Hays, the Leading Global Specialist Recruitment Company Launches in India

The First Specialist Recruitment Company to enter the Country


Mumbai, 31 March: Hays plc, the leading global specialist recruitment company, today announced the launch of Hays India and the official opening of its office in Mumbai. Hays is the first international specialist recruitment company to enter the Indian market and will offer its well-established and successful recruitment model to Indian clients and candidates.

Hays plc is the leading global specialist recruitment group. It is market leader in the UK and Australia, and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe, together with a presence in the Gulf market. The Group employs 8,294 staff operating from 380 offices in 27 countries across 17 specialisms, including accountancy and IT, areas in which India excels. For the year ended 20 June 2008, the Group placed around 80,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 300,000 people into temporary assignments.

Speaking today at a press conference in Mumbai, Alistair Cox, Chief Executive of Hays, said:

ìOpening in India is a key step in our expansion strategy and further cements our position as the global leader in our industry. India is the 12th largest economy in the world but has virtually no specialist recruitment sector, despite the exponential growth in its professional and skilled workforce. The large public sector co-exists with a sizeable and diversified private sector and we believe that there are significant opportunities for us in this fast-developing country.

ìWe are totally committed to our move into India and we plan to open our second office in Delhi within the next few months, and will continue to look at opportunities throughout the country. We are the experts in recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide and our aim is to be one of the top three recruiters in the country within the next couple of years.î

Like many other emerging economies, India is well-developed in generalist recruitment but it is a relatively immature market in specialist recruitment. It is some years behind Europe and a long way behind the UK and US in its approach to recruiting. The industry is still largely driven by companiesí in-house HR teams and currently the market has not experienced the Hays formula of success-based, specialist contingency recruitment – whereby a fee is only paid when the role is successfully filled.

The Indian recruitment market is estimated at around 250m in net fees and is very fragmented, currently being dominated by smaller boutique agencies. Haysí area of core expertise is the permanent middle-management market, which is currently estimated at around 150m in net fees.

Nick Cox, Managing Director of Continental Europe & Rest of World, added:

ìWe are excited to be bringing our model of contingent specialist recruitment to the Indian sub-continent. Our core offering differs from our competitors as we have a dedicated client and industry expertise, proven candidate attraction techniques and technologies; supported by our in-depth international knowledge and capabilities.

ìWe very much see Hays India adding value to our clients and candidates across all key recruitment sectors and we look forward to expanding our offering to meet the needs of our clients and candidates going forward.î