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Gurgaon News - 2004

BPO Bonanza - Another 25,000 jobs in next three years

Pune, India : With 1,500 people getting employment with a BPO every month, Pune has taken the top slot in growth percentage.

Twenty thousand and still growing. That in short is the employment scene in Pune’s business process outsourcing (BPO) sector. Bangalore would have taken the giant leap of becoming the back-office of the world, but today Pune is fast catching up. If now the city’s BPO workforce stands at around 20,000 people, in another three years it is going to double or even more. The recruitment scene is simply hotting up.

From multinationals to Indian majors, they have all set up shop and are recruiting in a big way. If a year back, IT-enabled services (ITES) firms from Delhi and Bangalore came down to the city to recruit people, today that has ceased. Instead, there are huge opportunities available in the city itself.

‘‘Our estimate is that another 20,000-25,000 jobs will be created in the next three years. The companies: You name them and they are here,’’ said Kunal Banerji, centre head for Ma Foi Management Consultants Ltd.

With the city attracting BPO firms in hordes, people in the Rs 5,000-6,000 per month salary bracket and working in these call centres have found their feet firmly on the city’s ground.

Check this out. Companies are hiring from as high as 2,000 people per year to as low as 300 people per year. On an average, nearly 1,500 people are recruited every month by BPO companies. ‘‘Pune has recorded a phenomenal growth in the ITES sector in the last couple of years with over 50 per cent growth in 2003, while the growth in the rest of the country stayed stagnant at around 35 per cent.

Almost 20 large BPO units have come with over 1,000 jobs and another 15 with over 300 each,’’ said Nirupama V G, executive vice-president of Bangalore-based staffing solution company TeamLease.

‘‘Every year 50,000 students graduate from the city and 10-15 per cent of them are the target audience for BPO firms. In addition, the educational institutions here have a very large audience that is basically English-speaking, as they come from other parts of the country,’’ added Banerji, explaining Pune’s advantages.

‘‘The Pune ITES industry is fast picking up. The city is now at the number one position in terms of growth percentage, a distinct change from 2000, when it was at the bottom of the pile (according to Nasscom figures),’’ Nirupama said.

In fact, seeing the huge potential in the ITES segment, Ma Foi has set up a separate division for it. ‘‘It is a very important part of our business target,’’ Banerji says.

It is not just the fleet operators and training centres, but even recruitment agencies, riding on the BPO wave, that are smiling all the way to the banks.

OPPORTUNITY CALLING
WHY PUNE
All big players, from MNC to Indian majors, present
Hiring: High of 2,000 people per year, low of 300 people
50,000 students graduate every year
BPOs target 10-15 per cent of graduates
Educational infrastructure, outstation English-speaking students

THE FUTURE
20 large BPOs to come up with 1,000 jobs each
Another 15 units with 300 jobs each
70-80 pc jobs in voice and data management
20-30 pc in knowledge service division (non-voice)
Graduates: for jobs in voice, data management
Post-graduates: for knowledge services