Case Under Legal Review
A former JPMorgan Chase employee, Chirayu Rana, has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against senior executive Lorna Hajdini, alleging coercion while they worked on the leveraged finance team. JPMorgan’s internal investigation, led by HR and legal, concluded there was no evidence and...
Railway Board Clarifies Promotion Eligibility for Medically De-Categorised Staff
The Railway Board issued a clarification on 23 April 2026 on how service tenure is counted for promotions from Group C to Group B for staff medically de‑categorised but retained in the same department. The directive states that time served...
Indian Railways Denies Job Cut Reports, Calls Change Routine Realignment
Indian Railways has dismissed reports of mass layoffs, emphasizing that its workforce size remains unchanged. The railway is conducting a routine realignment that shifts employees from less critical functions to areas with higher safety and operational demand. Thousands of new...
Cognizant Unveils ‘Project Leap’, Signals Workforce Reset
Consulting firm Cognizant announced Project Leap, a $230‑$320 million restructuring program focused on workforce changes and AI capabilities. Around $200‑$270 million of the budget is earmarked for severance, with an additional $30‑$50 million for other personnel costs through December. The initiative aims to...
KPMG Cuts 4% of US Advisory Workforce Amid Demand Slowdown
KPMG announced a 4% reduction in its U.S. advisory workforce, cutting roughly 400 jobs out of more than 10,000 staff. The layoffs target roles tied to regulatory risk, customer operations, and financial‑services consulting, while senior partners remain untouched. The firm...
Aprecomm Appoints Sapna Gopinath Kizhekkeveettil as Global CHRO
AI‑focused startup Aprecomm has appointed Sapna Gopinath Kizhekkeveettil as its global chief human resources officer. Kizhekkeveettil, who has more than 23 years of HR leadership experience, will steer the company’s global people strategy, talent transformation, and organisational development as it...
Case-in-Point: Career Break vs Current Readiness
Spectrum Marketing Solutions, a 600‑person digital agency in India, faces a hiring dilemma for a senior Marketing Manager role in its fast‑growing e‑commerce practice. The two finalists are Anjali Rao, a former employee returning from an 18‑month maternity break who...