Latest news with #WFO
India.com
17-06-2025
- Business
- India.com
BIG changes in Ratan Tata's this company policy, mandates employees to…, bench time restricted at…
(File) TCS has updated its associate deployment policy that mandates employees to be billed for 225 days annually, restricting their bench time to a maximum of 35 business days each year. The policy brings changes towards associate allocation and try to meet both organisational and individual goals. 'At any given point in time, associates must be allocated for a minimum period of 225 business days in the last 12 months,' claimed the TOI report on the basis of the document reviewed by them. 'Long periods of remaining unallocated shall adversely impact associate compensation, career growth, avenues of overseas deployment in future, and continuity of employment with the organisation,' it added. The new policy will come into effect on June 12, was released by Chandrasekaran Ramkumar, global head of The Resource Management Group (RMG). RMG handles workforce deployment at TCS. His team focuses on maximising organisational utilisation of human resources. It tries to optimally engage every associate and allocate projects to them at all times. 'In the event an associate is unallocated, it is the primary responsibility of the associate to proactively engage with the Unit / Regional RMG for seeking allocation and take initiative towards pursuing suitable opportunities provided by the organisation,' the policy said. TCS Policy Changes All associates who are released to RMG, available for the next assignment, and reporting to RMG are unallocated resources. TCS gives learning opportunities through platforms like iEvolve, Fresco Play, VLS, and LinkedIn. Associates from the unallocated pool are expected to dedicate 4-6 hours daily to relevant learning on iEvolve and complete all mandatory training, attend in-person sessions recommended by RMG, and actively focus on upskilling to always be interview-ready. They should also utilize the Gen AI interview coach, review and address feedback from previous interviews, and ensure timely completion of all training programs with full attendance. TCS has made physical presence in the office mandatory. WFO exceptions and flexible work arrangements are not applicable. 'However, associates may request short-term flexible work options for personal emergencies in exceptional circumstances, subject to organisational policies and prior approval from the RMG.'
Time of India
16-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
TCS sets 225 billing days, limits bench time to 35 days
Bengaluru: TCS's updated associate deployment policy mandates employees to be billed for 225 days annually, restricting their bench time to a maximum of 35 business days each year. The policy aims to foster a proactive approach towards associate allocation, ensuring both organisational and individual goals are met. "At any given point in time, associates must be allocated for a minimum period of 225 business days in the last 12 months," the document reviewed by TOI showed. "Long periods of remaining unallocated shall adversely impact associate compensation, career growth, avenues of overseas deployment in future, and continuity of employment with the organisation," it said. The new policy, which came into effect on June 12, was laid out by Chandrasekaran Ramkumar, global head of The Resource Management Group (RMG). RMG at TCS oversees workforce deployment, ensuring the right talent with the right skills is assigned to projects. This team focuses on maximising organisational utilisation by making sure every associate is optimally engaged and allocated to projects at all times. "In the event an associate is unallocated, it is the primary responsibility of the associate to proactively engage with the Unit / Regional RMG for seeking allocation and take initiative towards pursuing suitable opportunities provided by the organisation," the policy said. All associates who are released to RMG, available for the next assignment, and reporting to RMG are unallocated resources. TCS provides opportunities through platforms like iEvolve, Fresco Play, VLS, and LinkedIn. While unallocated, associates are expected to spend 4-6 hours daily on relevant learning via iEvolve, complete all mandatory and prioritised training, attend in-person sessions as recommended by RMG, and actively upskill to stay interview-ready. They should also use the Gen AI interview coach, review and address feedback from past interviews, and complete all training programmes on time with full attendance. To facilitate swift deployment, TCS has called out that physical presence in the office is mandatory. As a result, WFO exceptions and flexible work arrangements are generally not applicable. "However, associates may request short-term flexible work options for personal emergencies in exceptional circumstances, subject to organisational policies and prior approval from the RMG." TCS has stated that frequent short-term allocations to multiple projects are discouraged and may lead to HR investigations and appropriate disciplinary measures. An email sent to TCS on the policy didn't elicit a response till the time of going to the press.
