Birlasoft to hire 2,000 by 2006

IT company Birlasoft on Wednesday said it would pump in $20 million and hire 2,000 professionals over the next one year for its three upcoming development centres as part of its strategy to become a $250 million company by 2008.

The New Jersey-headquartered CK Birla Group company is also planning to set up new facilities while keeping its options open for acquisitions.

The first of these three centres would open on September 30 in Bangalore with a capacity to seat 520 people. The second centre with a capacity of 600 would come up in Hyderabad by February 2006 and the third centre would be set up in the NCR region of Noida by May 2006.

"The expansion plans stem from our commitment to build Birlasoft into a major player in the IT services and solutions space. We are looking at further expansion in existing and new geographies," Birlasoft CEO Kamal Mansharamani said.

Presently, the company employs 2,600 people at its centres spread across India and the one in Melbourne. This present expansion is in line with Birlasoft's robust growth plans.

The company has hired about 1,000 professionals in the past 10 months, the release said.

The second phase of expansion, which would follow the launching of the three new centres, envisages development of new facilities in Chennai, Bangalore and Noida, the release said, adding the company is also open to options forinorganic growth.