“We didn’t miss the (Satyam’s buyout) bus. We let it go ! ” Partha De Sarkar – CEO, Hinduja Global - Source: BPO Voice

Hinduja Group is one of the largest diversified groups in the world spanning the globe. Their foray into the BPO business started in the year 2000 with one client and 25 employees. Today, Hinduja Global Solutions has 23 delivery centers with around 15,000 employees across the US, Canada, Mauritius, the Philippines and India all working towards creating leaders out of their clients. BPOVoice talked to Partha De Sarkar – CEO Hinduja Global Solutions limited (HGSL) on various important issues that the industry is facing in the midst of turbulent times. Below is the 1st part of the interview.

In your opinion, by how much did the downturn reduce attrition and increase business in the Indian outsourcing industry?
The Indian BPO industry successfully re-engineered itself to face the challenges of the global financial meltdown and emerged as a net hirer even during the worst phase of recession. It has reaffirmed the faith of the global community in the robust and cost-effective models of the Indian Outsourcing Industry. The global slow down has impacted the IT companies differently when compared to the ITES (BPO) companies. That is because, spends on IT projects represent capital expenditure for our clients, whereas spends on ITES projects represent savings in their operating expenditure.

In this downturn, client companies have gone slow on their capital expenditures. That has impacted the IT companies more than the ITES companies. The most diversified ITES companies have continued to show good results even in the current difficult circumstances. The players who have been affected in the ITES space are players with high sector concentration in the banking and financial sectors, especially the mortgages sector. Well diversified businesses like ours have in-fact benefited positively from the slow down, because it has increased the pressure from our clients to outsource/offshore. That is the reason why HGSL has shown consistent and strong financial performance for the last six quarters, even in the midst of the financial crisis. Though the problem of attrition hasn’t been arrested, the recession has definitely slowed it down. I would like to believe that the Indian BPO industry is slowly becoming an employer of choice, albeit not a compulsion.

Read the complete interview here BPOVoice