IT services and business process outsourcing (BPO) firm MphasiS on Thursday said it plans to hire about 2,500-2,800 employees in the third quarter starting May 2010. During the first quarter starting November 2009, the firm had hired about 1,500 people. Ganesh Ayyar, CEO, MphasiS, said: ?We plan to hire about 2,800 people as we see the demand picking up.? He, however, refused give further details.
Ayyar said that the firm had seen an increase in attrition rates a few months back. However, its current attrition rates are around the industry standards. ?Attrition is expected to remain an issue as the market is slowly picking up. We are looking at going back to the traditional pay hike model around the middle of the year. This would be clearly based on the industry standards and we are not looking at heavy pay hikes in a bid to retain employees.?
MphasiS has made several acquisitions in the recent past, which have added to its headcount. The acquisition of Fortify Infrastructure Services brought 300 people with capabilities in remote operations management on board. Last year, MphasiS acquired a captive unit of AIG with 800 people for an undisclosed amount, which brought capabilities in growing its insurance business. Currently, the firm has a total headcount of about 35,000 people.
About 70% of MphasiS business is offshore-centric and the rising rupee is expected to have some impact. ?The rupee appreciation has been a concern and it is expected to impact the industry. We would continue following our structured hedging policy,? Ayyar said. Though many clients are loosening their purse strings, there are still pricing pressures, he added.
Currently, about 72% of its MphasiS revenues flow in from HP (60% as a partner and 12% as a client) and 30% from direct clients. MphasiS has three lines of business from HP? work for HP?s internal IT, work on projects from HP?s clients as a sub-contractor, and work that both HP and Mphasis have obtained through joint go-to-market strategies.