Aricent, Sapient to Hire

Bangalore: Aricent, a global innovation, technology and services company, and Sapient, a business and IT consulting firm are planning to hire around 1500 professionals in the next three to nine months. While Sapient will hire around 800 professionals, Aricent plans to hire at least 700.



Mid-tier and niche technology companies are returning to the employment orbit as they plan to take in 25,000 to 30,000 experienced hands in the next three to nine months, reports Economic Times. The renewed demand has been spurred by a spurt in outsourcing, better order positions and companies expanding their India operations and moving up the value chain. Other companies on the lookout for trained hands are GlobalLogic India, MindTree, CPA Global, Symphony Services, Citrix, Adobe, Persistent Solutions, nVidia, Amazon, Agilent and Vertex.

"Customers are stretching their dollars, and outsourcing helps them do that. That's what's driving demand for fresh talent at present," says Prashant Bhatnagar, Director-hiring, Sapient. "Lateral hiring is back and there's plenty of demand for those with three to eight years experience," adds Rishi Das, CEO, CareerNet Consulting, a Bangalore-based headhunter which recruits for over 200 technology companies.

Many companies which are now hiring, had no bench staff or have increased their utilization and hence now need more staff as more work is being offshored. "It's like a food chain. Mid-level companies which have invested in niche skills and started with basic tasks like technology support are now capable of delivering complex work like product design," says another Mumbai-based Head Hunter, who did not wish to be named due to client sensitivity.

"Offshoring complex work helps global customers cut costs significantly. That's driving the current demand for experienced professionals."

Companies like Applied Materials, Volvo, Boeing, Bank of America, Amazon, the United Health Group and Societe Generale have farmed out work for new enterprise applications development, R&D, engineering services and professional services - like customised software development - among others, driving demand.

Sapient Lays off 8% Employees

Sapient Corp. became the latest e-consultant forced into major cutbacks by the economic downturn, announcing layoffs around 8 percent of its work force in India (Gurgaon) on Feb 12 and warning it won't make its expected first quarter profit.

Earleir Sapient fired 160 people in July 2008 without notice. Firings were underway with over 200 more people in PIP & bench was already fired on november 2008. On an average sapient fire 1 in every 3 employee.

Sapient said it has laid off employees as part of an effort to cut costs amid a continued slump in market demand and the economy.

Under the move, the Sapient firm is slated to cut professionals and administrative staff. The restructuring also is expected to include office consolidation, but the company said it will continue to work in all cities where it now has offices.

During this quarter , Sapient expects to take a restructuring charge of employee severance and office consolidation costs.
Source:http://toostep.com/trends/sapient-layoffs-india