Hyundai Motor seeks to end seniority-based pay to curb rising labour costs

Hyundai Motor seeks to end seniority-based pay to curb rising labour costs


In a bid to curb rising domestic labour costs, Hyundai Motor is seeking to base wages on merit not seniority in an overhaul of a decades-old salary system that puts the South Korean firm on a collision course with its activist union.
South Korea is the world's fastest ageing major economy, and high labour costs are eroding its manufacturers' competitive edge as economic growth slows.
If Hyundai Motor, one of South Korea's biggest employers, succeeds in revamping its pay structure, other companies are likely to follow suit. That will accelerate a move away from a wage system still prevalent in South Korea and which is a legacy of years of heady economic growth and a culture that reveres seniority.
"Our wages have reached a critical limit as a manufacturing company," Hyundai Chief Executive Yoon Gap-han said in a letter to workers proposing the change, which was seen by Reuters. "I am concerned that Hyundai may face a situation where it is impossible to produce vehicles at domestic factories anymore."
"Hyundai Motor is the flagship company of South Korea's second largest conglomerate, and one of its most influential. Its long-serving workers in Korea earn nearly twice as much as junior workers doing similar work", a company spokesman said, and overall, they are paid more than their colleagues elsewhere, including in the United States.
The restructuring proposal would not reduce current wages or result in immediate cost savings, the company said, declining to say how much savings it was targeting. Experts, however, said it would control future wage costs as workers age and the company's growth slows. The average age of Hyundai's unionised workers in South Korea is 45.5 years.
"But it will take an enormous time to reach an agreement," a Hyundai Motor executive said, declining to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.
Hyundai Motor employs 65,000 people in South Korea, most of them union members.
While more Korean companies are basing pay on merit, the majority still use a seniority based wage structure or a combination of both.

Among Hyundai's main Asian rivals, Japan's Nissan Motor introduced a performance-based pay system under CEO Carlos Ghosn, who has been at the helm since 1999.

Gold price rises on jewellers buying, global cues; silver falls Last Updated: April 18, 2015

Gold price rises on jewellers buying, global cues; silver falls Last Updated: April 18, 2015


Gold prices recovered by Rs 85 to trade at Rs 27,075 per 10 gram at the bullion market on buying by jewellers and taking positive cues from the overseas markets.
Silver remained under pressure and declined by Rs 100 to Rs 36,800 per kg.
Traders said besides fresh buying by jewellers to meet wedding season demand, a firm global trend mainly contributed to the recovery in gold prices.
Gold in New York, which normally sets price trend in the domestic market, rose by 0.46 per cent to $1,203.30 an ounce in Friday's trade.
In the national capital, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity recovered by Rs 85 each to Rs 27,075 and Rs 26,925 per 10 gm, respectively. It had lost Rs 90 on Friday.
Sovereign, however, continued to be traded at last level of Rs 23,700 per piece of eight gram in scattered deals.

On the other hand, silver ready shed another Rs 100 at Rs 36,800 per kg, while weekly-based delivery inched up by Rs 15 to Rs 36,455 per kg.

Reliance to restart all fuel pump outlets by March 2016

Reliance to restart all fuel pump outlets by March 2016


Reliance Industries plans to restart its entire 1,400 retail fuel pump outlets in fiscal year ending March 2016, a report on the company website shows.

The stations were closed in 2008 when global oil prices surged towards $150 a barrel and the government's subsidy to state fuel retailers knocked privately owned retailers out of the market.
Over 320 fuel outlets have already been restarted, a presentation on the website showed.

Reliance took a significant share away from the state companies in 2006.

The top three state refiners, Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp, between them sell nearly all of petrol and diesel consumed annually in India.

Emerging countries blast US for not backing IMF reform

Emerging countries blast US for not backing IMF reform

Washington — The emerging economies of the G-24 group sharply criticised the United States on Thursday for holding up what they see as critical reforms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Speaking at the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank, the group said the failure after five years of the US Congress to ratify the reforms was undermining the effectiveness and legitimacy of the global crisis lender.

“We reiterate our deep disappointment with the lack of progress in implementing the IMF quota and governance reforms agreed to in 2010 and strongly urge the US to complete ratification,” they said.

