PwC advisory set for 30 per cent growth

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the largest professional services companies in the world, is looking at a 30 per cent year on year growth for its advisory practices on the back of growth in sectors like retail and telecom.

According to Ashwani Puri, leader - advisory services of PWC, "Business has doubled in the last two years and we expect at least 30 per cent growth per annum for the next three years. At the same time, the number of employees in the advisory practices could be doubled over the next four years."

PWC's advisory services currently has around 2000 employees. PwC's overall manpower strength in India is around 4,500 right now and this could nearly double in the same period.

PWC is also looking at increasing the number of foreign employees working in India and vice versa.

For instance, at any given time, PWC has around 800 Indian employees working on foreign projects per year.

According to Juan A Pujadas, managing partner - advisory services of PWC, "We are looking at more project-wise secondmends because we want to leverage different skills that Indians can provide to businesses overseas. For instance, many of our Indian employees show unique expertise in verticals like information technology, data management, and have a deeper idea about e-governance initiatives. We want to leverage these skills when we look at engaging Indian resources in foreign projects and secondments."

Secondment, or temporary transfer of an employee to another department within an organisation or movement of an employee to another organisation, is increasingly being recognised as valuable for development at PwC.

As organisations adopted ever flatter management structures, opportunities for promotion through a succession of line management positions were limited.

Secondment offered employees career development opportunities and was increasingly being used as part of talent management programmes and to develop skills base.

PWC is also looking at a 50:50 ratio for campus recruits and experienced employees.