Date:16/10/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/10/16/stories/2004101601930500.htm

Back Hiring costs to go up 80 pc, says e-Serve

Our Bureau

Chennai , Oct. 15

E-SERVE International Ltd, a BPO company which recruited over 2,000 additional people this year, will see its salary bill rise to Rs 180 crore from Rs 130 crore last year. "Business is growing," said Mr K S Kumar, Head - Human Resources of the company, said.

Speaking at a seminar here at `The Hindu Opportunities Fair', Mr Kumar said that costs of hiring were also going up. Last year, the company spent Rs 5 crore on hiring people, which is expected to go up by 80 per cent this year, he said.

He said that e-Serve had recently set up a call centre at Chennai exclusively for hiring. Job seekers may ring up 55015501 and learn all about what kind of profiles e-Serve is looking for, how to apply and also the status of an application.

Mr Kumar said that e-Serve preferred to spend more upfront in setting up the infrastructure for recruitment so that the per-hire costs are kept low.

e-Serve, an affiliate company of Citibank Overseas Investment Corporation, is one of the five biggest BPOs in India. Mr Kumar told Business Line that e-Serve worked with over 100 recruitment agencies— channel partners— who do the candidate selection for e-Serve.