“This remains an impediment to IMF credibility, legitimacy and effectiveness and has considerably delayed forward-looking commitments,” they added, pointing to a second set of reforms that had been expected this year.

The 2010 reforms, a doubling of IMF funding and a reallocation of voting power to boost China and other up-and-coming economic powers, were originally propelled by Washington, and the President Barack Obama’s White House has repeatedly endorsed them.

But the US Congress has refused to sign off on the deal, with some legislators not wanting to contribute more money to the IMF and others concerned about any erosion to the dominant US role at the fund.

$13.6b loss hits GE

$13.6b loss hits GE

New  York — The industrial heart of General Electric, the company’s new focus, posted lower revenue and earnings in the first quarter amid an enormous overall loss resulting from its recently-announced sale of most of the assets in its finance subsidiary.

Net income from the part of GE that the company will retain after the sale fell five per cent to $3.1 billion, the company said on Friday. Adjusted earnings per share fell six per cent to 31¢, a penny better than analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research expected, on average.

Revenue fell 12 per cent to $29.4 billion, below the $34.4 billion analysts expected.

GE chief executive officer Jeff Immelt said in a statement that the global economic environment remained “volatile” but that investments in large infrastructure projects being made around the world provided opportunities for growth.

GE announced last week it would sell most of the assets in its GE Capital subsidiary, the latest and most dramatic move by the company to transform itself into a more focused industrial conglomerate that makes large, complicated equipment for other businesses.

“This is the plan for the future of GE as a fast-growth, high-tech industrial company,” Immelt said in a statement on Friday.

Costs and charges associated with the sale totalling $14.1 billion pushed the company to an overall loss of $13.57 billion in the quarter, down from a profit of $3 billion during last year’s first quarter. On a per-share basis, the company lost $1.35.

G20 warns of volatility risk

G20 warns of volatility risk

Washington — The Group of 20 leading economies on Friday warned of a heightened risk of financial volatility as the monetary policies of major central banks begin to go their separate ways.

“In an environment of diverging monetary policy settings and rising financial market volatility, policy settings should be carefully calibrated and clearly communicated to minimise negative spillovers,” G20 finance ministers and central bankers said in a draft communique.

“We will continue to monitor financial market volatility and take necessary actions,” the draft communique said.
The language echoed other recent G20 statements, and was evidence of continued concern over potential financial market and economic disruptions as the US Federal Reserve moves toward an interest rate hike, even as the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan keep the monetary spigots wide open.

Afghanistan suicide blast kills 33, injures over 100

Afghanistan suicide blast kills 33, injures over 100



(Reuters) - A suicide bomb blast in Afghanistan's eastern city of Jalalabad killed 33 people and injured more than 100 outside a bank where government workers collect salaries, the city's police chief said on Saturday.

Police were investigating whether there was a second explosion after people rushed to the scene to help, the police chief, Fazel Ahmad Sherzad, told a news conference. 

"It was a suicide attack," Sherzad said, adding that police had yet to determine if the attacker had worn the explosives or had placed them in a car. "It is early to say what kind of suicide bomber."

Taliban insurgents denied responsibility, although they have claimed earlier killings in a wave of attacks coinciding with the sharp drawdown of foreign troops.

"It was an evil act. We strongly condemn it," the Islamist militants' spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told Reuters. 
For the first time since the hardline Islamist Taliban movement was ousted from power in 2001, Afghan forces are fighting with little support from NATO troops.


NATO, which at its peak had 130,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, has only a few thousand left, involved mainly in training and special operations.

Upstart investor raids three from big banks

Upstart investor raids three from big banks


A fast-growing asset management firm has landed three big hires from large banks in recent weeks.

Paul Germain, the global head of prime brokerage at Credit Suisse, Tomer Seifan, the head of institutional solutions in the New York office of BNP Paribas, and Guillaume Auvray, an executive specialized in systematic trading and derivatives at Morgan Stanley, are set to join New York-based Stone Ridge Asset Management, according to a person familiar with the situation. 

