BPO companies move into smaller towns
By agencies   |   Monday, 18 July 2005, 19:30 IST
Printer Print Email Email
NEW DELHI: For thousands of graduates and undergraduates in smaller cities, opportunities in BPOs today continue to enhance career and employment prospects. According to Sunil Mehta, Vice-President of Nasscom, about 40 percent of the additional employment expected to be generated in the ITES sector in 2005-06 would be in places such as Visakhapatnam, Jaipur, Mangalore, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Pune, which were traditionally not associated with BPO. Employees of MphasiS' BPO Services which opened a center in Mangalore in April 2005 feel that exposure to global best practices have made them more competitive and at par with peers in bigger cities. The opportunity to earn at an early age and support the family is another positive. Moreover, the low cost of living leaves a room for substantial savings. A BPO employee says, "It has helped us to grow as an individual and a professional. World-class campus that provides facility of modern gyms and yoga classes has contributed immensely in improving the lifestyle. Opportunity to travel and interact with people from various countries and cultures has also helped in developing a broader outlook." The Mangalore center employs about 150 professionals and the number is expected to go up significantly in the next quarter, according to MphasiS. In addition, BPOs have created ancillary employment opportunities in transportation and maintenance, says Amit Kumar, Gecis employee. According to Devashish Ghosh, Chief Operating Officer, Wipro BPO, for the companies too, investing in smaller towns has proved to be virtual goldmine, given the talent pool, multiple service providers for telecom and bandwidth and strong education infrastructure. "Infrastructure sometimes, is an issue. But we have partnered with the Governments to overcome such problems and used our scale to build our own, at times,” says Ashok, Gecis.

siliconindia