Aegis to set up training academy with IIM help

Aegis, the business process outsourcing (BPO) arm of the Essar Group, has planned to include higher education as one of its business divisions. It has formalised a plan and brought in a multinational firm with expertise in customer experience management for this. It is also close to tying-up with a leading Indian Institute of Management (IIM) to devise a curriculum.

“The idea is to address the demand-supply gap of qualified people in the aspects of customer experience management and customer lifecycle management concepts that drive profitability in the services industry. So far, there is no institute or course like this being offered in India,” said a source. When asked, the company spokesperson declined to comment.

The source explained that the residential post-graduate certificate programme course would be conducted over 12-14 months and the fee would range between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh. The institute would be able to absorb around 1,000 people annually at each location. Beginning with a centre in South India, the plan is to go pan-India over the next few years, the sources added.

Aegis, it is understood, plans to absorb students from all the places where it has customers, so that they could be absorbed in the local business. With a headcount of 39,000, it has presence in 10 countries. The $600-million (Rs 2,670 crore) company provides voice and non-voice BPO services in verticals like BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance), healthcare and telecommunications.

Aegis plans to hire about 8,000 employees this year and could meet its hiring requirement from the institute as well.