The men's new roles were unclear, but the hires appear to be a coup for Stone Ridge, a New York-based manager of unusual mutual fund strategies for more than 100 institutional investors.


The firm was launched in late 2012 by Ross Stevens, a member of the investment committee at large hedge fund firm Magnetar Capital, with Deutsche Bank alum Erick Goralski and RBC Capital Markets veteran Robert Gutmann as co-founders. The firm starting investing in 2013 and has grown quickly to run $3.6 billion as of Dec. 31

Marco Rubio, the 2016 presidential campaign's $40 million man

Marco Rubio, the 2016 presidential campaign's $40 million man



less than a week after announcing his 2016 campaign for president, Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida doesn't need to worry about money. 

It's as good as in the bank. 

BramanBraman, a former Jeb Bush supporter who is now one of Rubio's highest-silhouette donors."Marco Rubio will have the resources necessary to run a first-class campaign, that's already been determined," said billionaire Florida auto dealer Norman Braman, a former Jeb Bush supporter who is now one of Rub highest-silhouette donors. 


Annandale Capital founder George Seay, who is hosting a Rubio fundraiser with the moneyed Dallas elite at his 7,000-square-foot, seven-bath home on Tuesday, said: "Marco has had zero trouble raising money."

China fines Alibaba $129,000 for pricing violations

China fines Alibaba $129,000 for pricing violations




SHANGHAI: China's e-commerce giant, Alibaba Group, has been fined 800,000 yuan ($129,000) by the price bureau in eastern Zhejiang province for violations by third-party sellers during promotions on its e-commerce platforms. 

Since Alibaba turned "Singles' Day", a November 11 Chinese response to Valentine's Day, into an online shopping festival in 2009, the event has grown to similar proportions as Cyber Monday and Black Friday in the United States. 

Sales of more than $9 billion were achieved at last year's event, and the company has copyrighted the phrase "Double 11", a reference to the date (11/11), which in turn, refers to the status of single people. 

"The company has been fined 500,000 yuan ($81,000) for matters related to Singles' Day pricing by third-party sellers on our Tmall marketplace in 2013 and 2014 and 300,000 yuan($48,000) for pricing in other promotions in 2013 and 2015," Alibaba Group said in a statement on Friday. .. 
While pricing is handled by third parties, not directly by Alibaba, the group said, it would nevertheless reinforce pricing rules and regulations with sellers to protect consumers. 


The 27,000 vendors featured on Alibaba's Singles' Day shopping sites hope to boost sales and gain customers, but some have complained that discounts and cut-throat corporate rivalry undercut the benefits. 

Greece hunts for cash to stay afloat

Greece hunts for cash to stay afloat


Greece will need to tap all the remaining cash reserves across its public sector-a total of 2 billion euros-to pay civil service wages and pensions at the end of the month, according to finance ministry officials.

Barring a last-ditch deal with its creditors, that is likely to leave no money to repay the International Monetary Fund almost 1 billion euros due in the first half of May, although Greece has said it wants to honour its debt obligations. Athens' scramble for basic funds shows how extreme the financial constraints on Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras have become as he tries to convince sceptical foreign creditors to extend his country new financial aid.
Greece's finance ministry denied that it would need to tap remaining cash reserves to meet salary payments, without providing any figures.


"News agencies' reports that refer to the state's cash reserves are groundless, we categorically deny them," the ministry said in a short statement on Friday.

Pondering if you can retire early? Here's a reality check

Pondering if you can retire early? Here's a reality check

If you're in your late 40s or 50s, you may be wondering if there is a way to retire early. 

Nearly three out of 10 workers expect to retire before they're 65, according the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Unfortunately, many Americans are financially unprepared to retire at all. 

A new survey finds 40 percent of baby boomers have nothing saved for retirement and 21 percent have less than $100,000 saved. 

You don't want to just leave your retirement date to chance. Want to retire before your late 60s? Ramping up your savings is the first critical step. Then consider these three variables that could also impact when you'll be able to retire. 

Your life expectancy

One of the biggest risks to retirement is outliving your money. 

Even if you may think you want to retire early, if you expect to live longer and you're healthy, research shows you're likely to work longer. The later you retire, the less money you will need in your nest egg. 

