Thursday, February 28, 2008
Fidelity riffing in Gurgaon
Gurgaon is a very strong employment market today with constant demand for KPO professionals and one in which we are continuously competing for talent. So it was a surprise to us to see Fidelity handing out pink slips this week, as reported by livemint. The speculation in the press, and among employees in the area, is whether this is just a reorganization within Fidelity as their spokesperson says:
“There was a review of the way in which analyst support was provided to global offices. The reorganization of the team has led to some roles being discontinued. However, Fidelity remains committed to India,” said a Fidelity spokesperson.
-- or is it a reflection of the slowing US economy? There's no consensus today - some think it's the economy, some think recruiting is still strong in Gurgaon. And given that Fidelity has 7,000 employees worldwide, pink slips for 30 don't move the needle.
Prior experience tells me that when money gets tight in the U.S. more jobs get moved offshore, but then it depends how deep a firm has to cut and at some point jobs just need to be eliminated. Hiring rates and layoffs in Gurgaon are important trends to watch over the next 6 months as an indicator of how deep the slowdown/recession will be.
4 comments:
Penny
Interesting observation. I agree that it will be important to see how the 'layoff/hiring ' trend shapes up in Gurgaon and other outsourcing hubs within India.
I believe what we are seeing now is also the the maturing of the globalization model. The fact that a 30 person layoff makes news headlines is either because of a bored media or a disbelief factor that how can that happen in India. As India continues to face challenges of growth internally and externally people are coming to grips that globalization is a two way street. Last five to ten years have seen an unprecedented growth in India and for the new workforce which has only seen an upside this is a lesson learnt by fire that jobs can go out too.
I read your blog with interest because it presents a top down practical view of the happenings and growth of a company and the awesome web knowledgebase.
Would be interested to hear what your thoughts are on will you as a firm do more or less offshoring when the markets get tough ?
Best
Mohit
offshoreindianews@gmail.com
I don't think the markets getting tough would change our strategy much on offshoring. We have found a good balance of talent between silicon valley and gurgaon that's working so I'd stick with it. Penny
The cut involved people working in Equity research back-office of FIL, which is Fidelity ex-US. The employees were primarily UK facing. So it may not serve as a good barometer for US markets.
I don't know the reason for lay-offs.
Better part is that most of the people from there have landed plum offers in Indian Capital markets.
Fidelity has failed to implement a working model for offshore resources. India is strictly a labor pool. The Fidelity management team has no clear cut process or guidelines in place to effectively utilize the India resources. The end result in off shoring to India is inconsistent results, hobbled by poor communication and no clear managerial direction.
Fidelity's executive management team does not have the ability or experience to fix their off shoring problems so they go right to the bottom line by cutting costs. Ironically, if Fidelity were a totally streamlined and efficient IT organization there would be no need to off shore work in the first place.
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