subject: Kpo: Here To Stay [print this page] Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) is the outsourcing of knowledge work in fields such as law, finance, and medicine. It involves transfer of business to other geographic locations in order to access highly skilled workforce, improved quality, operational efficiency, and cost savings. KPO is one step ahead of business process outsourcing (BPO). While BPO mostly involves software development and technical support, KPO has in its ambit a much wider range of tasks. During his visit, US president, Barak Obama, indicated that the job inflow from US to India will continue. One of the means of this happening is the KPO industry.
Although the KPO sector came into existence only a little over a decade ago, it is still in the process of establishing itself. However, things are looking up. In the last four years, the industry saw more than 26% cumulative annual growth rate, creating thousands of jobs for young graduates as well as experienced professionals. A career in the KPO industry is considered exciting, fast-paced, and rewarding, providing a number of functional domains to graduates to hone and develop their skills and knowledge.
According to Evaluserve study, a leading provider of KPO services, the industry has created over 2.5 lakh jobs in India until 2011. The research shows strong growth in Indias KPO. During 2000-2001, India had 9,000 KPO professionals generating total revenues of US$260 million. Currently, the sector employs nearly 80,000 employees in India, a figure that is bound to increase in future.
India is one of the most preferred destinations for the KPO industry because of cost, availability of skilled manpower, operational efficiencies, and improved quality. The workforce is educated and well-versed in English.
Every year, the country produces a large number of professionals in fields such as IT, education, science, engineering, finance, law, and architecture. The KPO industry brings a range of opportunities to this ever-growing young and dependable workforce.
Type of jobs
KPO jobs require advanced technical and analytical skills that can be applied in areas such as research and development, advanced web applications, learning solutions, financial consultancy and services, animation and design, medical services, business and technical analysis, business and market research, writing and content development, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, legal services, training and consultancy, data analytics, network management and intellectual property research.
Eligibility
Graduation in any discipline is the minimum qualification required in this industry. Preference, though, is given to those with professional and postgraduate degrees. Good logical analytical skills and in-depth knowledge of a domain are also greatly valued. In case of legal outsourcing, one should be a trained lawyer. Candidates proficient in English can work for a university in a foreign country. The area of financial process outsourcing, which involves creating reports, balance sheets, and other such documents, absorbs candidates with expertise in finance. Graphic designing is another field that needs applicants who are well-trained.
Remuneration
The industry provides career avenues that are ideal for freshers. A wide range of choices, good salaries, and excellent facilities make it a good option. A young graduate can expect to join the industry with an annual pay package of Rs. 3 to 5 lakh, with an average annual increase ranging from 12 to 20%.
Pros and Cons
Like all jobs, there are pros and cons to KPO work as well. The job tends to become tedious and monotonous after a few months, and the strain of working odd hours also begins to tell on the employees. Most of them struggle to adjust to another time zone and some leave the job. You need to be aware of these two aspects while considering a KPO job.
There are numerous well established KPO companies in the country, most whom are based in metro cities. Some of the best KPO companies in India are Genpact, Evalueserve, Ugam Solutions, WNS, 24/7 Customer, ICICI OneSource, EXL Service, Copal Partners, Pangea3 and TechBooks.
