use warnings;
#use strict;
use XML::Simple;
use Data::Dumper;

my $xml = XML::Simple->new();
my $data = $xml->XMLin("data1.xml");

print Dumper($data); 

##</code><code>##

<?xml version='1.0'?>
<employees>
	<employee>
		<name>John Doe</name>
		<age>43</age>
		<sex>M</sex>
		<department>Operations</department>
	</employee>
	<employee>
		<name>Jane Doe</name>
		<age>31</age>
		<sex>F</sex>
		<department>Accounts</department>
	</employee>
</employees> 

##</code><code>##

$data = {
          'employee' => [
                          {
                            'department' => 'Operations',
                            'name' => 'John Doe',
                            'sex' => 'M',
                            'age' => '43'
                          },
                          {
                            'department' => 'Accounts',
                            'name' => 'Jane Doe',
                            'sex' => 'F',
                            'age' => '31'
                          }
                        ]
        }; 

##</code><code>##

$VAR1 = {
          'employee' => {
                        'John Doe' => {
                                      'department' => 'Operations',
                                      'age' => '43',
                                      'sex' => 'M'
                                    },
                        'Jane Doe' => {
                                      'department' => 'Accounts',
                                      'age' => '31',
                                      'sex' => 'F'
                                    }
                      }
        };