Aegis to hire about 7,000 in FY17, ramp up global presence

Mumbai: Business process management company Aegis Thursday said it will hire 7,000 people globally, of which around half will be in India, and open more centres in key markets like Malaysia and South Africa in 2016-17.

"We would be hiring about 7,000 people globally in the next fiscal. Of these, about 3,000-3,500 (hirings) would be in India," the company's Global Chief Executive Sandip Sen told PTI.

He said this is part of a three-year plan of taking the total number of employees to 55,000, from the present strength of 40,000.

In India, the e-commerce, banking and finance, and telecom verticals are the major engines of business growth, he said.

At present, Aegis operates 25 centres in the country, of which seven in smaller cities like Karnal, Shimoga and Guwahati were added last year, he said.

The company is looking to open one to two centres in the country next fiscal, he said.

He said there are some difficulties when it comes to skill-sets in smaller centres, and added that government initiatives on skilling would help the industry.

Among its international markets, he said Malaysia and Saudi Arabia are witnessing good traction.

Aegis is targeting to open a third centre in Malaysia, in either Penang or Iskandar, entailing an investment of up to USD 4 million over a three-year period, he said.

Saudi Arabia, which contributes a fifth of its overall revenues, is also an important geography and the company employs about 2,500 people there at present, he said.

In South Africa, it may open one more centre in Durban, he said.

He said the company is targeting to close 2015-16 with revenue of USD 500 million, but declined to comment on the revenue growth in the next fiscal or over a medium-term.

Aegis would be able to outperform Nasscom's BPM revenue growth estimate of 10-12 per cent, he said, but did not specify the number.

The company is cash-positive and reporting profits, he said, adding that it will utilise the money for its expansion projects.