The Hindu Business Line : `Flexi staffing merits better recognition'

Looking ahead
Emigration Bill to ensure Indian workers going abroad are not fleeced or harassed
ERA plans to launch a Diploma in Recruitment

ERA CONFERENCE: Mr K. Pandia Rajan, Managing Director, Ma Foi Management Consultants Ltd, and Ms Saundarya Rajesh, CEO, Avtar Career Creators, at a press conference in Chennai on Friday. - Bijoy Ghosh

Chennai , June 30

Better recognition for flexi staffing, impact of Emigration Bill on the recruitment industry and attrition levels are some of the issues that will be discussed at a conference to be organised by the Executive Recruiters Association (ERA) in Chennai on July 7.

According to Mr K. Pandia Rajan, — Past President, ERA, and Managing Director, Ma Foi Management Consultants — of the estimated Rs 2,000-crore Indian recruitment industry, about Rs 1,600 crore is flexi staffing, also called temporary staffing or contract staffing, and the rest is permanent staffing. The 100 plus members of the association, with a combined turnover of Rs 1,000 crore, recruit about 1.25 lakh employees, and of this, about 60-70 per cent are flexi staffing.

Legitimate sector

Flexi staff are on the payrolls of recruitment firms, but work for different companies across multiple industries, including IT, IT-enabled services, retail and telecom. "We see flexi staffing as a legitimate organised sector of employment, and it needs increased recognition from the government," he told newspersons.

The Emigration Bill, which has been pending for the last five years, will facilitate the setting up of a Central Manpower Export Promotion Council. This would ensure Indian workers planning to go abroad are not fleeced or harassed by private recruiting agencies collecting hefty amounts from each candidate . The Bill would increase the number of people going abroad every year to about a million people from the present 3-4.5 lakh, he said.

According to Ms Saundarya Rajesh, ERA Member, and Chief Executive Officer, Avtar Career Creators, the conference would discuss finding interim opportunity for women and creating new talent in the country. There are certain jobs in various industries, including IT and banking, that have high attrition rate and could be given to women or to retired person having expertise in a domain.

The conference would also deal on adopting a code of ethics and a set of professional practice guidelines to reflect important developments in the recruitment industry and business environment, she said.

Diploma course

The association plans to launch a Diploma in Recruitment to help people in the recruitment industry and freshers entering the industry . The course is likely to be launched in the next couple of months, and the plan is to recruit people for the industry with the Diploma, she said.

Speakers at the conference include Mr Srinivasa Rao, Director, Sasken, Mr Lonnie Sapp, COO, OfficeTiger, Dr S. Chandrasekhar Vice-President, CapGemini and Ms Uma Krishnan, Head, Optimus (a Polaris company). There is also a panel discussion on the `Present and Future of Reference Checks', according to an ERA press release.

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