Teleperformance aiming at more gender diverse, inclusive workforce in India

Business process management firm hired 4,500 people in Feb globally, of which 40% were women; the company is also

Business process management firm Teleperformance hired about 4,500 people in February globally, of which 40 per cent were women, a number that is adding to the firm's commitment to gender and overall diversity in the workforce, said Aditya Arora, CEO.

"We hired upwards of about 4,500 people just in February, and we had about 40 per cent as ladies, in fact, which is our aspirational goal," said Arora. "The other big task we've taken on is to employ as many specially-abled prospects that come up. We have taken work from home as a big advantage to reach out to people who have built an ecosystem for themselves in their own residences, and also ex- Armed Forces and ex-defense personnel. This has been our focus for the last 8-9 months."  

The Paris-headquartered company reported full year and fourth quarter results for the year ended December 31, 2020, on February 25.  It had a full-year revenue of 5.7 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 11.6 per cent at constant exchange rates. Teleperformance expects like-for-like growth of at least 9 per cent in 2021, and revenue of around 7 billion euros, including acquisitions in high-value services, in 2022.

In 2020, operations in the India and Middle East region generated 452 million euros in revenue, down 5.2 per cent like-for-like and 11.0 per cent in reported currency due to a negative currency effect related to the decline of the Indian rupee against the euro.  

The focus on hiring has been helped by Indian government allowing other service providers (OSPs) employees to work from home or anywhere. Employees of such providers, mostly BPM firms, were not allowed work from home for certain kinds of sensitive work under a Department of Telecom regulation. However,m with strict lockdowns in many parts of the world necessitating work from home, this regulation was modified, making hiring easier across different kinds of roles.

While the firm is open to working with short term employees or gig workers if required, but is also reaching out to former employees. "We are reaching out to colleagues left us, maybe in the year gone by to see if we can employ them, unless they are settled (in their new job). They were with Teleperformance India, they were performing well, we have records and all background checks. If they agree, great," said Arora.