This US-Based IT Firm To Hire Around 1,500 Workers In A Year

Pune: As it targets to more than double its revenues to $1 billion by FY20, mid-tier IT firm Synechron today said it is looking to hire up to 1,500 in the next 12 months.

"We have 7,500 employees at present and are looking to hire 1,000-1,500 more over the next 12 months," its chief executive Faisal Husain told reporters here.

The move by the US-headquartered company, which employs over 5,000 people in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune, comes amid growing instances of job cuts in the IT sector facing a slew of challenges, including automation, currency volatilities and rising protectionism in mature markets.

Husain said the company is "benefiting" because of the moves of its peers, but added the rupee appreciation is taking away the advantages, which may help in staff being hired at lower salaries.

The company clocked a revenue of $390 million in FY17 and is targeting to increase it to $480 million in FY18, he said, adding right now it is growing faster than the target and tracking a runrate of $500 million per year.

The company is able to exceed the 25 per cent revenue growth objective due to the nature of the work it does for the banking, financial services and the insurance sectors,he said.

As many of its peers suffer reverses due to the disappearance of the cost arbitrage work, Synechron has benefited because of its focus on the upcoming areas like digital, artificial intelligence and block-chain technologies, Husain said.

"All the work we do is on the 'change' part, rather than the 'run' part, which is leading to troubles elsewhere," he explained.

He said nearly 1,000 people in the fresh hiring will be based here at Pune, which is its single largest development centre, he said.

When asked about the quality of the talent that it is getting, Husain said most of the freshers it hires at reputed engineering colleges are "trainable", but sought an overhaul of education system to make it more relevant for the industry.

The company, which launched a facility to showcase its innovations called 'Finlabs' here, is also working with startups who can work out of the campus here, he said, adding it has helped three city-based start-ups till now.

Husain said the 16-year-old company started by him along with two friends wants to work like a start-up despite its growing size.

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