Adecco buys Ajinkya, expands offering

Adecco India, the Indian arm of the Euro 20.4 billion HR services firm Adecco SA, has announced the acquisition of Mumbai-based Ajinkya, one of the biggest blue-collar temporary staffing firms, which gives it a foothold in the manufacturing vertical. Ajinkya has had 150 clients and 4,500 outsourced manpower on its rolls.

Adecco's temporary staffing business in India has till now mostly concentrated on the IT and IT-related sectors in India. With the merger of Ajinkya into Adecco, "it becomes the industrial staffing division of Adecco," said Sudhakar Balakrishnan, CEO, Adecco India.

"We aim to grow 10-fold in the next three years from the present levels, to 40,000 blue-collar temps, making it the market leader in the segment."

C R Kale, founding director, Ajinkya said, "We have been in the business of temporary staffing in the industrial sector for the last 16 years, and this will help us expand in regions where we do not have a base."

Among the clients Ajinkya serves are firms in the oil and gas sectors, Cummins, Lumax, Praj and such others.

"The entry into the manufacturing sector will help our global clients coming here to find the required staff," said Michel Tcheng, senior vice president, head of finance, HR & Legal, emerging countries, Adecco.

"Adecco wants to increase global mobility in the industrial staffing by adding India's talent to the world pool," he added.

The group aims to further invest in India organically and by acquisitions, he said.

Globally, 80 per cent of Adecco's industrial staffing is made up of temporary staff. Adecco, which has been taking the inorganic route to growth, is also looking at more acquisitions that can give it a foothold in other verticals.