One good reason why so many stories about Times group appear on this blog and elsewhere is due to the fact that there are so many ex employees of ToI who are working in other organisations. Most of them have left Times with a bitter experience and naturally would like to carry the lurid tales of the workings inside Times. Naturally, this disgruntled lot is a wonderful source of information to tap into. Here is one story developed by tapping into this ex Times network across four Indian cities.
In this post, we look at the way the newspaper industry is run by crooks who ensure that the system will never change. One of the blog comments on an earlier weekend story was on salary hikes. All of us know how arbitrarily these things are done, at the whims and fancies of those who run the show.
Even the highly exalted Times group is no exception.
The owners of Times are super rich thanks to the huge profits that the group is making. They are not answerable to anybody as the parent company is not publicity listed except for ENIL, which is the holding company of Radio Mirchi.
The Jain family running the Times, wastes a huge amount of money pampering swamis like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Swami Jaggi Vasudev. Unlike Narayana Murthy of Infosys, the owners led by Vineet Jain and his family never believes in sharing their mountain of wealth with their staff.
At one time, the employees of Times used to get their yearly rise or increments, which was added on to their salary. But post the exit of Pradeep Guha, who was hugely popular with the Times employees, the Jains have got into a reverse gear of sorts. Increments are a pittance, and most of the salary goes into what is now called variable pay. This is paid as per the performance of a particular branch, which is set against ridiculously unachievable targets.
The idea is to ensure that the donkey never reaches the carrot.
First, this variable pay was supposed to be paid every month, then it was changed to every quarter, then six months and finally the lackeys of the management decided that the payout would be after one full year. Which means that almost 30% of the salary is held back for one full year and even after that payment depends on the whims and fancies of the MD of the company.
So much for the professionalism and excellence that the top management of Times speaks about. The result – the employees suffer, while the owners of the Times group and their chamchas enjoy holidays in exotic locations all around the world. (Our old man too had his share of fun!)
Nobody has any idea where the massive profits of the group that is siphoned off is stashed. The Times group makes huge profits which are said to be in the range of Rs 400 to 500 crore every year. Only a miniscule part of this money is given to the employees asvariable pay.
Where does the rest of the money go? Only a privileged few know into which Swiss banks the moneyis laundered into. Remember the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had rounded up the Ashok Jain, the then Chairman of the Times group and put him behind bars. The old man sang like a parrot, before he croaked. But the case was hushed up after the politicians and the DRI officials were paid off.
Now it's time to re-visit the Jains like Undavalli has done with Eenadu. It’s time we changed all this. It’s time for the employees of Times group to take charge. It’s time they fought for the profits which is made possible due to the blood, tears, toil and sweat of the employees. Let us in the media profession and trade union leaders help the Times employees get what is due to them, rightfully.
Why should the profits be enjoyed by only a select few? Let the accounts of the Times group be made open to a team of retired Supreme Court judges, and a ratio of profit sharing for the employees, right down to the last one at the bottom of the ladder be worked out. Let us expose the smooth talking big shots of the Times group who hobnob with the President, Prime Minister, Finance Minister, film stars and other hot shots. This is nothing but a shameless attempt to curry favours leveraging their position as the owner of a newspaper. It’s a crying shame.
Write to us at vikram.apmedia@gmail.com
In this post, we look at the way the newspaper industry is run by crooks who ensure that the system will never change. One of the blog comments on an earlier weekend story was on salary hikes. All of us know how arbitrarily these things are done, at the whims and fancies of those who run the show.
Even the highly exalted Times group is no exception.
The owners of Times are super rich thanks to the huge profits that the group is making. They are not answerable to anybody as the parent company is not publicity listed except for ENIL, which is the holding company of Radio Mirchi.
The Jain family running the Times, wastes a huge amount of money pampering swamis like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Swami Jaggi Vasudev. Unlike Narayana Murthy of Infosys, the owners led by Vineet Jain and his family never believes in sharing their mountain of wealth with their staff.