Irish Independent
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Wexford students invited to follow in Colm Tóibín's footsteps and enter revived opera festival essay competition
Wexford People Today at 23:00 After a hiatus of over 50 years, the students of Wexford are once again being offered the chance to share their thoughts on the Wexford Festival Opera, and to win a generous cash prize of €250 plus publication in the Festival Supplement of the Wexford People. Wexford Festival Opera is running an essay competition for its 74th anniversary. Inspired by the theme for this year's event, Myths & Legends, the subject of the essay is: 'Wexford Festival Opera – A Myth or a Legend?' All senior cycle (TY, 5th and 6th year) students in County Wexford are invited to participate. The Festival last held an essay competition in 1972 which makes a revival more than overdue. Back then, the title was 'Wexford Festival Opera – Vanity or Prestige?' There were four prizes and a young Colm Tóibín was among the winners. Where are the remaining three winners? Or, indeed, the other entrants? WFO would love to hear from anyone who knows anyone who entered, or was placed in, that competition. Best of all would be to find copies of those essays! A long list of writers hail from Wexford, a tradition celebrated every September since 2016 at the Write by the Sea Festival in Kilmore Quay. Whether it is due to the sea air or the extra dose of sunshine that lights up the 'sunny south east', music and words seem to flourish in this corner of the island. It is also an area rich in history and folklore which could feed into ideas for this year's essay title. How to separate myth from legend and where to place WFO on that scale is an interesting question. Does the Festival impinge in any meaningful way on the lives of younger members of the community, acquiring legendary status for them, or is that a cosy myth? The organisers of WFO are eager to learn how the senior cycle cohort views the Festival and whether, or how, it might be made more meaningful to that generation. For teachers this could be a rewarding and very worthwhile class project, especially in transition year, when several students will have the opportunity to work with the Festival. Other students may have family members who have been, or are still, involved at some level. There are many dimensions to the Festival, from the opening night fireworks to the general buzz around town, from themed window displays to the sometimes outlandish glamour of opera goers, exhibitions, fringe and community events, each offering a different angle on, or line of approach to, the subject. I rarely wish I was sixteen again but this is one occasion when I wouldn't mind reversing the years, just to have a crack at such an exciting competition. Competition Details: Wexford Festival Opera – A Myth or a Legend? All students in Senior Cycle (TY, 5th Year and 6th Year) in County Wexford secondary schools are eligible to participate. Prize: €250 Rules and Conditions 1. Entries must be the original work of the entrant and should not have been previously published in any format, online or print, self-published or paid. 2. Entries must be typed, double-spaced in Microsoft Word, 12 point, Times New Roman font. 3. All entries must be in English and submitted by email to essay@ Closing date for receipt of entries is Monday September 22 at 5.00pm. 4. The decision of the judges is final, no correspondence/contact will be entered into, and no feedback will be given to individual entrants. 5. Entrants can submit only one entry. Entries must not exceed 2,000 words. 6. Wexford Festival Opera reserves the right to publish any of the entries as full essays, or extracts thereof, to promote Wexford Festival Opera on its website and in other media.
