Basman | Explore: IT Outsourcing

Razib Ahmed writes in the IndianRaj online:

It is true that Indian IT workers are skilled and have good command over English language but clients feel more comfortable to deal with people who understand them even better than the Indians.
 
In order to fill this gap, the Indian IT companies have devised two new strategies. First, they have started to hire foreign workers. S Padmanabhan, Human Resources Manager, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has admitted that eight of every hundred of Tata’s workers are foreigners. The big names in Indian IT sectors have started to shift their attention to the foreign workers to meet up the demands of their clients and make them feel more comfortable in dealing with the company. 
 

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BBC reports from a conference in the city of Hyderabad, that India faces a shortfall of half a million skilled workers by 2010:

Nasscom President Kiran Karnik told the conference that the availability of skilled engineers would be the biggest challenge for industry in the years to come.

He said the IT industry in India needed something like 350,000 engineers per annum, but no more than 150,000 of the most highly-skilled engineers were available each year.

This was creating severe shortages of talent, Mr Karnik said, and the industry was definitely concerned.

At present, the IT and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industries in India employ 1.3 million people. This year India’s software exports are expected to reach $30bn while the domestic software business is likely to be worth $7-8bn.

Poster anouncing employment opportunities in callcenters and other business process outsourcing (BPO) operations on a wall next to the Shavij Nagar bus station in Bangalore [Credits: Photo by Paul Keller].

But if you really need a good IT and/or BPO job in India it will be much more convenient for you to look into the internet. And here is the right place for it: I just recommend the always up-to-date, accurate and motivating Walk-In For Jobs:

Walkin.WordPress.com is the No. 1 Job Blog based out of Asia. It provides information about the Current Job Postings and Walk-in Interviews happening as and when.

1. It is the fastest growing Job Blog.
2. It is a top rated WordPress blog out of thousands of blogs.
3. It is having >3000 subscribers with more users being added daily.
4. Job Posting is completely FREE currently.
5. It reached 100000 Visitors and 200000 Page Views last month.

From a recruiter’s perspective, we offer a unique way to reach the elusive passive candidates.So,all the recruiters and job referrers are welcome to join us in this next level of recruitment.

I wish you happy job hunting, too! And don’t forget to tell your new employer and management about Walk-In (the resources of IT outsourcing) and Basman (the business of IT outsourcing)! … And drop me an ecard or postal view card from whereever you are.

Infosys Technologies Ltd. today announced that 148 professionals have achieved certification for The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF™ 8), resulting in the largest number of professionals with this accreditation at any one company in the world. The Open Group is a vendor- and technology-neutral consortium focused on open standards and global interoperability within and between enterprises.

Sohel Aziz, EMEA Head for Technology Consulting at Infosys commented: “TOGAF is the most important and well adopted standard for developing and implementing enterprise architecture activities. Our commitment to The Open Group’s TOGAF standards ensures we have the skills, capabilities and processes to enable our customers to execute and govern Enterprise Architecture to derive tangible business value.”

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Launch Strengthens Company’s Global HR BPO Capabilities, Enhances Client Service

Hewitt Associates, a global human resources services company, announced today the launch of mobility operations in Shanghai, strengthening the company’s global HR BPO capabilities and enhancing client service.  In addition to Shanghai, the company delivers mobility services from North America and Europe.

The company will provide mobility services, which include relocation, logistics, international assignment administration, as well as the integration of payroll and other benefits, to several multinational clients operating in Asia.  In total, Hewitt delivers mobility services — a component of Hewitt’s HR outsourcing suite of services—to more than 200 multinational clients and 10,000 employees in 100 countries.

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What a coincedence, duh? In August IBM had publicly stated its intention to invest $6 billion over the next three years developing its hi-tech workforce in India.

Now Paul McDougall reports today in InformationWeek:

IBM is quietly laying off about 400 U.S.-based engineers who have been working on the development of components for one of the technology giant’s most important hardware products, according to sources familiar with the company’s plans.

The cuts are taking place at IBM engineering facilities around the country, including sites located in Austin, Tex., Burlington, Vt., San Jose, Calif., Raleigh, N.C., and Rochester, Minn. The cuts have also touched IBM locations in Poughkeepsie and Fishkill, N.Y.