You can use Living to 100's Life Expectancy Calculator, which incorporates findings from the New England Centenarian Study of centenarians and their families around world, to do your own projections. 

Comcast Deal Collapse Would Kill Other Mergers in Domino Effect

Comcast Deal Collapse Would Kill Other Mergers in Domino Effect



The potential collapse of Comcast Corp.’s merger with Time Warner Cable Inc. wouldn’t just be a setback for those two companies. It would also unwind other pending deals and have a wide-reaching impact on the cable industry.

Staff attorneys at the Justice Department’s antitrust division are nearing a recommendation to block Comcast.’s plan to buy Time Warner Cable and combine the two largest U.S. cable providers, according to people familiar with the matter.


A rejection would be a blow to Comcast, which would have to give up on valuable cable and broadband assets in major U.S. cities including New York and Los Angeles. The $45.2 billion merger proposal is also a way for Philadelphia-based Comcast to fend off competition from phone companies, satellite providers and Web services like Netflix Inc. that have taken hundreds of thousands of its TV subscribers in recent years.

CEO's Big Announcement

Seattle CEO Dan Price cuts own salary by 90% to pay every worker at least $70,000

A chief executive has announced plans to raise the salary of every single employee at his company to at least $70,000 (£47,000) – and will fund it by cutting his own salary by 90 per cent.

Dan Price, the CEO of Seattle-based tech company Gravity Payments, gathered together his 120-strong workforce on Monday to tell them the news, which for some will mean a doubling of their salary.

Seattle was already at the heart of the US debate on the gulf in pay between CEOs and ordinary workers, after the city made the ground-breaking decision to raise the minimum wage to $15 (£10.16) an hour in June.

But Mr Price, 30, has gone one step further, after telling ABC News he thought CEO pay was “way out of whack”.

In order not to bankrupt the business, those on less than $70,000 now will receive a $5,000-per-year pay increase or an immediate minimum of $50,000, whichever is greater.


A spokesperson for the company said the average salary was currently $48,000, and the measure will see pay increase for about 70 members of staff.

China releases women's rights activists after month-long detention

The five were let go after more than a month in detention under a form of conditional release that keeps the investigation open for another year.

Yamaha Launch New Bike In INDIA YZF-R1M

The All New Yamaha YZF-R1M  in India at Rs 29,43,100 











New Delhi: Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt. Ltd launched the YZF-R1M, along with new colour variants of the YZF-R1 in India. The bikes will be available on order.


The YZF-R1M is available in bluish white metallic 2 colour and is priced at Rs 29,43,100 (ex-showroom, Delhi), whereas the YZF-R1 is now available in two new colours - deep purplish blue metallic C and vivid red cocktail 1. The YZF-R1 is priced at Rs 22,34,300 (ex-showroom, Delhi).

The pending Fed rate hike -- portfolio impact?

Move weighs down on markets as investors cut exposure to risky assets during monetary tightening.

The last decade was marked by economic turmoil across the world. The financial crisis of 2007-08 and the eurozone crisis in late-2009 forced central banks around the world to resort to unconventional monetary policy measures to revive their respective economies. The US Federal Reserve embarked on the biggest emergency economic stimulus in history through a three-stage quantitative easing programme that lasted six years (2008-14) and saw the injection of about $3.5 trillion into the US economy. Japan also preferred using QE to revive economic growth. In October 2014, the Bank of Japan raised its QE programme to ¥80 trillion (about $733 billion) each year from ¥50 trillion previously. Faced with a similar set of problems, the eurozone also joined the QE club last month; the European Central Bank started its bond-buying programme worth €1.1 trillion (about $1.2 trillion) spread over the next 18 months to revive economic growth.

Europe shows signs of hope

US economy is losing sparkle; IMF economic outlook may paint sobre picture

Frankfurt — Investors will cast a wary eye on the latest gauges of the United States’ economic health this week, while troubled Europe shows early signs of turning the corner.

As finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 top economies gather in Washington, on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s Spring meeting, they view a subdued global landscape where even the United States’ prospects seem tarnished.

