Wipro goes on a hiring spree

NEW DELHI: Wipro is going aggressive on the recruitment front when most top software services firms slammed brakes on recruitment.
Wipro is in the race for a couple of mega total-outsourcing projects. The company has already completed recruitment of 1,000 employees within the first five months of calendar 2002.
Wipro is particularly looking for professionals with expertise in the package implementation and enterprise application integration, a recent initiative of the company.
“Between January to April we have recruited 1,000-odd employees, which is a fairly aggressive stand given the current scenario,� said Vivek Paul, V-C of Wipro Ltd.
The aggressive stance on recruitment comes after recovery in volumes in the last quarter. “We are already seeing at least a 10 per cent increase in volumes over last year,� said Paul.
However, pricing still remains under pressure. “Typically a recovery is always volume led, price recovery usually lags 2-3 quarters behind a volume recovery.�
Paul said that Wipro has given an across the board salary hike to employees as volumes are coming back.
But he added that Wipro would stick to the just-in-time hiring policy that it adopted after the slowdown in the US market hit Indian software companies.
He said demand was still there for specialised skills. “Entry level positions will continue to see lack of demand for at least another year.�
Wipro has relied on employee referrals as the most significant source of recruitment.
Recruitment through employee referrals has touched 40 per cent of all lateral hires, from just 20 per cent less than a year ago. Wipro gets 750 employee referrals per week. About 25 per cent of Wipro’s lateral hires are through the Web.
Paul admitted that a continuation of uncertainty and war-like situation might have a negative impact on the company’s fortunes. He, however, said the impact on businesses so far has been minimal.
Paul said, “over the last two years we have implemented business continuity planning in case of a disaster. The steps include availability of bandwidth, data back up, campus security and in extreme case even moving staff to safer places.