At one time, the employees of Times used to get their yearly rise or increments, which was added on to their salary. But post the exit of Pradeep Guha, who was hugely popular with the Times employees, the Jains have got into a reverse gear of sorts. Increments are a pittance, and most of the salary goes into what is now called variable pay. This is paid as per the performance of a particular branch, which is set against ridiculously unachievable targets.
The idea is to ensure that the donkey never reaches the carrot.
First, this variable pay was supposed to be paid every month, then it was changed to every quarter, then six months and finally the lackeys of the management decided that the payout would be after one full year. Which means that almost 30% of the salary is held back for one full year and even after that payment depends on the whims and fancies of the MD of the company.
So much for the professionalism and excellence that the top management of Times speaks about. The result – the employees suffer, while the owners of the Times group and their chamchas enjoy holidays in exotic locations all around the world. (Our old man too had his share of fun!)
Nobody has any idea where the massive profits of the group that is siphoned off is stashed. The Times group makes huge profits which are said to be in the range of Rs 400 to 500 crore every year. Only a miniscule part of this money is given to the employees asvariable pay.
Where does the rest of the money go? Only a privileged few know into which Swiss banks the moneyis laundered into. Remember the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had rounded up the Ashok Jain, the then Chairman of the Times group and put him behind bars. The old man sang like a parrot, before he croaked. But the case was hushed up after the politicians and the DRI officials were paid off.
Now it's time to re-visit the Jains like Undavalli has done with Eenadu. It’s time we changed all this. It’s time for the employees of Times group to take charge. It’s time they fought for the profits which is made possible due to the blood, tears, toil and sweat of the employees. Let us in the media profession and trade union leaders help the Times employees get what is due to them, rightfully.
Why should the profits be enjoyed by only a select few? Let the accounts of the Times group be made open to a team of retired Supreme Court judges, and a ratio of profit sharing for the employees, right down to the last one at the bottom of the ladder be worked out. Let us expose the smooth talking big shots of the Times group who hobnob with the President, Prime Minister, Finance Minister, film stars and other hot shots. This is nothing but a shameless attempt to curry favours leveraging their position as the owner of a newspaper. It’s a crying shame.
Write to us at vikram.apmedia@gmail.com
14 comments:
Congratulations on this expose. As an ex Times employee, it pains me to see how my friends in Times are suffering.
Incentives are paid every month in all industries, and it is a shame that The Times group which talks about other companies, has violated every known principle in HR.
I think the Jains owe the people of this country, particularly the Times employees an apology. Let them share the profits they are making, with their employees. The world has changed and if Times group wants talented employees to stay then they should pay well. How much money can you take along with you when you go up to hell or heaven ?
I have a suggestion. Apart from the retired Supreme court judges, let them appoint people like Mr Narayana Murthy in the committee which will decide on how much each Times employee should get.
I wish some one would forward this story to the IIM students so that they can question the Times recruiters when they come for campus recruitments.
Gautam Kapur
The shameless owners will continue to behave more so as they give importance to treachery and not humanity. They will have to face the wrath of the almigthy one day of the other. If you take a look into family relations within the group, they are at their worst. The least said, the better. As long as 'donkeys' are serving the group, no one can help them.
I dont understand the leftsih leaning of the author of the article. He almost miserably failed to understand the dynamics of supply side economics and that at any time wages face pressure upward or downward with the prevailing market supply for skillsets.
Let's say, if the people with the required skill set far exceeds the demand, wages face downward pressure.
Being in IT industry I can very well relate this, as the no.of engineers available has increased beyond reuired at entry level, salary of freshers has come down substantially in India. If people are still mad and flock engg colleges paying hefty sums, at the end of their course, dont be mistaken, they will be greeted with no jobs or some sal. like few Ks.
If there is really demand for journos, attrition will increase and management has to increase salries to stop it.
