Dell ready to go on India hiring binge

Mike Dehli shows offshore love

By Ashlee Vance in Chicago • Get more from this author

Posted in IT Channel, 29th April 2005 19:51 GMT

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Dell's India staff will swell to more than 10,000 workers by year end, as the company fills out call center and software development roles.

To hit the 10,000 mark, Delli will need to hire between 2,000 and 3,000 workers over the next 8 months, CEO Kevin Rollins told reporters in Bangalore, according to numerous media reports. Despite push-back from customers and some employees, Dell has been relentless about offshoring customer support work. It currently employs far more staffers outside of the US than at home.

Should Delli hit the 10,000 mark, then its Indian operations would account for close to one-fifth of the company's total workforce.

Rollins blamed past Indian support failures on an over-zealous management and not workers who had yet to master a Texas twang. Dell was forced to bring some of its support operations back home after complaints.

"Then, we were doing too much, too fast in too many places. We had to prioritize and refine," he told the reporters.

Now, however, the company is prepared to return Bangalore to its full offshored support glory. Dell, no doubt, has created a more "refined" system for handing out American names to its Indian staff and for teaching them phrases like, "Ya'll call again, you hear" and "Damn, son, you talk faster than a rancher moving beef at auction."

Sources told The Register that Delli informed staffers in Nashville of its decision to offshore consumer technical support to India earlier this month. Close to 500 people have already had their jobs sent to Bangalore, according to the sources. Those who wish to discuss the matter more can travel over here. ®