Ericsson ramps up staff headcount at India global services unit

KOLKATA: Ericsson, the world's largest mobile network equipment maker, has increased staff headcount of its global services unit in India, buoyed by a sharp surge in its managed services business.

The Swedish vendor has hired more than 4,000 techies at Ericsson India Global Services, accounting for nearly 90% of its India workforce expansion in calendar year 2011, executives aware of the development told ET.

Latest employment numbers shared by Ericsson reveal its India workforce climbed nearly 72% last year to 11,535 from 6,710 reported in December 2010.

The Ericsson India spokesperson, however, did not respond to ET's email query and declined to give a breakdown of the India hirings.

But executives familiar with the development believe Ericsson's global services operation accounted for an overwhelming majority while the balance were channeled across its production unit in Jaipur and R&D centres.

Bulk of the recruitments happened at Ericsson India's global service centre (GSC) which supports mobile phone networks worldwide, serving nearly 200 million customers. Over the past eight months, the network gear maker has bolstered its teams responsible for delivery of managed services, consulting and systems integration in India, said two people familiar with the matter.

India and Brazil are two key markets where the Swedish network vendor had hired the most which is in sharp contrast to its recent workforce reductions in North America.