The affected engineers are developing components for IBM’s line of BladeCenter servers–one of the company’s best-selling hardware products. Sales of BladeCenter systems, which feature a slimmed-down profile for ease of management and expandability, enjoyed a 35% year-over-year increase in IBM’s second quarter. During the same period, IBM’s hardware sales overall increased only 3%, according to the company’s second-quarter financial report.

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The demand for UK skills is higher than its supply according to the inaugural briefing

Manpower Inc. announced that it has launched a new global research laboratory, the Manpower Human Resources Lab at the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

The aim of the Manpower Human Resources Lab is to establish a leading centre of excellence and important thought leadership platform for the study and analysis of the impact of HR and labour market decisions and trends on productivity at all levels. The Lab will link innovative data analysis to the practical world of business management which will be used to inform and support Talent Management professionals worldwide.

The inaugural industry briefing was held at the Lab on September 12, revealing that the overall return on investment for university degrees is still at a high level in Britain compared to international standards. Employers continue to offer generous salaries to graduates, suggesting that there is as yet no over-supply of this group of people.

And, although some of the new vocational qualifications are being found to have very low or minimal economic value, the labour market nevertheless continues to place a very high value on more basic skills, indicating that the demand for skills continues to be higher than its supply.

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Overall Asia Pacific BPO market growth to slow to 9 percent in 2006

Human resources business process outsourcing (HR BPO) now represents the biggest component of the overall BPO market in Asia Pacific, according to Gartner, Inc.

Payroll services, benefits administration and training and development are the most common HR activities outsourced in the region. The Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) HR BPO market is expected to reach US$1.3 billion in 2006, representing 24.7 percent of the total BPO market and an increase of 9 percent from US$1.2 billion in 2005.

The overall BPO market in Asia Pacific is expected to reach US$5.4 billion in 2006, an increase of 13.5 percent over 2005. Australia experienced growth rates higher than the Asia Pacific average for HR BPO, at 10 percent from 2005 to 2006. The total BPO market in Australia will expand from A$779 million in 2005 to A$855 million in 2006.

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Despite being the world’s most populous country, filled with people who would prefer to work for foreign companies, multinational corporations operating in China are finding their businesses hindered by a pervasive talent shortage and struggling to retain their management and employees. A new White Paper by Manpower Inc., examines this paradox and offers insight and answers to help multinationals improve their talent management strategies in China.

“Ninety percent of the world’s top 500 multinationals have now invested in China, yet many of them are struggling to generate the sales or growth they want because of talent management challenges,” said Jeffrey A. Joerres, Chairman & CEO of Manpower Inc. “Recruiting the right people, retaining the best staff and developing leaders of the future are difficult tasks in any market. For foreign companies operating in China, the difficulties are magnified by the talent shortage — particularly of managers and executives — and the difficulty of understanding how to adapt talent management strategies to the country’s unique business culture and values.”

Manpower’s White Paper, The China Talent Paradox, offers five practical strategies for multinational corporations to embrace if they want to improve employee attraction, engagement and retention in China:

    1.  Create a learning organization
    2.  Appoint competent leaders
    3.  Establish an appropriate organization and culture for China
    4.  Provide competitive compensation and benefits packages
    5.  Select the right people

“It is vital that organizations view these five strategies as a holistic, integrated solution,” said Joerres. “Neglecting even one of the strategies will weaken the solution considerably.”

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Getronics and Randstad Holding announced today that they have reached agreement on the purchase by Randstad Holding of Getronics’ Netherlands HR Services (PinkRoccade HR Services) effective per 1 September. This agreement was reached by signing a letter of intent. With this deal, Randstad Holding will acquire all the contracts, expertise and the approximately 200 employees presently working for HR Services. The expected purchase price is €65 million for a debt and cash free company. The expected closing of this transaction is in Q4 2006 and is subject to, amongst others, workers council and antitrust clearance.

“This deal strengthens our market position in HR services, specifically in personnel and salary administration services. It is a great addition to our range of HR services. With our new colleagues, we trust we can keep growing this business further, making it a corner stone of our HR Solutions portfolio,” says Jacques van den Broek, member of the executive board of Randstad Holding.

“We are pleased to have found a solid partner with an excellent market standing in Randstad” stated Klaas Wagenaar, CEO of Getronics. “Following this, we will continue to build a strong go-to-market relationship with our new strategic partner.”