BANGALORE: India's bellwether software services company, Infosys Technologies Ltd, said on Saturday that it planned to add another 1,500 to 2,000 employees to its army of 9,800 in a drive to seek growth in tough times. The firm's chairman and chief executive officer, N R Narayana Murthy, told shareholders at its annual general meeting the firm intended take advantage of opportunities that may arise during the current technology slowdown.
"To this end, Infosys plans to have all the ingredients of growth in place - infrastructure, people, processes and systems. Consequently, we anticipate $80 million in capital expenditure and intend to add between 1,500 and 2,000 people to our workforce during fiscal year 2002," Murthy said.
"This would enable your company to take advantage of the upturn in the economy as and when it occurs," he said. He said recent events do not signal the end of a technology boom but only "initial hiccups" linked to a new technology. As companies spend more on computers and software to improve productivity and customer relations, more opportunities would open up, he said.
He stuck to a forecast of 30 percent revenue growth for the year that ends in March 2002, made on April 11 after Infosys announced revenues for 2000/01 more than doubled to Rs 19.6 billion ($417 million) from Rs 9.21 billion in the previous year.
Shares of Infosys, which became India's first firm to list on the technology-laden Nasdaq exchange, plunged after the slow-down signal. They have since recovered to a modest level.
In response to a shareholder's question, he said there was no question of laying off employees and hiring plans were only a reinforcement of its commitment to push for further growth. However, he said the pricing pressures, would be higher during the slowdown as clients would be more demanding.
Infosys serves global corporations by offering software services that are increasingly mixed with business consultancy. Company officials said 15 percent of Infosys' software engineers were right now "on the bench", a reference to unused employees awaiting new work to turn up.
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.