BANGALORE: There were 370 employees in Wipro Technologies who exited as part of the `involuntary attrition’ during the second quarter of 2002-03. An additional 147 employees quit as part of the voluntary attrition, getting the total attrition to 517 employees, in the same quarter. Reports say that there were roughly 450 employees who were a part of the performance-based attrition last year.P>

Wipro Technologies, Vice Chairman and CEO, Vivek Paul, said, "The involuntary attrition is part of the annual performance management exercise the company engages in. In this exercise individuals differing with the company’s performance levels are identified and counseled to seek better opportunity outside Wipro for their respective career growth. The whole exercise of counseling the individuals and helping them seek opportunity outside Wipro starts of from 1 April."

Wipro Technologies added a gross strength of 1270 employees, during the quarter ended September 30^th 2002, with a net addition of 753 professionals. The company’s total strength as of September 30^th 2002 was recorded at 11,298.

"We are hiring as per the actual business needs instead of the anticipated business needs. We are also witnessing the clearing of benches, which means the utilization rates have increased to the optimum. Another positive indicator is the strong growth in volumes. We also see pricing pressure flattening," added Paul.

During the quarter Wipro Technologies added 30 news clients, seven of whom are in the Fortune 1000 list. It also two orders for total product ownership, Ericsson and StorageTek. After the acquisitions of Spectramind, GE Healthcare and Ericsson’s R&D units in India, Wipro Ltd., is still on the lookout for more acquisitions.

"We are open to acquisitions and are closely working and watching for prospective businesses which supplements and compliments our services and adds value to our customers. We are working on some possible acquisitions in America and Europe," informed Wipro Chairman, Azim Premji.

The company’s IT enabled business unit, Wipro Spectramind, acquired four new customers, during the JAS quarter, taking the total tally of customers to 11. A third center, after Delhi and Mumbai, in Chennai is on the cards and is expected to be operational from November.

For the quarter ended September 30^th 2002, Wipro Technologies recorded a revenue of Rs 680 crore, a growth of 19 percent over the corresponding quarter last fiscal. For the half year ended September 30^th 2002, the revenues of the company stood at Rs 1,307 crore, a growth of 20 percent over the first half of the previous financial year.

Wipro Spectramind clocked a revenue of Rs 42 crore for the second quarter of the current fiscal, while Wipro Healthcare and Life Sciences registered a revenue of Rs 24 crore for the same period. On the outlook for the quarter ending December 31st 2002, Premji stated, "We estimate revenues of Wipro Technologies to be approximately at $ 152 million, in Wipro Spectramind to be approximately at $ 12.5 million and in Healthcare and Life Science business at approximately at $ 3.5 million."