Irish Independent
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Colm Tóibín teams up with Wexford Festival Opera for new work inspired by town's Main Street
Colm Tóibín, author of award-winning novels including The Master, Brooklyn, and Long Island, has collaborated with composer Andrew Synnott, marking the second time the Wexford-born writer has worked with the festival. This new work, Urban Legends, will commence on October 19 and will be performed as late-night operas at 11pm in Green Acres Art Gallery in Wexford town. Each performance will last approximately 20 minutes. This follows Mr Tóibín's and Alberto Caruso's collaboration for WFO 2024 with their Pocket Opera (Opera Beag) Lady Gregory: In America. Libretto for this new work is by Mr Tóibín while music is by Mr Synnott, a long-time friend of the festival. The work is inspired by the urban legend that if you walk from one end of Wexford's Main Street to the other end, you will pass the person you are going to marry. Two young lovers set out from either end of the Main Street at noon and – according to legend – are destined to meet and get married. Both are single, both are in search of love. Will they meet? And if they do, will they fall for each other? Each night, we find out more clues of when and where – at what point on the street – they will finally meet and sing a love duet. These three different short late-night operas explore this legend over three separate nights at Green Acres Gallery. Each 20-minute stand-alone performance will be presented twice during the festival and can be enjoyed individually or as part of the series. Artistic Director Rosetta Cucchi said: 'I am so delighted that Colm Tóibín and Andrew Synnott have come together to create this special new work. This project began with an initial conversation that Colm and I had last year. Wexford Festival Opera is so intrinsically linked with Wexford town itself. Creating a work around one of the urban legends here seemed to fit so beautifully into the overall WFO theme this year of myths of legends and I can't wait to experience it myself during WFO 2025.' Booking is now open at for the 74th Wexford Festival opera which explores the theme of Myths and Legends will run from October 17 to November 1.
RTÉ News
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Ancient tales, modern voices: Wexford Festival Opera returns
As general booking opens for the 74th Wexford Festival Opera, Artistic Director Rosetta Cucchi introduces this year's programme, which is built around the theme of Myths & Legends. This year for Wexford Festival Opera 2025, we journey into a world where music and myth merge, where the legends of old are brought to life by the soaring power of the human voice. Lyric opera, a timeless art form, has long drawn inspiration from the myths and legends that shape our collective imagination. It is a vessel through which ancient stories are renewed, reinterpreted, and reborn. The 74th Wexford Festival Opera, will feature 3 main stage operas: Conducted by Marcus Bosch and directed by Ben Barnes, Le Trouvére by Giuseppe Verdi is a rare chance to hear Verdi's French version of Il trovatore - around the rivalry for the love of the young Leonora between the troubadour Manrique and the Comte de Lune. George Petrou will conduct and direct Deidamia, George Frideric Handel's last Italian opera before he turned to oratorio, an unjustly neglected tragi-comic masterpiece. Francesco Cilluffo will return to Wexford to conduct The Magic Fountain by Frederick Delius, which will be directed by Christopher Luscombe. A lyric drama in three acts The Magic Fountain is set in a mythical, exotic location and centres around the legend of a magical fountain that grants eternal youth. This production is supported by The Delius Trust. Alongside these there will be a performance by the Wexford Factory artists of Il Viaggio a Reims by Gioachino Rossini. The Community Opera this year will be The Little Midsummer Night's Dream and the Pocket Operas will be La Tragédie De Carmen by George Bizet sung in French with English dialogue and The Dwarf (Der Zwerg) by Alexander Zemlinsky in a Wexford commissioned English translation. Another treat for Wexford audiences will be a new WFO commission, late night event Urban Legends by Colm Tóibín and Andrew Synnott. Why do we keep returning to these ancient stories? Because they remain relevant. All of these are brought together under the theme of Myths and Legends. Myths and legends are the beating heart of human storytelling. They explain the unexplainable, personify our dreams, and confront our fears. They speak of gods and mortals, of love and betrayal, of triumph and tragedy. From the timeless epics of Greece and Rome to the heroic sagas of Northern Europe, these stories remind us who we are and who we aspire to be. Why do we keep returning to these ancient stories? Because they remain relevant. They address universal themes: the power of love, the inevitability of loss, the clash between destiny and free will. They speak to us now as they did centuries ago. And in lyric opera, these themes become visceral, unforgettable. As we immerse ourselves in the myths and legends brought to life through the magic of opera, let us remember: these are not just stories of the past. They are stories of the present, told in music that transcends time. They call on us to reflect, to dream, and to feel deeply. And above all, they remind us that we, too, are part of a greater story—one that spans generations, cultures, and the ages.
