Randstad bullish on India, to play a key role as it gears up for fast growth

Global HR Services firm Randstad, which became the number one firm in its space for the first time in 58 years with revenue of €23.8 billion last November, says India operations also contributed to its success.

“It excites me that India grew its gross profit by 50 per cent in Q1 of FY 2019 (January-March) compared to Q1 of FY 2018; however, I am not surprised by it. India is one of our fastest growing geographies and its contribution to the growth rate is much more than industry average. It is also contributing to the company’s profitability, which makes us a very well placed player in India,” Henry Schirmer, CFO, and Member, Executive Board, Randstad NV, told BusinessLine. Pointing out that until 10-15 years ago, Randstad was a Dutch-dominated company, Schirmer said, “We now have a global footprint and India is playing a big role in that, along with countries like Brazil and Japan. We have put the best talent we have into India and going forward, I know the growth rate in India will be big for sure.”

The company’s annual report says its India business showed a strong acceleration in all divisions throughout 2018, with revenues growing six per cent.

Randstad India turned profitable in FY 2018, despite turning down business opportunities. “We walk away from more opportunities in India than we sign. Because, there is good business and bad business. For example, if potential customers plays around with the minimum wage zone, we walk away from it. If it is just a vendor relationship they seek and not a true partnership, then we walk away from such business,” said Paul Dupuis, MD and CEO, Randstad India.

Randstad put about 100,000 people to work in India last year. Globally, the company puts 700,000 people to work everyday and conducts 12 million job interviews every year.