Look who's shining

A worldwide recession seems almost upon us, stock markets everywhere are crashing and our currency is losing value every day. But bad times can be good - for some. Instability can bring great business opportunities. History proves this. More than half the 30 companies that make up the Dow industrial average were started during a recession or depression. These include Procter & Gamble, Disney, McDonald's, General Electric and Johnson & Johnson. In the early 1970s, the US was weighed down by multiple problems - an unpopular president, the unfolding Watergate scandal and the costs of a war that had divided the country. Petrol prices had risen nearly 50% in two years. Consumer confidence was at an all-time low. Conventionally speaking, it was a terrible time to start a business. But some identified opportunities, took the plunge and prospered. These included: Supercuts offering cheap haircuts, inexpensive family-diner chain Chilis - and a small company called Microsoft.


Back home, some businesses are already seizing the opportunity this Diwali.

Some fire, others hire (BPO & HR)
This may not be the best time to look for a new job. The slowdown has meant much of India Inc is either rethinking or shelving recruitment plans. But many BPOs are hiring as usual. VCustomer, for instance, is still recruiting 150 people a week. It is the same with Convergys, whose MD, Sukant Srivastava, says, "We are increasing the number of call centre agents in India based on client needs. We will add 2,500 people by year-end." The company currently employs more than 13,000 people. Many others such as Infovision, Aricent, and Accenture say they are on track with recruitment plans. And a study by ValueNotes, a Pune-based research company, predicts that domestic BPOs will have a total workforce of 540,000 in the next four years, up from 140,000 at present.