India’s business process management ( BPM) industry is in the midst of a structural overhaul, with voice-based roles, once the sector’s bedrock,now accounting for just 26% of active job openings, according to a new report.
Hiring is pivoting sharply toward non-voice, knowledge processing, and emerging technology roles, which together make up the remaining 74%, driven by digital transformation in industries like BFSI, healthcare, and retail, said the report published by staffing services firm CIEL HR.
Roles in the emerging tech segment—spanning analytics, AI, and automation—have nearly doubled year-on-year.
Traditional voice-based roles are not just shrinking but also bleeding talent, the report warns. Attrition in these roles is as high as 30–35%, with average tenures lasting less than a year. This churn is largely attributed to rigid shift timings, limited career progression, and the fact that most such roles are taken up by professionals in the 20–24 age group using them as stopgaps.
“India’s BPM industry is undergoing its most defining shift in decades, one that is moving the sector from a cost-efficient voice model to a capability-led one,” CIEL HR Managing Director Aditya Narayan Mishra said. “Traditional roles are losing relevance, and the next wave of growth will be led by professionals who continuously invest in upgrading their capabilities.”
The report highlights a geographic shift in hiring, with tier-II cities such as Mysuru, Jaipur, and Coimbatore emerging as preferred talent hubs. Mysuru is positioning itself as a generative artificial intelligence cluster, while Coimbatore shows balanced capabilities across voice, non-voice, and tech roles, and Jaipur is gaining strength in customer service functions.
Other smaller cities are carving out specialisations of their own. Kochi now has a higher density of analytics roles than Mysuru, while Bhubaneswar is fast becoming a hotspot for KPO, accounting for 21% of related roles.
Bengaluru continues to lead in voice, non-voice, and KPO segments, though it has ceded ground to Hyderabad in emerging tech.
Gender disparity remains stark across the board, with women making up just 23% of emerging tech roles, compared with 38% in voice functions.
The report also notes that emerging tech roles have the lowest share of entry-level positions (20%), suggesting a preference for experienced hires. In fact, hiring forecasts for 2025 show a marked tilt toward senior professionals, particularly in KPO, where leadership roles (13+ years) are expected to grow by 15%.
CIEL’s findings are based on an analysis of job data from 105 companies, a survey of over 25,000 professionals in BPO and KPO operations, and a review of more than 10,000 live job postings over the past six months.
Hiring is pivoting sharply toward non-voice, knowledge processing, and emerging technology roles, which together make up the remaining 74%, driven by digital transformation in industries like BFSI, healthcare, and retail, said the report published by staffing services firm CIEL HR.
Roles in the emerging tech segment—spanning analytics, AI, and automation—have nearly doubled year-on-year.
Traditional voice-based roles are not just shrinking but also bleeding talent, the report warns. Attrition in these roles is as high as 30–35%, with average tenures lasting less than a year. This churn is largely attributed to rigid shift timings, limited career progression, and the fact that most such roles are taken up by professionals in the 20–24 age group using them as stopgaps.
“India’s BPM industry is undergoing its most defining shift in decades, one that is moving the sector from a cost-efficient voice model to a capability-led one,” CIEL HR Managing Director Aditya Narayan Mishra said. “Traditional roles are losing relevance, and the next wave of growth will be led by professionals who continuously invest in upgrading their capabilities.”
The report highlights a geographic shift in hiring, with tier-II cities such as Mysuru, Jaipur, and Coimbatore emerging as preferred talent hubs. Mysuru is positioning itself as a generative artificial intelligence cluster, while Coimbatore shows balanced capabilities across voice, non-voice, and tech roles, and Jaipur is gaining strength in customer service functions.
Other smaller cities are carving out specialisations of their own. Kochi now has a higher density of analytics roles than Mysuru, while Bhubaneswar is fast becoming a hotspot for KPO, accounting for 21% of related roles.
Bengaluru continues to lead in voice, non-voice, and KPO segments, though it has ceded ground to Hyderabad in emerging tech.
Gender disparity remains stark across the board, with women making up just 23% of emerging tech roles, compared with 38% in voice functions.
The report also notes that emerging tech roles have the lowest share of entry-level positions (20%), suggesting a preference for experienced hires. In fact, hiring forecasts for 2025 show a marked tilt toward senior professionals, particularly in KPO, where leadership roles (13+ years) are expected to grow by 15%.
CIEL’s findings are based on an analysis of job data from 105 companies, a survey of over 25,000 professionals in BPO and KPO operations, and a review of more than 10,000 live job postings over the past six months.
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