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Ramani Dathi, CFO, Teamlease Services, says on the non-IT side, a very positive outlook as far as hiring is concerned across all segments like BFSI, FMCG, FMCD, pharma, tourism, hospitality and manufacturing. The monsoon is expected to be positive for this year. We believe that the upcoming festive season can also be very good for retail, FMCG, FMCD and other related industries. Overall, how is the hiring outlook right now versus six months ago or at the start of the year? Are things materially different when it comes to IT, banking, tourism etc?Ramani Dathi: Let me start with IT because as far as IT is concerned, we are not seeing any kind of pickup in the hiring momentum at this stage. We expected that maybe in the middle of this year there could be some green shoots, but to be very honest as of now we are not seeing any kind of major uptick as far as demand is concerned.There are a few set of clients, especially the GCCs, to some extent they are able to maintain the current run rate of revenues and headcounts for us, but to show a massive growth or a double-digit growth we have to have the IT services hiring to be back on track and as I said at this stage we are not seeing any kind of pickup on IT front. However, on non-IT side, we are seeing very positive outlook as far as hiring is concerned across all segments, be it BFSI, FMCG, FMCD, pharma, tourism, hospitality, manufacturing, across all sectors we are seeing very good outlook and in fact with the monsoon being expected positive for this year we believe that the upcoming festive season can also be very good for retail, FMCG, FMCD and other related industries. But what is it that you are looking at when it comes to some of the other segments, in terms of manufacturing for example, what has been the kind of traction that we have witnessed on ground or which are some of the other segments that are seeing robust growth?Ramani Dathi: Within manufacturing right now, we are seeing a good amount of demand from smartphone manufacturers, chip manufacturers, EVs and other new-age companies because these are the sectors where new job creation is getting generated. So, it is not just the transition of converting informal jobs to formal jobs, these are all the industries that are generating new set of jobs and this we believe will continue to give us maximum hiring for the next two to three years as well. However, there are certain challenges in terms of mobilisation of the right skill set people and upskilling them, facilitating them. All of those challenges were there, but even with all of those we are seeing very good numbers kind of lining up for manufacturing and also in the allied industries. And also, in non-manufacturing segments like auto or what we say other allied segments, we are seeing at entry level jobs, we are seeing good amount of demand and this is spread across the country. Unlike earlier we used to have specific concentration in few regions that we are seeing getting more and more widespread now. You briefly mentioned GCCs. What kind of growth rate are you seeing? Is it a sudden mushrooming of GCCs in certain areas? How is that entire space picking up?Ramani Dathi: Especially post-Covid, we have seen the growth of GCCs both in terms of the sheer number of new GCCs set up in India as well as the headcount with the existing GCCs. So, both are growing at a very good encouraging rate and this in fact has helped us to maintain the run rate in our specialised staffing business. Whatever headcount and revenue run rate that we lost on the IT services front, so that got fully offset by the GCCs and they will continue to drive almost 70% of the hirings that we are planning for the next one year. We believe 70% of them will be backfilled with GCC open positions and again within GCCs right now we are seeing the maximum demand coming from the BFSI segment and this will continue for the next one year as well. With respect to the overall stake of AI versus the jobs, of course, we have seen that now at least play out for the last 12 months. According to you, why has IT hiring slowed down?Ramani Dathi: Yes, it may not be exactly AI. It is mainly because of the global IT slowdown, especially driven by US and European economies. In AI, maybe it is too early to assess whether it is the only reason or the main reason for the current decline in IT hiring. To some extent, it can affect and more than the number of jobs, it has already started eating into the salaries, be it in terms of hikes and the overall salary range, it may get slightly impacted. But at this stage, we believe it is too early to nail it down to AI, ML, those kinds of new-age technologies. It is still going to be predominantly because of the global slowdown in IT spend.

