Govt releases list of 9500 high-risk financial companies including Adani

As the Indian workforce navigates a shrinking job market in lockdown times, two in five professionals believe that the number of jobs and scheduled interviews will decrease in the next two weeks, a new LinkedIn survey said on Tuesday.

The news comes as bittersweet for Indian professionals as more than one in three stated they will now spend more time working on their resumes and preparing for interviews.

Professionals from healthcare, manufacturing and corporate service industries anticipate a decrease in personal spending and personal investments in the next six months, according to the findings of the fortnightly LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Index based on responses from 2,903 professionals in the country.

This findings showed that while India's overall confidence remains steady, the country's confidence in jobs is beginning to trend downward.

However, employees at large enterprises (firms with over 10,000 workers) are more confident about the future of their employers when compared to their peers from mid-market and SMB companies.

The findings showed that 41 % of enterprise professionals think their companies will do better in the next six months, while 63 % think their companies will be better off one year from now.

However, "the enterprise professionals are least confident about the future of their jobs, finances and careers, when compared to their SMB and mid-market peers".

The findings showed that 52 % of healthcare, 48% of corporate services, and 41 % of manufacturing professionals anticipate a decrease in investments in the next 6 months.

Over the past three months, many organizations have shifted to a remote working model to circumvent the pandemic and ensure business continuity.

Three in five marketing professionals feel confident about being effective when working remotely, joined by more than half of project management and engineering professionals, who are also confident about the effectiveness of remote working.

In contrast to this optimism, only 39 % of HR, 36% of finance, and 31 % of education professionals think they would be effective when working remotely, said the survey.

Bengaluru, Feb 22: President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday said an ideal trade-off needs to be reached between new media -- which is fast and popular -- and traditional media which has developed skills to authenticate a news report, which is a costly operation.

Addressing the fourth edition of ‘the Huddle’ – the annual thought conclave of the Hindu here, he asserted that the internet and social media had democratised journalism and revitalised democracy, but had also led to many anxieties.

While the new media was fast and popular and people could choose what they wanted to watch, hear or read, traditional media would have to introspect on its role in society and find ways to earn the reader’s full trust again as "the project of democracy was incomplete without informed citizens – which means, without unbiased journalism."

Debate and discussion were internalised in India’s social psyche to arrive at truth since time immemorial, he said.

"There is no doubt that perception of truth is conditioned by circumstances. The conditions that cloud the truth’s positions are effectively dispelled by a contestation of ideas through debate, discussion and scientific temper. Prejudices and violence vitiate the search for truth."

Expressing happiness to attend ‘The Huddle’ organised by The Hindu, he said the Hindu group of publications had been relentlessly aiming to capture the essence of this great country through its responsible and ethical journalism. He commended them for their insistence on sticking to the five basic principles of journalism – truth-telling, freedom and independence, justice, humaneness and contributing to the social good, an official release here said.

Mr Kovind said dogmas and personal prejudices distorted the truth. In the 150th year of Gandhiji’s birth, he asked all to ponder over this question: "will it not be proper to pursue truth itself as the ideology? Gandhiji has shown us the path by walking ceaselessly in search of truth which would ultimately encompass every positive attribute that enriches the universe."