Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firm Steria said the company is delaying its hiring plans in India by another year because of the Euro zone crisis.
The company announced in 2011 that it would hire around 3,000 people in India to reach a total strength of 9,000 personnel by 2014, but now it will meet the requirement by 2015.
The Paris-based company has 6,000 employees in India, and with a presence in 16 countries, it has 20,000 people in total.
However, the company said the macro economy in Europe has improved over the last one year and it will now step up its work with new deals also coming in, especially services through cloud computing.
“The IT industry in Europe declined by 2 per cent last year, but now it has improved and we have left behind the crisis and going forward. We will continue focus on our domain areas including cloud enablement, security and data management,” Francois Enaud, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Steria, told Business Line.
He said this segment of its businesses contributes 10 per cent to Steria’s overall revenue and is growing by double-digit every year.
Francois said with these capabilities, the company will target Government projects, transport, banking, defence, energy utilities and police for traffic management, with India, Germany and Nordic countries as its main customers , as there opportunities to expand business in these regions.
Mergers and acquisitions
“Apart from India, we are betting big in other Asian countries also including Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan,” he said adding that with the optimistic approach, the company is also open to mergers and acquisitions in any of these geographies, which can particularly drive value to the company.
Investment
On the investment, he said the company spends 1 per cent of its total revenue every year and will continue the trend in its domain areas of cloud enablement, security and data management.
Listed in Euronext Paris, the company had recorded a revenue of €448 million for the third quarter ended October 2012, compared to €437 million in the corresponding quarter the previous year.
ronendrasingh.s@thehindu.co.in