For a change, however, there are reasons for hope in the euro currency bloc, despite still low growth and high unemployment.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will be able to claim an early success in the bank’s fledgling money printing programme with figures on Friday set to confirm that falling prices throughout the 19-country eurozone are beginning to stabilise. Bank lending too is improving.

Debt wish: Most UAE residents use bonus to pay owed money

Dubai: Those lucky enough to receive a company bonus may get excited at the prospect of a bumper pay packet during the “bonus season” in March and April, but the reality is that the majority of people in the UAE are using this extra cash to settle debt or pay bills.

According to a survey for Zurich International Life by YouGov, 71 per cent of UAE residents will receive a company bonus during 2015. However, for 39 per cent of bonus recipients, the primary use of their payment will be to settle debt, with a further 16 per cent using the bonus to pay bills, such as rent or school fees.

Another 13 per cent of respondents said they will leave their bonus in the bank, 11 per cent will invest in property and 10 per cent will invest in a savings scheme, while only seven per cent will spend the majority of their bonus.

LinkedIn to buy Lynda.com

LinkedIn to Buy Lynda.com, an Online Learning Company

 LinkedIn, the professional networking site, is branching out yet again.

The site said on Thursday that it had agreed to buy Lynda.com, an online learning company that teaches career skills, for about $1.5 billion in cash and STOCK.

It is the biggest acquisition by LinkedIn in its 12-year history as it continues to expand beyond its core social network.

In the past, LinkedIn has said that users visit its site most often to update their résumés when they are LOOKING FOR A NEW JOB. The company earns most of its revenue from subscriptions to its premium services and advertising on its site, generating $2.2 billion in sales last year.


But the company has labored to become more than just an online repository for résumés and JOB histories. For instance, in 2012, LinkedIn began soliciting influential business personalities like Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, to write original content for the site

China is going to Censor the INTERNE!!OMG

China Is Said to Use Powerful New Weapon to Censor Internet

 Late last month, China began flooding American websites with a barrage of Internet traffic in an apparent effort to take out services that allow China’s INTERNET users to view websites otherwise blocked in the country.


Initial security reports suggested that China had crippled the services by exploiting its own INTERNET filter — known as the Great Firewall — to redirect overwhelming amounts of traffic to its targets. Now, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Toronto say China did not use the Great Firewall after all, but rather a powerful new weapon that they are calling the Great Cannon.

Flakka - How its made

What's it made of?
Adderall pills on magazineAlex Dodd/flickr

Flakka is made from a compound called alpha-PVP, a chemical cousin of cathinone, the amphetamine-like drug found in bath salts.

Here's the worst part: While the active ingredient in bath salts was officially banned in 2011, its newer relative, alpha-PVP, was not.

That means it is legal in any state without its own ban.

What does it do?
Like cathinone, alpha-PVP is a type of stimulant, colloquially called an “upper.” Uppers are linked with feelings of euphoria, enhanced alertness and wakefulness, and increased movement — all symptoms that are similar to those experienced by people on other drugs like amphetamines or cocaine.

Since flakka is so new, researchers aren't sure exactly how it affects the brain, or how addictive it is.

For now, they can only guess by looking at how its chemical cousins, like cocaine and amphetamines, work. These drugs cause a surge in two chemicals: the feel-good chemical dopamine (responsible for the euphoric sensations) and norepineprhine (which raises heart rate and blood pressure and can make us more alert).

Like cocaine and meth, flakka comes with a comedown, the period when the drug leaves the body and the person is left feeling fatigued or depressed. This sensation often results in users returning to the drug to get rid of the negative comedown feeling, jump-starting a cycle of use that can lead to abuse. Also like cocaine and meth, the drug may alter brain chemistry in a way that makes users require a larger and larger dose to get the same high.

Excessive use has been linked with feelings of extreme anxiety, paranoia, and hallucinations. Like with bath salts, people have also reported dozens of episodes of violent behavior in people on flakka.

At high doses, flakka may also cause the body to reach high temperatures (bath salts have been linked with the same symptom). This excessive temperature can lead to severe physical complications like kidney damage and muscle breakdown.

Flakka is on the rise
Still, flakka use is on the rise.

