LPOs on hiring spree in tier-II cities, to add 79,000 employees by 2015

With Indian legal processing outsourcing (LPO) industry on a hiring spree in tier-II cities, it is projected that manpower in the industry will grow to 79,000 by 2015.

Noida-based CPA Global, an LPO firm, with 650 employees on board is planning to add up to 1,000 people by end of July.

"We will look at investments in terms of hiring, training for employees etc Our hiring plans include experienced lawyers and engineers who will find a diverse portfolio and multiple stimulating opportunities to work at CPA Global" said Anand Sharma, CPA Global CFO and head of management.

On foraying into tier-II locations for talent, Sharma said, "CPA Global India strives to be an employer of choice for the bright talent. For the intellectually stimulating work profiles that we provide, our search is focused on the right talent irrespective of geographies. We are an employee driven company, hence we always welcome talented, value driven and deserving candidates".

"There is no question of cost arbitrage in selecting people from tier-II locations and compensation structure is purely driven by merit," said Sanjay Kamlani, co-CEO of Mumbai-based legal BPO Pangea3.

"Pangea3's hiring trend is increasing and we expect to continue to ramp up our overall employee headcount this year. Currently, we have more than 350 people in Mumbai and Delhi and we expect the number to reach 600 in 2010. We have already increased capacity in Mumbai up to 500 and in Delhi reaching 160 to accommodate this growth in professional team strength," said Kamlani.

He adds that the company is actively scouting for bright, promising law graduates from Faridabad, Goa, Jodhpur, Baroda, Ranchi, Chandigarh, Indore and Bhopal in addition to metros such as Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. "We have hired approximately 30% of our hires from tier two cities," said Kamlani. "We would be targeting the top law colleges in these cities for recruitment. These recruits form a part of our junior staff, whereas our experienced staff comes from top law firms such as Amarchand Mangaldas, Kochar, Mulla, J Sagar and Crawford Bailey and top corporates like Dell, General Electric, Orange, Infosys (INFOSYS.BO : 2529.55 -5.05), Tata Motors (TATAMOTORS.BO : 697.9 -13.5), Ford, Reliance, PwC and Monster.com".

Chennai-based LPO Law Wave feels hiring in tier II cities come into focus as openings in basic services like litigation support does not require much verbal communication. "Besides those who pass out of premier law schools and opt for core practice, the industry requires the remaining lot to man positions like team managers, project managers in LPO firms," said Senthil Kumar, general manager of Law Wave.