Corporate hiring slows down, India's space station plan, and more news

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India plans to launch its own space station by 2030, joining a select club that includes only the US, the erstwhile USSR and China. The proposed 20-tonne station will orbit 400 km above the Earth and mostly be used to conduct microgravity experiments, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said. It will be able to host astronauts for 15-20 days, although specific details will be finalised only after the completion of the country’s first manned spaceflight – Gaganyaan – in 2022. ISRO also announced plans for new missions to orbit the Sun and study Venus.

Just 13% employers in India plan to add headcount next quarter, down 4 percentage points year on year, says a Manpower Group study. Of the nearly 5,000 companies surveyed, 61% see no change in payrolls while none expect a decrease. The services sector is likely to shore up the job market, followed by mining and construction, while southern and western India are expected to fare better than other regions. The tepid outlook is in line with a global slowdown: 26 of the 44 countries surveyed have weaker hiring intentions than last year.

Amazon may be recording kids who use Alexa devices without their consent, according to lawsuits launched this week in the US. A federal complaint says Amazon saves “a permanent recording of the user’s voice,” regardless of who is speaking. The suits, filed on behalf of two children in California and Washington, allege the lack of consent breaks the recording laws of at least eight states. Earlier this year, advocates asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether Alexa violates children's privacy laws, alleging the tech giant is holding onto kids' personal information longer than is reasonably necessary.

As many as 105 TCS employees based in India earned more than ?1 crore in FY19, up from 91 in FY17, Economic Times reports. Of these, nearly a quarter are TCS lifers while the youngest crorepati staffers are in their early 40s. Rival Infosys has just 60 employees making more than ?1 crore annually. Experts attribute TCS’ success to a stable leadership and the company’s ability to retain the top layer. Last year, the Tata Group’s crown jewel put about 200 executives in charge of its industry solutions units, freeing up senior management for long-term strategy.

Facebook has made its first startup investment in India. The social media giant put in an undisclosed amount for a minority stake in Meesho, an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers on social media platforms. Started by IIT Delhi graduates Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, the Y Combinator alumnus has so far raised $65 million from the likes of DST Partners and Shunwei Capital. Facebook – which acquihired Bengaluru-based startup Little Eye Labs in 2014 – launched its Marketplace in India last year.

India has the world’s second-largest internet user base, accounting for 12% of all people using the Web globally, according to Mary Meeker's 2019 Internet Trends report. Reliance Jio’s dirt-cheap data plans and affordable smartphones boosted internet penetration, the report said, adding the telco doubled its subscriber base to 307 million last year. Globally, 51% of the population is now connected to the internet, up from just 24% a decade ago. China has the world’s largest internet user base (21%) while the US comes in third (8%).

Idea of the Day: Line up the external experience to the internal one, says Beyond Philosophy CEO Colin Shaw.

"If you have happy employees, chances are you're going to have satisfied customers.”

- LinkedIn Editors India/Share this using #DailyRundown