The Sutherland Group Ltd., a business process outsourcing (BPO) company based in Rochester, New York, plans to double the strength of its staff in Chennai, India, from 1,500 to 3,000 over the next three to six months, according to a company executive.
Since the company established operations in India, it has moved a quarter of its global clients there, said Bharat Chadda, senior vice president and country manager of Sutherland India. “The company is witnessing a surge for offshore services,” he said, adding that the current Chennai expansion is because the company has signed new clients and taken on more work from existing offshore customers.
A large number of multinational companies are increasing BPO staffs in India or outsourcing to local Indian companies. For instance, Hewlett-Packard Co. in Palo Alto, California, is setting up a call centre in India for North American customers, in addition to outsourcing to local companies.
The number of employees at Sutherland India has grown to 1,500 over the last 18 months, forcing the company to set up a new facility for the additional personnel. The new facility will support existing U.S.-based clients and new clients. Services Sutherland handles for these customers include account management, customer care and technical support. The company expects at least one-third of its global clients to move work to India over the next six months, Chadda said.
The Sutherland Group currently employs 3,300 people in the U.S. for account management, customer care, technical support and process consulting functions.