The shares of Akme Fintrade will list on the exchanges on Wednesday. Ahead of the listing, the company's shares were trading with a GMP of Rs 18 in the unlisted market.Considering the upper price band of Rs 120, the stock is expected to list at a premium of 15% over the issue price.However, it is important to note that grey market premiums are just an indicator as to how the company's shares are stacked up in the unlisted market and are subject to change rapidly.The IPO, which was entirely a fresh equity sale of 1.1 crore shares, was booked 53 times at close.The funds are being raised primarily to augment its capital base. As per RBI norms, the minimum capital adequacy for an NBFC should be 15%.Also Read: 3 SME IPOs open for subscription today. Check details before subscribingIn the coming years, the company plans to grow its loan advances which would require tier-1 capital to comply with the applicable capital adequacy regulations. Through the IPO, it would have adequate capital without any further need of fresh capital in the short to medium term.Akme Fintrade is a non-banking finance company (NBFC) engaged in rural and semi-urban centric lending solutions to look after the needs and aspirations of rural and semi-urban populace. Its portfolio includes vehicle finance and business finance products for small business owners.The company has a long history of serving rural and semi-urban markets with high growth potential and have maintained a track record of financial performance and operational efficiency through consistently high rates of customer acquisition and retention and low cost expansion into underpenetrated areas.In FY23, its revenue from operations grew to Rs 69.51 crore from Rs 67.44 crore in the preceding financial year. Meanwhile, profit after tax jumped multifold to Rs 15.80 crore from just Rs 4.12 crore a year earlier.Gretex Corporate Services is acting as the booking running lead manager for the public offer.

Whatever else it may be about, the debate over immigration is first and foremost about perceptions. The question is not just how many foreigners are in your country, but how many you notice.In the US, immigration tends to be popular in urban areas with a lot of immigrants. Partly that’s because the economic benefits of immigrants are easy to see when you deal with them a lot, but some of it is also perception. If you are used to seeing many immigrants around, you may not notice or care if the percentage of immigrants in your community rises from 24% to 26%. But if it rises from 0% to 2%, you can bet it will be noticed and debated in your community.Recent evidence indicates that the US has been overestimating the number of foreign-born individuals in the country; there may be as many as 2 million fewer than the official tally of about 46 million. This doesn’t make critics of immigration feel any better, and the development essentially has been ignored. That’s because the debate over immigration policy is more about the feeling than the actual number.I write this from Sweden, which historically has not had many non-Western immigrants, unlike the UK or France. But the foreign-born population in Sweden has been rising and is now almost one-quarter of this country of 10.5 million, with about half of that from outside Europe. Walking around Stockholm, I have noticed a lot of non-European faces.It is conventional wisdom in the US, especially among commentators on the right side of the political spectrum, that Swedish immigration policy has been a disaster. Sweden also has a populist right party in its governing coalition, the Sweden Democrats, largely because the mainstream parties have been slow to address migration issues. The Swedish murder rate has risen sharply in recent years, and there have been bombings and shootouts in Stockholm, many connected with immigrant groups.At the same time, it is inarguable that Sweden could use more people, including young people — the country’s total fertility rate is less than 1.6, well below replacement level. Furthermore, Swedes often do not want to do the jobs associated with immigrants, such as driving Ubers or taking care of children or the elderly. And it’s worth noting that the Swedish murder rate is still only about one-sixth of that of the US. From my perspective, the country is a very safe place.When I am in a foreign city and in search of interesting food, I have a trick: In which neighborhood, I ask the locals, am I most likely to get murdered? In Stockholm, Rinkeby was the answer, even though many of the people I asked had never been. So I went to Rinkeby, which is mostly non-White and most notably Somalian. There were Yemeni, Ethiopian, Persian and other restaurants. (I had a good chicken mandi at one called Maida.) I felt safe the entire time, and saw plenty of solo women, including some blonde Swedes, walking leisurely along the main street, as well as many women with head coverings. I saw a Western Union office and a driving school, signs that people have some funds to send away or invest in a car.It is well known that the area has some serious problems, including violence. But from my American and northern-Virginian perspective, Rinkeby felt lively and successful, and more likely to get better than worse.Wise immigration policy consists of a balancing of perspectives. On one hand, Sweden cannot keep increasing its rate of immigrant absorption, or parties such as the Sweden Democrats will gain too much ground. Future prospective immigrants would lose out too, not to mention the political costs imposed on native-born Swedes. In Sweden, it simply isn’t going to work to ignore Swedes’ perceptions.On the other hand, immigration to Sweden is going better than its critics say. Sweden remains a prosperous and dynamic country, with one of the best startup scenes in Europe. Those too are secondary consequences of the extreme openness of Swedish society, even if the costs of high immigration sometimes wear Swedes down.The trick is to keep all these perspectives in mind at the same time. And to always be willing to try new restaurants.