Someone should blast the buildings owned by TOI and kidnap the REs for ransom till they pay back the arrears to the employees. Jains!, you thugs, shame on you. Shame on you and shame on you. The employees working in the Hyd office should form a pressure group to take on the unethical practices of the Jains and their chamchas
Udham Singh
Hyderabad
Close on heels of Eenadu group getting exposed, it seems its now time for The Times Group to get exposed. Who so ever the ex employee is who has written the blog has done a great job. While employees of other news papers like DC showing Times as a great organisation which doles out two to three promotions a year and hike in salaries, had the best in form of getting a car each for the reporters and good hike in salaries, the Times employees continue to suffer and adjust with the pea nuts it gives to its employees. This is one organisation where human relations are its lowest ebb. No one in the hierarchy would stand by you if you were to be challenged by anyone saying that your report was incorrect. While the people occupying positions like Editors don't recommend their colleagues for promotion and hike in salary, those who do chamchagiri always climb the ladder irrespective of their competence. What is worse, even on festival days, the Rs 400-500 crore profit making organisation which claims to be world's largest circulated newspaper pulls its strings and shows miserness and does not give even a box of sweets to its employees but does not hesitate spending lakhs on a single party for the top brass.
Is the management listening? Theres lot of dirty linen which needs to be washed and the real talent should be recognised. No one can remain at number one position for ever. Remember teaching of Gita, Yada Yada hi Dharmasya Glyanirbhavati bharata.... Wake up and correct your attitude.
Poor guy, we have come a long way from explaining things in terms of suply demand model and top to bottum and bottum to top approach. Wake up many things are happening around u and try not to see everything from the world of IT. The world is much more than IT. OK?
You may have several complaints with Times group. But one should see the work being done by Swamis like sri sri ravishankar and ramdev. In fact sri sri ravishankar through his various humanatarian and spiritual programs have brought cheers on the faces of millions across the world. Lot many seva projects are being done in several villages across the country. The art of living organisation is spread in more than 140 countries. The spread and presence of organisation in so many countries clear reminder that the people getting benifited. Thats the reason he is nominated for 2006 nobel peace prize. If u want to bring changes in your life and your near and dear ones, do the courses offered by him and then u will be in a better position to comment about him.
Booooooooooooooooox of sweets? Hey don’t lie…and fool people. They do give incentives to their staff. If they wish to generously give Rs 500, they don’t give it like that. Rather, they hand over a T-shirt (costing Rs 15 to Rs 25 in Mumbai /Delhi Street side hawkers Shoppe) with its brand printed on it. If its Rs 2000, they give a book on Times history costing Rs 1000 to Rs 1500 (don’t be surprised if you don’t find in that book, how TOI licked the booooooooooooots of the British and how it ditched people and ran away during emergency days) and the remaining sum come to ur accounts at a later date. You should grow up…gyyyyz….. in knowing how to get ur due from the Jains. One standard way is…drink like a fish or eat like a pig, in TOI parties, equal to the pay out Jain’s supposed to give you. That’s how you have to be loyal to the TOI brand. Bachuuuuu…branding bachan as brand ambassador for its India Poised shows, the standard of this world number one’s national out look.
My personal feeling is that only managements should not be blamed for these kinds of things. The Editors who get fat cheques are also the culprits. They are the ones who allow all these dirty ideas or put such ideas in the minds of managements. The situation in regional media is worse. The editors help the managements to hire the employees for meagre salaries like 15hundreds to 2thousand. Even seniors are offered very less if they do not belong to any group or belongs to a particular group which the editor can't stand. Many times this becomes a criteria. This is the tragedy in this field. When are we going to revolt against such practices? And how?...Forget unions they are of no use to anyone except to the chamchas of the leaders. Why can't a pressure group be formed to protest such practices in the media?
Congratulations to the Blog writer who has exposed part of the misdeeds in the Worlds largest circulated News paper. But he has just scratched the under belly there are lot many things that happen in this high brand image news paper. If some one quits the organisation the vacancies are not filled and that puts greater work load on the existing staff who have to slog with no extra incentive. The REs from outside state who do not understand the local politics or importance of the developments. The top bosses are amenable to plugs but when a reporter gets a good story it is suspected to be a plug.
