Spells of recession are usually marked by lay-offs and desperate cost-cutting measures. But smart companies such as Wipro, Infosys and Genpact had used the recession period in 2008 and 2009 to connect with campuses and build a human talent supply chain to develop a talent pool for the future.

They were, in fact, preparing for the future when they would have to go back to hiring after the recessionary trends eased. And now they are reaping the benefits.

“We have seen that most companies, especially those in the insurance sector, had not made use of the recession period to build a human talent pool for the future. And today, as the employment market is gaining momentum, these companies are struggling to find the right people,” Mr Amit Bhatia, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aspire Human Capital Management, a company engaged in embedded employability education and skills development.

demand for employment

He feels that by the end of 2011, the demand for employment could reach the pre-recession levels and then, companies would have a hard time getting the right people. “And the chief reason is that these companies wasted the recession period in preparing themselves for the boom time,” he says.

Another downside of this trend is that Indian IT and ITES firms were loosing the outsourcing market to countries such as Philippines, as back home salaries were on the rise, but the services offered were not moving up the value chain.

Aspire, which was co-founded by some 28 CEOs and had equity investor, Mr Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, as an investor (he exited in 2008), currently trains 30,000 students across 43 institutions in 12 States for placements in different companies.

“The domestic education and training market is estimated at $80 billion, with the 12 listed companies accounting for five per cent of the market. This includes the K-12 segment, private professional colleges, tutoring and vocational training sectors,” he said.

PE funds

The demand for enabling education has, in the last couple of years, attracted a string of PE funds investing in this sector. It is estimated that in 2010, PE players would have pumped in about $300 million, almost three times that they had invested in 2009.

The US-based VC firm Foundation Capital had, last years, put Rs 20 crore in Aspire and another Rs 31 crore in Tree House Education, while Matrix Partners had invested Rs 100 crore in FIIT-JEE in the previous year.

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