German publisher Springer Science+Business Media plans to shift about 1,550 jobs to India by expanding its existing English language publishing operations in the country, the company's chief executive said on Wednesday.
The Berlin-based company also plans to publish German works from India.
Springer, which already employs 1,200 typesetters and editors in India, proposes to move finance and marketing tasks to Chennai, where it has an office, Chief Executive Derk Haank told reporters.
"We constantly review each of our tasks and ask ourselves why this is being done in Germany or New York," Haank said, adding, "We ask if we can do it in India instead."
Haank said two-thirds of the company's US$1.23 billion annual revenues come from English-language publishing, with the rest coming form about 100 trade magazines in German.
The success of the outsourcing of English-language publishing to India has convinced the company to try to outsource German-language publishing to the country, he said.
A small team of Germans is being sent to Chennai to teach the European language to Indian staffers, he said, adding that the German-language publishing operation should be up and running by the year-end.
The company, formerly known as BertelsmannSpringer, will increase its worldwide staff from 5,000 people to 5,500 in two years, with about half those jobs in India, Haank said.
That will mean about 1,550 job cuts in Germany and elsewhere.
Springer, an 164-year-old company with operations in 18 countries, publishes scientific, technical and business publications. It publishes about 100,000 articles and 4,000 special interest books each year.
India is also Springer's fastest growing market for niche publications, with revenues at $10 million a year and growing at 35 per cent each year.
The company's overall revenues are growing at about 5 per cent a year, he added.
