BPO Bonanza

Twenty thousand and still growing. That in short is the employment scene in Pune8217;s business process outsourcing BPO sector. Bangalore...

Twenty thousand and still growing. That in short is the employment scene in Pune8217;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 city8217;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.

8216;8216;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,8217;8217; 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 city8217;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. 8216;8216;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,8217;8217; said Nirupama V G, executive vice-president of Bangalore-based staffing solution company TeamLease.

8216;8216;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,8217;8217; added Banerji, explaining Pune8217;s advantages.

Story continues below this ad

8216;8216;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,8217;8217; Nirupama said.

In fact, seeing the huge potential in the ITES segment, Ma Foi has set up a separate division for it. 8216;8216;It is a very important part of our business target,8217;8217; 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.