India`s sixth largest software exporter Patni Computer Systems has doubled its hiring target for the current fiscal in order to benefit from the improving demand for software and back-office outsourcing.

The company plans to hire up to 3,000 employees this year as against its earlier set target of 1,500, according Mr Jeya Kumar, Chief Executive Officer.

The Mumbai-headquartered Patni follows a January - December fiscal calendar.

“The hiring will be across-the-board as all our verticals are growing. We are seeing growth in “high teens” for all service lines, except in application development and maintenance (ADM) where it is “in low teens” he told Business Line.

More than 70 per cent of the new recruits will be freshers while the remaining will be experienced hands.

“Since 42 per cent of our business comes from fixed price projects, it gives us the flexibility for improving productivity by having more freshers into such projects,” said Mr Kumar.

(Fixed price contracts help clients arrive at a fee that they would pay the vendor for a project done within a deadline. If the vendor meets the deadline using, for example, 100 people instead of 1, 000, that is to his advantage.)

Mr Kumar is quick to clarify that having more entry level staff will neither impact timeliness nor quality of the project since the freshers would be placed under experienced managers.

Lateral hiring

On the lateral hiring front, Patni's immediate need is to get on board 75 domain experts in areas of banking, financial services, insurance and others. “We have already hired about 20 per cent, but there are about 55 more people that we wish to induct for the time being,” said Mr Kumar.

India's export-driven software services companies have lifted a freeze on hiring and wage hikes since the past couple of months on a rebound in demand for outsourcing, which was badly hit by the global recession.

Patni has said it will give wage hikes this year, but clarified that it will be applicable only to top performers.

“What we have decided internally is that top performers must be rewarded irrespective of good times or bad times. In spite of the recession, we did give salary hikes - maximum of up to six per cent last year- to the top 25 per cent employees. This year, the hikes will be higher but only performers will be rewarded,” said Mr Kumar.

Separately, Patni is close to bagging, what it terms ‘as the single largest deal in its history.' It expects to sign a $250-million, five-year outsourcing arrangement with a US-based insurance provider over the next few weeks, said Mr Kumar.

“It is an end-to-end deal in which we will provide services related to BPO, ADM and infrastructure management. We may also take over some of their staff on board,” he said.

However, he refused to name the company since the two companies have not yet formalised the relationship.