TCS continues hiring spree

Expect 30,000 job vacancies at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) over the next 12 months.

The Mumbai-based IT services provider added 21,140 new employees in fiscal year 2006, which is significantly higher than its initial projection of 13,500. The IT giant currently has over 62,000 employees in 34 countries.

In a statement on its full-year earnings, TCS said it plans to add over 30,000 to its headcount over the next 12 months. The recruitment forecast is an increase of more than 44 percent over the actual number of new employees hired last year.

In the statement, TCS reported that compared to fiscal 2005, net income for fiscal 2006 ended Mar. 31, 2006, jumped 41.2 percent to US$649.2 million. Revenue grew 36.3 percent over the previous year to nearly US$3 billion.

Girija Pande, TCS' head and regional director for the Asia-Pacific region, told ZDNet Asia Tuesday that the region's growth is comparable to that of the company's worldwide growth.

Pande added that TCS has "ambitious growth rates" for the region, but declined to give further details. He revealed, however, that TCS plans to grow its headcount in China from its current 400 to almost 6,000 in the next five years. "We want to create in China a mini TCS," he noted.

Pande also confirmed that the joint-venture company, formed together with Microsoft and three Chinese companies, is on track to start operations in Beijing this June.

Other regional projects in the pipeline for TCS include the launch of a new global delivery center in Singapore by July, which will focus on banking technologies.

According to Pande, customer traction in the region is strong in Australia, China and Japan, and TCS' acquisitions have begun to bear fruit. For example, Financial Network Services, a Sydney-based banking software provider, secured major wins between January and March this year, he said.