• Opportunities

IT and ITeS firms have a consistent demand for foreign language training. Entrepreneur caught up with Ranjan Bandyopadhyay, Global Head-HR, TCS BPO, to find out if this demand translates into enough opportunities for those offering foreign language coaching.

Entrepreneur (E): Which are the languages most in demand by software professionals?
Ranjan Bandyopadhyay (RB): There is a demand for French and German languages and a huge talent pool available for both too. Currently, French is the most widely-studied language and has the largest talent pool available. German is the next most popular language being studied. However, only students who enroll in higher-proficiency German courses can be employed for voice processes in India. Spanish, Italian, Duetsche, Russian and Japanese are in demand by those working on foreign language documents and voice-based profiles. BPOs are looking at professionals at C1/C2 level to train employees in the respective languages.

E: What is the frequency of foreign language training in IT/ITeS firms?
RB: The frequency of training depends on the demand for the same. However, we believe in creating a pool of trainers internally before there is a demand, so that the organization is prepared to handle foreign language processes and can deliver quality without any compromise.

E: Are  enough trainers available?
RB: We have in-house trainers who can coach competently in German and French. We also leverage the language skills of foreign nationals, who join us as interns to develop competency informally. This is a mutually win-win situation. External expert trainers are available for some languages, although at a high cost, which can be mitigated via our internal training mechanisms and hiring of foreign students/interns.

E: Do most IT companies outsource such training?
RB: As stated earlier, in-house training is conducted where we are completely equipped to deal with it. For the languages in which we are yet to build the capability, we would outsource.

E: Where do you see the Indian BPO/KPO sector headed as far as foreign language training is concerned?
RB: There are two trends driving the market. The first is increasing BPO activity in the larger, multinational manufacturing companies—whether they are European or the European arm of a U.S. company. These firms are looking at HR outsourcing and trying to implement a common process across Europe and bring down costs in common processing centers.

The second trend in mainland Europe is the growth of financial services outsourcing, as banks and insurance companies look to outsource industry-specific, middle-office processes. Eastern Europe is emerging strongly as a delivery center for back-office processes. According to studies in 2007, there would be demand for more than 1.6 lakh foreign language professionals in the next few years; 50 percent for the BPO and KPO sector. This is the demand side. The supply side would face a challenge as not more than 25 percent Indians with foreign language skills could apply for these positions. So, there will be a huge supply gap in the market wherein lies the business opportunities related to foreign languages.

©Entrepreneur October 2010

Tags:
BPO, IT, ITeS, Ranjan Bandyopadhyay, TCS