‘IT growth, profitability beyond expectation’ – Times of India

BENGALURU: Capgemini CEO Aiman Ezzat was in Bengaluru last week, one of the first major global CEOs to visit India since the pandemic began and travel was restricted. At the beginning of 2021, it had planned to hire 30,000 in India during the year. That figure has now risen to 60,000. India already accounts for more than 50% of the company’s employee strength. In an exclusive interaction with TOI, Ezzat says talent shortage is making the company hire more freshers. Excerpts:
You’ve increased the revenue guidance for this year in constant currency to 12-13%, from 7-9%…
We were more conservative in February because of the pandemic. But month after month, the market has been improving, the demand from customers is very good and our offerings are well-positioned. Everything is beyond expectations — the growth, profitability and cash, all the sectors and geographies, and all the business lines. It’s not just pent-up demand because of Covid, but there is structural acceleration in terms of use of technology.

India remains by far the biggest talent hub for you….
India has crossed the 1.5-lakh (employee) mark and is half of the group. The growth this year is phenomenal in India. Attrition is going up for everybody. There is not enough talent in the market. So, we will hire more freshers. I see that in the next 2-4 years, the balance will shift towards building your own talent rather than acquiring them (laterally). We have become more efficient in recruiting and onboarding talent during the pandemic. We reskill people every 18 months because technology moves very fast. But what we will add in India this year, about 60,000, we won’t be able to add in any place over the next 2-3 years.
Which industry verticals are showing the fastest recovery?
The sector growing fastest is public sector, where we are growing double-digit organically now. CPG (consumer packaged goods), retail and manufacturing are accelerating. Some of it is because of the market, some of it is because of the focus we have put on it. Manufacturing is back. One area we thought will take much longer to recover was aerospace, but it will be back to where we were by the end of the year. I expected it to take 2-3 years to recover. We have big clients like Boeing and Airbus and their plane deliveries are accelerating, so things are looking good. There is a lot of new development. They are working on more sustainable planes. Even the ecosystem around developing the plane is changing.