Punit Renjen: Deloitte will double India workforce in 3 years
Global accounting and consulting firm Deloitte has bold plans for growth in India. According to global CEO Punit Renjen, the firm is eyeing to double its workforce in the coming three years.
Indian-origin Punit Renjen – who started his second term at the global helm of Deloitte last year – explained how the firm’s India focus reflects wider attitudes in the global business environment. “Many CEOs are bullish about India as this is the Indian century,” he said at a recently held Leadership Summit, while signalling a major hiring drive in the country.
“We have 55,000 individuals who serve the most prominent clients and government in India and the world from India. We have centres in Hyderabad, Gurgaon and Pune that serve the world. Our plans over the next two to three years is to double that workforce. It is partly because of the talent arbitrage opportunity.”
The India-focus is not a new phenomenon. In an interview with Economic Times last year, Renjen already presented his “India century” perspective, arguing that the country was charging on with economic growth while the rest of the world grappled with political disruption, trade wars and other internalising dynamics.
This was before Covid-19. If anything, the pandemic has served to cement this position for India. “I think it is an opportunity to get some of the supply chain to relocate to India,” said Renjen, echoing a widely circulating thesis that India could fill the growing gap being left by a high-risk China in global supply chains – provided India can boost its manufacturing profile.
Other than that, India maintains its vast digital talent pool and vibrant business ecosystem – some of the factors that had already put India in the spotlight over the last decade. According to Renjen, these are much-coveted traits in the global business environment, which maintains India’s strong position.
Deloitte in India
On Deloitte’s part, the decision to double its India workforce is just the latest in a long-ongoing expansion story. The firm entered in the Indian market in 1998, and has since grown into a team of well over 50,000 professionals in offices across 13 cities – including New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
The biggest of these outfits is the firm’s Hyderabad office, which houses a staggering 40,000 professionals. Already in February last year, the firm announced plans to double its Hyderabad headcount to 80,000 over the next three to five years, while also adding new recruits across Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi.
Despite the widespread economic impact of Covid-19 since then – particularly on the advisory sector – Renjen’s latest comments signal a strong growth drive in the near future.