While noting that Zomato is well ahead of IPO-bound peer Swiggy, global brokerage firm CLSA has a target price of Rs 248 per share on the new-age stock.Prosus, which holds a 32.7% stake in Swiggy, in its annual results release, disclosed that Swiggy’s overall GMV growth (including food delivery, quick commerce, and dining out businesses) came in at 26% YoY, as compared to Zomato’s 32% YoY growth."Swiggy’s overall revenue growth of 24% YoY was also lower than Zomato’s adjusted revenue growth of 55.9% YoY. Swiggy’s trading losses reduced to $158 million during FY24, while Zomato reported a positive Ebitda of $5 million during FY24," CLSA said.Swiggy’s core food delivery GOV grew by double digits in FY24 compared to a 22% YoY growth in Zomato’s food delivery GOV. If we assume a 10%/20% GOV growth for Swiggy’s food delivery GOV, it would be 74%/80% of Zomato’s food delivery GOV for FY24, the brokerage said, adding that if we assume the food delivery business grew its GOV by 10%, it translates to a 108% growth in GMV for the non-food delivery business.Zomato is ahead of Swiggy in the number of delivery partners, dark stores as well as bottomline.CLSA has a target price of Rs 248 per share on the stock. Zomato shares were trading about 2% higher at Rs 203 on the BSE.Analysts at JM Financial said Swiggy's successful public listing depends on the management's ability to demonstrate a clear path to adjusted EBITDA break-even at a consolidated level and arrest market share losses in food delivery as well as quick commerce businesses.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

AFG vs Ban T20 World Cup: In a setback to Australia, Afghanistan qualified for the semi-finals of the T20 world cup by beating Bangladesh. In the crucial Super Eights T20 World Cup match against Afghanistan, Bangladesh lost by 8 runs while chasing a target of 116 before rain halted play. Bangladesh's run chase was hit by an early setback as Afghan pacers Naveen Ul Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi dismissed the top three Bangladesh batsmen at 31/3 in 3.3 overs.Earlier, Bangladesh's bowlers held Afghanistan to 115/5. Leg-spinner Rishad Hossain spearheaded the Bangladeshi bowling attack with impressive figures of three for 26. The Afghan top order struggled to gain momentum, unable to effectively counter Bangladesh's varied bowling strategies after opting to bat first.Despite a promising opening partnership of 59 runs in 10.4 overs, Afghanistan's progress stalled. Rahmanullah Gurbaz top-scored with 43 runs off 55 balls, reflecting the team's difficulty in accelerating the scoring rate.Afg vs Ban: Key Performances and Strategic PlaysSeamer Taskin Ahmed, one of two changes in the Bangladeshi lineup following their heavy defeat to India, delivered an economical four-over spell. He conceded just 12 runs and took the crucial wicket of former Afghan captain Mohammad Nabi.Captain Rashid Khan provided a late surge for Afghanistan, remaining unbeaten on 19 and hitting three sixes in the final two overs. His efforts helped push the total past the 100-run mark, as the rest of the batting lineup faltered.Implications for Semi-Final QualificationA massive victory for Bangladesh in this match could have helped the team to qualify to the semi-finals alongside India, despite losing their first two Super Eight matches. Meanwhile, Australia's hopes hinge on Bangladesh securing a narrow win, which would allow Australia to advance based on net run rate. 111239207