IT/BPO industry targets $ 1 b turnover by 2015

The IT/BPO industry aims at achieving an annual turnover of US$ 1 billion by 2015, said Chairman Sri Lanka Association of Software Services Companies (SLASSCOM), Dinesh Saparamadu. He was addressing the SLASSCOM HR Summit 2011 on Wednesday.

He said that IT/BPO is a US$ 400 million industry and aims at surpassing US$ 1 billion within the next five years.

IT/BPO is an industry that enhances capacity and efficiency of large scale business organisations in the world. Sri Lanka's IT/BPO industry plays a crucial role in the country reaching the goal of becoming a knowledge economy. Saparamadu said that human resource development is essential for the IT/BPO industry to reach the US$ 1 billion target. Harnessing talents and building capacities are vital for organisation to enhance performance. "The role of the human resource manager is increasing in the context of the rapidly changing work place environment. The human resource manager is the heartbeat of an organisation", he said.

The theme of this year's summit is "HR Challenges in the Post Conflict Nations". General Secretary SLASSCOM, Mano Sekaram said that successful management and development of the knowledge worker is vital for the growth of the IT/BPO industry.

SLASSCOM has spearheaded many activities which have helped elevate Sri Lanka as a destination of choice for niche outsourcing with key focus areas.

President JC Eicher Association, Benolt Millot said that there is a mismatch between higher education and the needs of the labour market.

Often employers complain that they do not have employees with the right talents.

In USA around 30 percent of the employers complain that they lack employees with the right skills while in the Asia Pacific around 45 percent of the employers complain that employees lack relevant skills. Millot said that higher education must relate to the work place if not it would lead to disillusion and frustration. Higher eduction responds to labour market requirements but not adequately.

He said that investments on higher education is essential to address the shortage of skilled labour. Unemployment, underemployment and the shortage of skilled workers are due to inadequate investments on higher education.

"Higher education should focus on creating an employable workforce. Employability is a major issue most employers grapple with", Millot said. According to global surveys employers prefer to retain existing employees rather than recruiting new employees who may not have the right skills needed in the organisation.

An official of SLASSCOM said that though there are many institutions offering higher educational qualifications there is a scarcity of the right calibre of people in the job market.

"Improving primary and secondary educational standards and raising English competency are important to meet the requirements of the labour market", he said.

- LF