KOCHI: Kerala, it seems, is finally waking up to its potential as a hub for mid to high-end digital/accounting/engineering jobs. After Japanese automotive giant Nissan announced it is likely to set up its digital hub, which would work as an R&D centre in Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram, a slew of other global firms are also expanding their operations here.
Among the global firms operating and expanding in Kerala are International Register of Shipping, Miami, US, which has an R&D facility in Kochi; forex dealers Abu Dhabi-based UAE Exchange and Lulu International Exchange which are also catering to their global customer needs from Kerala. In March 2016, Dubai-based Simatech Shipping started a fully-equipped back office operation facility in Kochi which will support its global operations and its ship-planning and accounting operations will be done from the port city.
In February, H&R Block, a US multinational and global consumer tax services company, announced it was establishing its India Global Technology Centre at Technopark. The Kansas City-based company will have around 300 employees in the first phase, will increase its headcount to 1,000 in 2-3 years time.
Experts said the state has a long way to go to catch up with tier-I cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, and Noida, but a slow beginning has been made. The ‘Hashtag Future’ conclave held in Kochi in March also helped the state to showcase its advantages to global companies such as Volvo, Dell, Lufthansa, Emirates etc.
“In Kochi, our headcount now stands just above 400. We have people looking at operations, accounting and call centre supporting several of our global operations,” said Rahul Pai, COO, UAE Exchange.
On cost arbitrage, he said, “Ours is an international firm and we have a nationality mix which matches that,” Pai said.
Bijimon Punnoose, CEO of Miami-based International Register of Shipping, said Kochi was ideally suited for the maritime industry as there is a good resource pool, and is far less expensive compared to Mumbai. “Cusat (the Cochin University of Science and Technology) does add value to this,” he said, referring to the marine and shipping-related courses offered by the university. Punnoose said the US company employs 15 people in its Kochi office. “We have plans to increase it further,” he added.
A Balakrishnan, managing director of Geojit Technologies, which employs about 600 people in Kochi for the parent Geojit Financial Services’ back-office work, said the customer care centre staff faces the problem of handling north Indian clients as the Hindi accent of its staff does not match the accent of north India. “Since we have grown from Kochi, we faced no major issues. But for a company from other parts of the country to open a centre in Kochi, the employees may face a culture shock,” he said, referring to the lack of a vibrant night-life or transport infrastructure in the state.