According to Forbes contributor Robert Glatter, the US Drug Enforcement Administration has seen a nearly 780% increase in the number of reported cases in the last three years. Back in 2010, not a single case of the drug had been reported in the US. Suddenly in 2012 there were 85 cases, and in 2014 there were 670.

Not surprisingly, one of the main reasons for this increase may be the price: flakka can cost as little as $5 a pop according to Dispatch Times, and is easy to buy in bulk.

"The cost is what really alarmed us ... a lot more people can get their hands on it, and that's always a problem," Fort Lauderdale police Sergeant Nick Coffin told Dispatch Times

The new street drug 'flakka'

Everything you need to know about the new street drug 'flakka' — its insane side effects aren't even the worst part

There's a new drug in town called flakka.

While many reports are saying this new designer drug is sweeping the state of Florida, the mind-altering substance has also been popping up in a few other states across the country, including Ohio and Texas.

There, it goes by the name "gravel" because it looks like the colorful gravel pebbles you'd use to decorate the bottom of an aquarium.

Use of the drug, which can be snorted, smoked, injected, and swallowed, has been linked with serious — and sometimes deadly — behavioral problems:

Earlier this week police arrested a man on flakka running naked across an intersection to escape the imaginary people he said were chasing him.
In February, a man on flakka was caught on camera trying to kick in the glass doors of Florida's Fort Lauderdale police headquarters.
And last March, a man on flakka reportedly impaled himself on a metal fence.

If these behaviors remind you of the ones that made headlines a few years ago with the appearance of drugs called "bath salts" — it isn't a coincidence. The two drugs are closely related.

A Million Dollar Job in FlipKart

Flipkart now paying million-dollar salaries to new top hires-

India's biggest online retailer and India Inc toddler Flipkart is paying million dollar-plus salaries along with STOCK OPTIONS worth millions more to a clutch of engineers and a strategy expert it has poached from marquee global firms such as Google and McKinsey as part of its strategy to aggressively build a technology capability that can rival Amazon in the country.

Pre-Order the Apple Watch

Most awaited Apple Watches will be out in few days.. lets pre-order it ...

Apple Watch pre-orders went live on Friday morning, letting people pay for and order the Apple Watch, as well as scheduling try-on appointments.

Apple doesn't want people queuing outside its stores to buy the Watch. Instead, retail chief Angela Ahrendts sent a memo to staff explaining they will only be available online at launch.

As usual with new Apple products, the online store went down before the announcement

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Apple Haters this is for you

Do you know that people hated the first iPod, iPhone, and iPad too...

Okay , Lets get started.

Despite all the hype, the Apple Watch hasn't generated a whole lot of great reviews so far and it goes on sale Friday morning. The general consensus seems to be that the Watch is great but it's not something you need to buy now.

Here is the reason 

First iPod: 

“Clearly Apple is following Sony's lead by integrating consumer electronics devices into its MARKETING STRATEGY, but Apple lacks the richness of Sony's product offering. And introducing new consumer products right now is risky, especially if they cannot be priced attractively...” (TECHNOLOGY Business Research, October 2001)

First iPhone: 

“The keyboard more or less requires 'faith' in the word auto-correction, an Apple rep likened it to using The Force, and while all three reviewers were able to get up to speed sooner or later, it's most certainly agreed that this is no BlackBerry-killer.” (Engadget, review of other journalists' iPhone reviews, June 2007)

“Five hundred DOLLARS? Fully subsidized? With a plan? That is the most expensive phone in the world. And it doesn't appeal to business customers because it doesn't have a keyboard, which makes it not a very good email machine.” (Steve Ballmer, 2007)

First iPad: 

"This time around the Next Big Thing is called an iPad. It's basically an oversize iPod Touch... JOBS and his team kept using words like 'breakthrough' and 'magical,' but the iPad is neither, at least not right now...At the very least, we had hoped a tablet from Apple would do something new, something we've never seen before. That's not the case...” (Newsweek, January 2010)

Oppenheimer adds that critics tend to compare new Apple products to existing products, which is why they often fail to see their FUTURE value right away. "This is because the new interface introduces new possibilities that escape the imagination of the general public," it notes.

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