Tata Consultancy eyes firms for new skills

Country's top software services exporter Tata Consultancy Services Ltd's acquisition strategy is focused on enhancing its skills and it is not keen to buy firms with a very large staff, a top official said on Monday.

"We have to acquire capabilities we don't have - that's our strategy," S Padmanabhan, Tata Consultancy's head of global human resources, told a business conference.

Indian software services firms including Infosys Technologies, Wipro and Satyam Computer Services are eyeing foreign firms to access new markets and skills. Foreign firms such as IBM and Accenture are expanding in India, which has a large pool of low-cost workers and a growing market.

Tata Consultancy, which has more than 100,000 employees, and plans to hire 35,000 people in the fiscal year to March, does not see acquisitions as a means of adding headcount.

"We don't find any joy in acquiring a 40,000- or 50,000-people company. We are adding those many people ourselves," Padmanabhan said.