Hughes to hire 2500 in 6 quarters

Hughes Software Systems (HSS) will hire about 2,500 professionals in the next six quarters. The company is also scouting for acquisition in the telecom service provider (TSP) and the business process outsourcing (BPO) space.

"We have plans to hire over 2000 people in the next six quarters. This hiring will be mostly for the IT services segment. We will also hire about 500-600 people for the BPO services," Arun Kumar said. "Hiring in timely fashion has been one of the biggest challenges for us," he said.

With a current headcount of 2,393, HSS has hired about 794 people this year and 439 people in the first quarter of the current finnacial year. Kumar also said the company was looking for acquisition in areas like BPO and TSP.

"We are open for acquisition in these areas where we are nascent. It (the acquisition) should be reasonably large and should make sense in terms of synergy support," he said.

Kumar indicated that HSS was interested in acquiring two different companies specialising in the aforesaid segments.

"We continue to look actively in this regard. May be we are looking at two opportunities every month," Kumar said. He,however, said no timeframe had been set for such acquisitions.

Kumar said the cap on H1B visa will not affect the company's increasing on-site services. " One can hire people locally to meet needs, though the costs would be higher," he said.

Hughes Software System is 70.3 per cent owned by Flextronics, whereas 7 per cent is public and the rest is held by financial institutions.

Flextronics had acquired the majority stake in HSS recently from Hughes Network Services, and later increased its stake to 70.3 per cent after an open offer.

However, share transfers have not taken place as the company is awaiting for the Reserve Bank Of India's approval.