Bangalore, June 28: Software services exporter HCL Technologies aims to expand its workforce size in its local back-office services unit by more than 60 per cent to 2,500 by March 2004, a senior official said on Friday. The increase in hiring is meant to handle extra business as prospective and existing clients scale up outsourcing to cut costs, Sujit Baksi, chief executive officer at HCL Technologies BPO Services, a fully-owned subsidiary of HCL, said.

"There have been significant ramp-ups in April-June for the pilots started in the last two quarters," he said, referring to back-office services orders which the firm had earlier won.
The New Delhi-based HCL, India's No. 5 software exporter, entered the fast-growing business process outsourcing sector about two years ago.
HCL BPO presently employs about 1,500 people in India. Bureau Report