Sapient to up India staff by 1,000

Allaying fears a slowdown in the US economy will lead to a fall in outsourcing to India, US-based global services company Sapient plans to hire at least 1,000 people for its India operations in 2008, Managing Director Sandeep Dhar has said.

He was talking on the sidelines of the National Association of Software and Services Companies' India Leadership Forum 2008 in Mumbai last week. At present, the company has nearly 4,000 employees in India, or about 65 per cent of its global workforce.

A weak dollar does not have much impact on the company's business, he said.

"Despite having maximum staff strength in India, India accounts for only 15 per cent of our costs. So far there has been a lot of talk of slowdown but we have not witnessed any of it."

On wage inflation and cost cutting, Dhar said the company does not plan to cut wages or reduce benefits to employees but "will go with the market and remain competitive."

Clients in India
Sapient is looking to serve Indian clients this year and is scouting for some "opportunistic deals," Dhar said.

"We are discussing some deals in India and look forward to get five or six clients by the end of this year. Our first deal may be struck very soon," he said.

At present, Sapient is in talks with existing clients in North America and Europe, who are present in India or are trying to enter the market.

The company is looking at opportunities in commodities trading and capital markets in India apart from information technology and interactive services.

"Commodities trading is still at a nascent stage here and we have a good opportunity in the segment because we have been providing software solutions in the segment in other markets," Dhar said.

Sapient also plans to foray into ASEAN countries and Australia. "We may do some similar specific opportunistic deals in these regions."

No acquisitions now
Currently, Sapient is not in talks with any company for acquisitions though it may like to do so to increase its strength across verticals, Dhar said.

"We may look for companies in the KPO (knowledge process outsourcing) sector to strengthen our capabilities or to expand our presence in new geographies."

He, however, did not detail the areas the company plans to enter.

"We are a zero debt company and have $150 million in reserves. If some good opportunity comes up we will acquire companies but there is nothing under discussion as of now."