 "KPO market will cross $30 billion in next two years: Assocham")
“The rising demand for profession-based services is expected to drive the growth in the industry in areas of research for capital and financial markets, legal works, editing jobs for international publishing houses among many others,” according to a study on “Current scenario of Indian KPO Industry”, conducted by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).
Presently, domestic KPO industry is facing stiff competition from countries like Philippines, Russia, China, Poland and Hungary as these are emerging strong contenders for KPO business in view of qualified KPO professionals, low-cost advantages, domain expertise, location advantage, sales and marketing capabilities and data compliance, D S Rawat, secretary general, Assocham said.
A vast pool of highly educated professionals in engineering, medicines, management and professionals in the field of accountancy, company secretary and legal fraternity would be required to serve the industry. Number as per rough estimates should be well within the range of over 6,00,000 to 8,00,000 against the current numbers of 350,000, he said.
While releasing the paper Rawat added that it is difficult for KPO companies to always find a qualified, experienced and talented workforce in India. Considering the situation that there is no dearth of engineers, doctors, MBAs, lawyers etc. in India, the KPO industry is banking on availability of this talented pool to fill up its seats, but now they are facing the supply crunch.
It is the kind of shortfall predicted between target and realistic growth that is worrying. If the industry is unable to sustain the momentum, it is quite possible that the other alternative destinations will become increasingly attractive for the clients. The nature of the KPO work makes is easier for clients to switch, Rawat said.
“Indian KPO companies can see these findings on the manpower availability coming out of the research either as a limiting factor or a challenge for their growth. The resource requirement should be seen as a challenge and addressed,” he added.
The potential solution is expanding into tier-2 and tier-3 cities. There is sufficient untapped potential in these smaller cities but the questions on how to leverage on these opportunities without adversely affecting organizational and logistical effectiveness is a challenge, the report said.