BPOs survive the storm Recession Impact

[dwarakesh]

HYDERABAD: If there is one industry that hasn't felt the domino effect of the financial crisis yet, it's the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector.

According to industry sources, the industry has seen a steady growth in 2008 with an expected growth of at least 20 per cent in the present year.

"Recession is a reality and this industry too has experienced a slowdown, but we haven't been as affected as the IT sector," says Raja Suresh, Founder CEO of SynchroServe Global Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

"One reason why the industry has not been affected is because most of the work is annuity business or contract driven with ongoing delivery of the services, where as in IT sector, projects have a definite timeline," he adds. Whether it be the contract driven business or the fact that BPOs generally don't carry out advanced hiring, they seem to have survived the storm as of now.

With pink slips being given out in the IT sector, more and more employees working for the BPO sector are a worried lot. "I was planning to move to Genpact as I heard that they pay is higher there, but now I am more concerned about keeping this job and don't plan to change companies any time soon," says an employee of another BPO Satyam-Nipuna. This insecurity too seems to have worked in favour of the industry. "Each year the industry loses 40 to 50 per cent of its employees due to attrition. However, now this has come down considerably," explains Mr. Raja.

More recruitments

There is light at the end of the tunnel, as the hiring in the industry continues at the same rate as last year. "We don't see any drop in recruitment. In fact, we plan to recruit more number at the lower level and mid-managerial level," says Manish Soman, Senior Vice-President, Genpact, adding that companies such as Genpact are always looking at infusing fresh blood to complement the growth.

A senior executive of a reputed BPO says that the though there has been a decrease in attrition rate, the need for new employees still remains.

"Each year at least over 1.5 lakh people are leaving and we are constantly looking at refilling the posts. Recession or no recession we need new people to handle the growth," he adds.

However, there are mixed opinions among freshers about working for the sector who feel that the 'career growth' is not as much as it is in IT sector.

"I am over-qualified to work for a BPO. It would be my last option if I don't get my joining date soon," says M. Ramya, a B.Tech graduate who was offered a job by an IT major. However others like Rithesh Kumar who works for a city-based BPO argue that employees of BPOs have been equally hit.

"If they were really recruiting as last year, then why should they ask the existing employees to work over time," he questions. But for many others like P. Srinivasulu, hailing from Sangareddy, BPOs are a boon and their source of livelihood.