Lay-offs, No raise! Is this all technical correction or signs of fall-out

STORY # 1: Slowdown takes toll as online retailers like Flipkart, Jabong hand out pink slips

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-05-15/news/39281927_1_flipkart-pink-slips-retailers

Nearly 250 employees, or about one-tenth of Flipkart's workforce, are being shown the door, according to at least three people with direct knowledge of the development. At Jabong, too, a similar number of employees have been sacked, but the company employs fewer than 1,000 staff.

The retrenchment in India's online retail sector is a consequence of the drive by companies for acquisition of customers at a breakneck pace. Gross margins at many online retailers are in the negative territory.

While bottom lines have been negative, the Indian online retail segment is growing fast, with revenues this year estimated to rise to Rs 10,000 crore from Rs 6,500 crore, according to the Internet and Mobile Association of India.

Inkfruit has asked about 80 employees to put in their papers, according to industry sources. The merger between apparel portals FashionAndYou andUrbanTouch last year led to the exit of 200 employees of UrbanTouch, according to multiple individuals with direct knowledge of the development.

STORY # 2: NetApp lays off employees in India

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIBG/2013/05/18&PageLabel=25&EntityId=Ar02404&ViewMode=HTML

Bangalore: Computer storage and data management company NetApp is said to be laying off 300 people in India as part of a global workforce reduction programme. 

    Sunnyvale-headquartered, $6-billion NetApp, which competes with companies like EMC, Seagate, Western Digital and Brocade, has its largest R&D centre outside the US in Bangalore, employing over 2,000 people.

STORY # 3: Infosys unlikely to give salary hike to IT staff

TIDINGS THAT DON’T BODE WELL FOR BANGALORE’S INFOTECH SECTOR

Shilpa Phadnis TNN 

Bangalore: Infosys’s IT business is unlikely once again to give a salary increase to employees in the traditional April-May timeframe. However,the BPO division is expected to announce a single-digit hike in June for lower level employees. 

BPO revenues grew a healthy 17.8% in 2012-13, compared to IT services that grew sub-6%, which perhaps is the reason why the former is being treated differently. The BPO division has about 25,000 of Infosys’s 1.5 lakh employees. Infosys said it doesn’t comment on rumours and speculation.