HCL to up BPO headcount by 1,000 in Q3

Pragati Simlote

NEW DELHI: Having recorded 44 percent growth YoY for the quarter ended September 30, 2005, HCL's BPO division is planning to increase its headcount by 1,000 employees in the next quarter.

HCL has announced a 76 percent increase in net profit for the quarter ended September 30 and is riding high on signing three multi-year, multi-service transformational wins of over $50 million each. Gross revenue for the company rose 30 percent to $220.57 million in Q2.

The BPO division has registered a CAGR of 67 percent in revenue over the last two years and added 900 employees during the last quarter. HCL has signed a $100 million+ long-term contract with a leading global telecom major.

According to head of HCL's BPO operations Ranjit Narsimhan said, “We have already recruited 900 out of the total of 1,900 employees that are needed in the BPO segment to service this client. We are increasing our employee base by 1,000 during the next quarter and are setting up two centers — one each in Noida and Chennai to cater largely to this telecom major. We plan to invest around $10 million for building the infrastructure, technology and interior in these two centers.”

The Noida center would be spread over 95,000 sq. ft., while the Chennai center would be spread over 60,000 sq. ft. Both the centers would add 2,400 seats across multiple shifts to HCL's BPO business.

Commenting on new client acquisition, Narsimhan said that HCL has not signed any new client this year as it was focusing at consolidating its existing client base. “The BPO division is currently in talks with customers and going forward deals are expected to close in JFM 2006,” he added.

HCL's corporate VP of finance SL Narayanan said that the company is investing Rs 450 crore for setting up facilities in Noida, Chennai and Bangalore over a period of two financial years.

“Our Chennai facility would start this quarter, while our Noida facility would be operational by December 2006. We have also started site development over 26 acre of land in Bangalore, which is expected to be complete in around 30 months,” he said.

Narayanan added that the company is planning to divest some of its real estate properties in Noida and Chennai to part finance the facilities.