FIS, the global fintech firm, has announced plans to expand its operations in India. The American Fortune 500 company has been operational in the country for the past 23 years, employing around 15,000 people here. It is now gearing to increase its headcount by 10,000 in the coming 12 months.
“The key focus of future growth for FIS will be in emerging economies. Hence, we have been consistently increasing our footprint in India over the past decade. India as a geography has a vast and diverse pool of IT and ITES talent across the country,” Amol Gupta, chief human resources officer – India & Philippines, FIS, says.
The new talent will be recruited via a pan-India drive. The Company will approach educational institutes in cities such as Gurugram, Jaipur, Nagpur, Mangalore, Kanpur, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram, Jalandhar, Solapur and Guwahati.
“Our colleagues across 52 countries represent a unique combination of age, gender, race, language, religion which gives an edge to the diversity in our workforce”
Amol Gupta, chief human resources officer – India & Philippines, FIS
Applicants selected by the Company will be staffed across FIS campuses, which are situated in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Indore, Mohali and Gurugram.
Gupta also mentions that moving forward, diversity, equity and inclusion will be one of the Company’s key agendas, while seeking fresh talent. “To ensure that our workspace is inclusive, we have created a forum called InDivisible. This group of employees works to improve the diversity quotient of the company. In collaboration with the talent-acquisition team, they identify the diverse skillsets available in the market and how we can bring them in,” says Gupta.
The Company is taking specific measures to incorporate differently-abled talent in their workforce. Gupta reveals that the office spaces are being remodelled “to make them more accessible and friendly to employees who are differently abled”.
“Our colleagues across 52 countries represent a unique combination of age, gender, race, language, religion which gives an edge to the diversity in our workforce,” elaborates Gupta. Moreover, the CEO of FIS has also signed the IND pledge recently, reflecting the Company’s commitment to make the team more diverse.
Deviating from the traditional method of recruiting talent from the major Indian cities, IFS is keen to identify potential hires from smaller cities, especially from the campuses of tier-II and tier- III cities.
“Our focus is to recruit from pan India, without being restricted to any particular location, as we already have a lot of talent virtually working from tier-II and tier III Indian cities as well”
Satvik Sharma, EVP, technology officer, head of global delivery, FIS
“We went to more than 100 educational institutes all across India last year, for hiring”, reveals Gupta.
“Our focus is to recruit from pan India, without being restricted to any particular location, as we already have a lot of talent virtually working from tier-II and tier III Indian cities as well,” shares Satvik Sharma, EVP, technology officer, head of global delivery at FIS, during the press conference.
The Company currently works out of seven offices in India, but had to adopt the work-from-home approach since the pandemic struck. In future, it plans to operate in the modified hybrid model. It will give its employees flexibility to choose their working space from four models. The ‘hub’ model will see employees working for four or more days from the office. The ‘club’ model will see them working three days in office, while the ‘home’ model will allow them to operate completely from home. The fourth model is ‘roam’, where an employee can work from client locations or while travelling.
FIS’s talent acquisition strategy
Speaking to HRKatha, Gupta divulges more about the Company’s talent acquisition. “Strategy is a loaded question, as it is largely multi-dimensional, but what we are clear on is that it will factor in all elements of the external market as well as internal business strategy,” he says.
He further reveals that FIS will redistribute hiring needs based on experience. “We have seen some interesting trends emerging out of 2021 and we are stepping up to the challenges. Significant churn is observed in the three to seven-year experience range and we would be re-distributing our hiring needs by investing more in the campus hiring as well as consolidating roles in the 7+ years category,” he elaborates.
Although campus hiring will increase, it still will not be the biggest contributor in the hiring. “Yes, we will continue to invest more in fresh talent from campuses across India, primarily because we are a product and innovation company. We have to grow our own trees for the wood. The ratio of campus hiring would be upwards of 20-25 per cent of the overall hiring requirement,” Gupta tells HRKatha.