Convergys to double India headcount to 24,000 by 2012

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"India, along with the Philippines, is among the largest Convergys’ bases outside North America and we plan to double the India headcount in the next three to five years," said Clint Streit, president (customer management), Convergys.

According to Streit, India has an edge over Philippines in terms of both quality and quantity. "The sheer demographics give India an edge. While attrition in Philippines is among the lowest in the world, its small size means there won’t be any significant growth opportunity after another two years. India also scores on quality," he said.

The Cincinnati-headquartered firm, which provides customer care, human resources and billing services and has eight contact centers in India, plans to expand into tier II cities in the world’s second fastest growing economy. "With the exception of Kolkata, there is no scope for further growth in the metros. We plan to move into tier II cities which are now ready with infrastructure," Streit said.

According to Streit, with the rupee continuing to appreciate, the company plans to begin servicing the India market in a bid to offset the impact of currency fluctuations.

"We have been slightly hit by the rupee appreciation. We plan to begin doing in-country business in 2008 which would help us mitigate the impact of sudden currency movements. We would also introduce clauses in our contracts to take into account such variations," Streit said.

According to Convergys CEO, David F. Dougherty, rising real estate costs are posing a challenge to its business in India and it is looking to move some work to home-based workers, provided there is sound bandwidth and client comfort with the idea.

"With that caveat, it is clearly an opportunity in the future," Dougherty said.

The company has taken hedging positions to soften the impact of the rupee appreciation against the US dollar, and was also managing high attrition rates by offering a combination of training, coaching and other incentives, Dougherty said.

Convergys also plans to increase the non-voice component of work, including financial services and healthcare services outsourcing, from 5 percent to 20-25 percent in the next few years.

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