It is boom time for Indian companies as more and more jobs from the US and Europe are outsourced to India. The financial results of the Indian outsourcing firms and industry sources reveal that the outsourcing industry is growing like never before.

However, the upcoming US presidential elections has slowed down the pace for the time being. US industry executives and business process outsourcing consultants expect that this trend will speed up after the US presidential election on November 2, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

While outsourcing has helped Indian companies post high profits, it has rendered many in the US jobless. Outsourcing has thus become a much-debated political topic in the run up to the US elections.

• India and Outsourcing: Complete Coverage

According to industry officials, many US companies have decided to outsource more contracts after the elections due to the media reports, and senators who have blacklisted certain companies, which outsource jobs to India and other countries. The country is also witnessing widespread protests against outsourcing.

A large number of US companies are outsourcing white-collar jobs, which has resulted in the boom in call centers and research & development centres in India. The companies are also eyeing other Asian countries, which offer quality services at cheap rates.

The Indian IT companies have largely benefited from this trend with a large chunk coming from the IT sector. Wipro's revenue in the second quarter has gone up by 44 per cent in addition to 19 new clients from the US. The revenues of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and Infosys Technologies also grew by an impressive 44 per cent and 52 per cent in the second quarter.

According to Forrester Research Inc, an estimated 315,000 US services jobs had been moved overseas by the end of 2003. Wipro, Tata and Satyam have seen a spurt in the demand for back office and research and development services from Europe and the US.

Wipro won 34 new clients during the last quarter, including 19 from the US and eight from Europe. Tata has added 52 clients during the last quarter, particularly from companies in telecommunications, banking and financial services. Tata is the largest offshore provider of software and back-office services to General Electric Co. of Fairfield, Conn.

Industry sources reveal that a large portion of the revenue of these IT companies come from outsourcing and companies are planning to capitalize on the orders post elections, said the WSJ.

The IT companies in India are on a hiring spree. Wipro hired more than 5,500 employees in the recent quarter, of which 2,200 employees are working on business processing.

The US based outsourcing companies also are growing. Electronic Data Systems Corporation signed a $1.1 billion outsourcing deal with Bank of America Corp. of Charlotte, N.C in the last quarter.

EDS employs 120,000 workers, including about 9,200 in lower-wage countries such as India, Ireland, Brazil and Hungary. EDS plans to increase the number of employees in countries like India to about 20,000 by the end of 2005.

Technology Partners International, a Texas firm that helps other companies structure outsourcing deals, says its number of significant deals valued at $1 billion and has been growing every quarter.

Riding high on the BPO wave are qualified young Indians who have a variety of jobs to choose from and an excellent pay package. Their salaries have also increased significantly over the years to retain potential employees.

Industry officials in the US are upbeat about the future prospects and agree that the boom will continue after the elections. The election debates on outsourcing have dampened the immediate plans of the companies but they ambitious plans in store.

Meanwhile, US politicians suggest that Americans should gear up to take on the new jobs with more training and better qualifications as the outsourcing has left many jobless especially in the IT sector. In the US presidential campaign, Kerry has proposed a plan will reduce the tax-based incentives to move jobs overseas, while President Bush has emphasized the need for additional education.

While the Bush-Kerry war wages on several issues including outsourcing, Indian companies are waiting to grab the new projects that are temporarily on hold. Irrespective of who wins the elections, Indian industry officials are looking forward to better prospects and stability in all sectors, reported the WSJ.