Mumbai, April 22: The US-led recession has already started hurting Indian companies in the outsourcing space, but management consulting and technology services major Accenture sees pockets of opportunities in the turmoil. The company is, in fact, targeting a headcount of 60,000 people worldwide (gross) this fiscal ending August 31, 2008, and is planning to ramp up headcount in India from 37,000 at present to 50,000 in a year or so. Worldwide, the company has 1,78,000 people in 49 countries, at present.

On his second visit to India in 14 months, Accenture chairman and CEO William D Green said that India is increasingly becoming important for his company and so are other emerging markets like China and Brazil, both in terms of its consultancy business as well as outsourcing. Accenture, for the first time ever, is holding its global board meeting in India on April 22 in Mumbai, which also underlines the company’s thrust on growth opportunities here. “In the last 4-5 years, we have increased our commitment to India. This is not just for outsourcing. We are also looking at India as an important centre of innovation, and will focus on quality, differentiation and specialisation,” said Green.

In a select interaction with the media here, Green said that his firm is yet to feel the pinch of the events following the sub-prime crisis in the US. “We have not had a single instance where a client has told us that he is cancelling contracts, or deferring them. In fact, the needs of our clients keep changing according to the geopolitical and economic environment,” he said. Green also expected US companies to do better in the second half of the year. “Last time round, we had a consumer-led recovery. This time, we will see an exports-led recovery,” he added.