Growth in IT industry leads to call centre boom

With manufacturing not giving much to cheer about, the IT indutry in Chandigarh has led to the growth of call centres as well customer support centres in the tricity, i.e Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali.

At present 20-25 call centres and customer support centres (having more than 50 seats) are operational in the tricity employing 4,500-5,000 people, with Dell alone employing 2,000 at its customer support centre in Mohali.

The companies are looking for candidates not only in the tricity but from Amritsar and Jalandhar as well. Big names associated with Chandigarh and Mohali include Dell, Infosys, Excel Callnet, IDS Infotech, E3R, etc.

The manufacturing industry in Punjab is on a downward trend, with big units like JCT's Mohali unit and Molins of India, besides several other manufacturing units in mid- and small-scale segments, having closed operations.

But the emergence of call centres and customer support centres in the tricity has really proved a bonanza, specially for the unemployed youth. They have emerged as great employment generators.

A source in the industry said: "Earlier, engineering colleges and management institutes can boast of 80-100 per cent placement. But with the emergence of customer support centre and call centres in the tricity, it seems the even the colleges that impart non-professional courses can provide for good placements."

Sixteen call centres and customer support centres have been registered with the Software Technology Park of India. The companies are looking for experienced candidates as well as freshers.

Graduates especially are in great demand in any discipline, with good communications skills in English, apart engineering graduates for technical support. Also, Chandigarh and its periphery are emerging as hot destinations for IT/ITES services.

Infosys, IBM Daksh, Virsa, and Outerbay have started operations here in Rajiv Gandhi Technology Park (RGCTP), and Wipro, Tech Mahindra, e-Sys, Bharti Televentures, Patni Computers, etc. have their plans lined up.

While the first phase is spread over 123 acres, the second phase is over 250 acres. Seeing the immense response from the IT companies, the administration is in the process of acquiring land for the third phase of the park, which will be spread over another 250 acres of land.

Quark, Dell and IDS Infotech are operating from Mohali.