Quess Corp bets on professional, overseas staffing to drive future growth

Bengaluru: IT staffing and services company Quess Corp expects professional and overseas staffing to contribute nearly three-fifths of its growth in the coming years, up from around half currently, said CEO Lohit Bhatia.

The company's consolidated net profit increased to Rs 82 crore in the first quarter of this financial year, up from Rs 51 crore a year ago, while revenue rose 14% to Rs 4,182 crore.

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“We want to retain our professional staffing at 50%, but in the medium to long term, general staffing may eventually contribute only about 40% of profits, while higher-margin businesses will account for 60%,” Bhatia said.

Professional staffing includes high-margin segments such as IT services for enterprises and global capability centres (GCCs), along with overseas staffing. General staffing, by contrast, caters to blue-collar roles in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, consumer goods and retail.

Over the past five quarters, general staffing has accounted for more than 60% of the company's business, Bhatia said. Within IT staffing, Quess Corp began a transformation nearly five years ago with a sharp focus on GCCs. “Five years ago, our GCC contribution was less than 10%. Today, GCC contribution by headcount is almost 72-73%, and our revenue contribution from GCC has increased," he said.

Overseas operations now account for close to 7% of the company’s revenue, with a presence in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Malaysia. The company plans to expand further into Germany and Northern Europe, Bhatia said.

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The push comes as Indian staffing firms increasingly look overseas, with global talent shortages driving demand for skilled professionals and opening new opportunities across markets. These opportunities extends well beyond technology roles, though artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity remain prominent areas of demand, ET reported last month.

Quess Corp’s total expenses increased to Rs 4,121 crore in the June quarter from Rs 3,602 crore a year ago, driven largely by higher employee benefit costs.

“How you manage your indirect costs and drive operating leverage is key. We are trying to embed AI at every layer – rebalancing base-side expenses, rewarding employees using AI and optimising costs through AI,” said Neeraj Jain, chief financial officer, Quess Corp.

General staffing remained the company's largest revenue contributor, generating Rs 3,596 crore in the quarter, compared to Rs 3,122 crore in the year-ago period.

“In general staffing, we have added construction businesses and value-added services. Shortly this financial year, we plan to build out another significant higher-margin business within general staffing,” Bhatia said