IT enabled services creating 200 jobs a day

India added 200 people to its booming infotech-enabled services sector every working day of 2002. As an average mid-sized call centre employs around 200 people, this amounts to a call centre mushrooming every day of the year in the country.

All told, the sector created 64,500 jobs during the year, says a survey by the National Association of Software and Services Companies. At the end of 2002, the number of infotech-enabled service professionals in the country stood at 171,100.

The intake of these professionals was the highest in south India, which accounted for 44 per cent of the hiring for the year, while the lowest intake was in the east with only 6 per cent of the hiring taking place there. The hiring by the infotech-enabled service companies was heavily in favour of women, with 65 per cent of fresh recruits female.

Among those hired last year, the largest number were employed by companies operating in content-related areas. About 60,000 people are employed by content companies, which are estimated to generate $650 million revenue in 2002.

The second largest segment in the sector is customer care, with 54,000 employees and a $700 million projected revenue.

The average annual salary of an entry level infotech-enabled service professional was Rs 216,000 a year, and the salary of a head of operations, who typically has about 10 years of experience and a management degree, was Rs 1,686,000 a year.

The survey also points out that an infotech-enabled service professional with about two to four years experience was paid a salary of Rs 299,000 a year, while a team leader with over four years of experience was getting an annual pay package of Rs 396,000.

The Nasscom survey, however, points out that steps should be taken to ensure that there is professional talent available for the sector.

"It is important to note that the skill profile required for the infotech-enabled service industry is very different from that needed by the infotech services sector. While there is no requirement for high technical, engineering or computer science skills, it is imperative for professionals in this sector to have the linguistic skills and the appropriate domain and functional expertise," the survey suggests.