The big bosses enjoy trips across the shores at some body else's expense but the reporting staff is not allowed to go on any junket even it it does not involve any cost to the company.
Wake up management, its shame on you that while Telugu Newspapers like Andhra Jyoti which had made a come back with bang in last two years has hiked the salary of its staff by atleast Rs 4000 something unheard in Telugu papers. But the Times management is so tight fisted that even Rs 600 is considered to a great gesture. (Kya karen sub centres ka yahi haal hai management has not given much hike) the REs explain and wash off their hands.
Incidentally, the times jobs advt says that its time to quit job if u get pea nuts as your hike. Should not the charity begin at home? Try to be professionals in industry not look everything with Marwadi mentality.
Times claims it is the buzziest one in its anchor item published in Hyderabad Friday edition. But the people who head the editorial department do not even know some of the staff members were not given letters of variable pay. Ask the big bosses, they say Let me check Im not very sure whether I have the letter or not. The management is not doing any special favour in giving variable pay. Its the result of hard toil by the ill paid journos of worlds largest circulated newspaper. Are the jains listening.
Santosh,
Thanks…for enlightening us what sri sri ravishankar does. But allow me to ask you, show me a single principle or concept or teaching of this guru, that is new or his original contribution and not known to this country. He is just reiterating what has been a tradition for thousands of years. Of course, in a new pack (ask him, if I am wrong). Certainly every one appreciates what he is doing. But, du know what is called a litmus test to a guru, to claim himself as a guru? not showcasing how many people or disciple he made happy or got benefited. But, to bring just that one, who could not adhere to the path. This way, what the TOI heads are doing in relation with fellow human beings, brings into question the relationship between the TOI group and ravishankar. And to ask is this relationship is just a guru-disciple relationship or a business proposition for mutual benefit? People ask such questions, becoz, look here what TOI says, about a soul guru called deepak chopra, on writing a book on Kama Sutra (promoting him, as if he found something new and unknown till date):
“….I wanted to take Kama Sutra and put it in the context of the exploration of consciousness and relationship. Whether Kama is more than the four goals of life- can it be a means of enlightenment?”
This exploration has been carried out for the last 4000 years by many people in numerous contexts of living. Just not only here, but also taking a cue from this country, by others elsewhere on this globe. The soul guru said:
“This question was triggered off in my mind when I saw that many Institutes in the West teach Tantric art, and include Kama Sutra in their curriculum”
This question was triggered to many men and women; very long back and their explorations were recorded and handed over from generations to generations. Ask this guy to go and read, to find out what’s came to his mind is not anew. If he wishes to take all that from the past and wish to sell it, writing books in another language, let him do, after all he is a human and has to eke his living one way or the other. We don’t have any complaints about it. But, let the TOI not project it as if it is new found truth.
A note to Jyothi Prabhakar and the like: If you don’t know Sanskrit, it doesn’t matter, but try to equip yourself, doing some homework, like reading TS
Eliot and the like…so dat u don’t become a noting machine, when all and sundry claiming that they have found something new, great, refreshing truths in relationships or soul fulfilling ecstasies or something earth shaking. Becoz, the world is not made of thoughtless bums, isn’t it?
hey TOI gals and guyz,
Don't use TOI group's mail id's for your private and personal purposes. Ur secured pass word is of no use. They can scan and read every mail that is coming to ur mail box.
Jindagi/TOI
The outcome....frustrated employees of TOI pass on the irritation to their advertisers and other stakeholders. There will be 100s of Ad agencies and advertisers in Hyderabad who experienced unprofessional attitude from TOI employees
I have seen the most arrogant bunch of people with TOI editorial and Response. I worked with TOI close to 6 years and have also seen the dirty inside. And now I see it as an outsider and feel pity about them. People with more than 8-10 years of experience have become slaves of the company and bend as much as they can in front of the management to make their survival safe ……
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