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Indian IT firms seem to have devised a method to cut human resource costs in the US and Canada.
They have begun to tap the ‘rural’ areas to man their near-shore centres.
Mahindra Satyam has opened its fourth such centre in the last six months.
Near-shore centres
It’s not so much about addressing the issue of resentment against outsourcing, it makes business sense to hire locals in generals and talent from rural areas in particular.
Lakshmanan Chidambaram, Head of North American business of the company, said hiring from the rural areas to man the near-shore centres would reduce wage bill by 30-35 per cent. The attrition rate too would drop.
Opening the near-shore centres is quite advantageous for operations. “You can avoid the intrinsic disadvantages of graveyard shifts (night shifts to attend the calls of customers of its clients) by recruiting locals. Also, certain types of outsourcing work can be better done there,” he said.
The company had about 5,000 employees in the US. It plans to have 1,500 employees in the near-shore centres in the next two years. About 12 per cent of the 100-member sales team were locals.
US market
On the reduced pie from the US market, he said it was a typical December quarter where large customers decided to keep away (from taking spending decisions). “We have closed three deals in that quarter, including one each from Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 firms. Ramping up is going on. Revenues would flow in this quarter,” he said.
kurmanath.kanchi@thehindu.co.in
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