Rs 19000 course to join BPO
By Nitin Paul

Gone are the days when Indian BPOs would train fresh recruits at its own cost. Recently the BPO major Genpact has tied up with NIIT to impart training to fresh appointees on BPO and related skills. To be trained in the premises of NIIT, the students would have to pay a fee before finally being absorbed in Genpact.  Whatever market leader Genpact does, other BPOs will follow.

NIIT has thrown open this unique model of training for other reputed BPOs as well.  The very first and largest BPO training center has been set up in Gurgaon. Noida, Bangalore and other metros would follow suit soon. The good news is that the students successfully clearing the screening tests and joining these 4-month training modules, would be given a provisional appointment letters issued by Genpact, subject to the condition of passing out the training successfully.

The training model would have two and a half month classroom training at NIIT centers and one and a half month at BPOs.  The students would have to pay the training fee of Rs.19,000 for the entire four and a half month course. Training would also aim at creating a manpower pool for the KPOs (knowledge processing outsourcing) as well for long term career plans. Besides voice and accent, the new joint venture firm NIIT Institute of Process Excellence would also offer training to students in finance, accounting, IT services, supply chain, insurance and banking with long term career prospects in the BPO sector. 

Currently, the BPOs spend time, efforts and money to train the people they employ after interviews. The officials of NIIT Institute of Process Excellence say that just one or two out of 20 clear their interviews and 50 percent of those who are taken in, leave the company or the industry. But with such a new system in place,  Genpact would get a  trained workforce.  And a reduced attrition rate for the entire situation.