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UK: Record rise in overseas IT workers
London: As many as 22,000 foreign IT workers were issued with work permits for the UK last year, of whom 85 percent were from India, according to a report by the Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCO) which extracted the figures from the Home Office.

Ann Swain, chief executive of ATSCO said the UK is not only outsourcing low level IT jobs to India but is also receiving high level expertise from the region. "The transfer of jobs between the UK and India is now very much two way traffic.

"The irony is that while low-skilled IT jobs continue to be shipped to India, highly skilled Indian IT professionals are coming to the UK to take up managerial roles," she said.

According to Swain, the UK's dependence on foreign IT skills is likely to increase if the number of IT graduates choosing technology careers continues to fall.
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General Motors announces deeper cuts
Detroit: In an effort to stave off an impending bankruptcy threat GM, the world's largest automaker announced deeper restructuring plans Monday, raising the number of jobs it plans to cut over the next three years to 30,000.It also said it expects to lower its annual cost structure by US$7bn by the end of next year.

GM CEO Rick Wagoner said up to nine GM plants are now slated to cease operations as part of the restructuring. The moves will reduce GM's North American assembly capacity by about 1 million units by the end of 2008.

Much of the reduction will be carried out through attrition, Wagoner said, adding that they will result in a significant restructuring charge. Monday's announcement for deeper job and production cuts marked another step the company is taking to convince investors that it's turning a corner.
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EU Govt.'s agree to open defense market
Brussels: EU governments have agreed on unprecedented measures to encourage cross-border competition in their €30 billion-a-year defense equipment markets.

Monday, the Govt.'s, under a voluntary code of conduct, committed to publish contracts broadly on the Internet so that military equipment companies across the whole of the European Union could compete for them.

"Opening ourselves up to a far greater degree of competition in Europe will ensure in the long run a far more efficient industry, which in turn means far more value for money," said John Reid, the British defense minister, after a meeting of defense officials in Brussels. Britain currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.

Until now, European governments have shielded their national arms and equipment manufacturers from broader competition, and most of the EU's defense sales are exempt from normal internal competition rules.

But the new measure, which would take effect next July, could trigger restructuring and consolidation in Europe's fragmented defense market and so help European companies compete in the broader global market which is dominated by bigger rivals, mainly from the United States, like Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

But the code is nonbinding, and national governments could still favor domestic manufacturers for "compelling reasons of national security," the governments said.
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Boeing's orders at Dubai air show at US$14.3bn
Dubai: Boeing Co. on Monday revealed the first leasing company buyers for its 787 Dreamliner jet, further boosting its lead over rival Airbus.

The deals bolstered Boeing's lead for the Dubai Air Show where they were announced. The two manufacturers are close to doubling orders booked in 2004. Since the show began on Sunday, Airbus and Boeing have announced orders worth a combined US$22.5bn.

Boeing, which also won a big Chinese order over the weekend, has grabbed US$14.3bn of orders so far at Dubai, compared with US$8.24bn for Airbus.

Airbus, which remains the world's top commercial plane maker by deliveries, vowed to match Boeing in orders by the end of the year, although it now trails by more than 200 planes. Boeing has more than 700 orders this year, compared with about 500 for Airbus.

Airbus also announced deals worth $4.6 billion for jets including the A350, its mid-sized A330-200s and the A320.
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