IT's hiring time! Infy wants 31,000, Accenture 60,000

Dell: 8,800 jobs. Chrysler: 12,000 jobs. Bristol-Myers: 4,300 jobs

Companies are slashing payrolls left and right. But over at Accenture, an international consulting, technology and outsourcing company, managers plan to hire 60,000 new employees this year. That's a 34% increase in its staff. The outlook is similar at the Indian technology services company Infosys, which is looking for 31,000 employees internationally, a 35% growth in its workforce.

When an employer brings in so many new hires--Infosys welcomed 1,000 people one day in June 2006--getting them integrated into the company and its culture is a massive operation. It's especially important for global companies, since operations should be the same if you're in Bangalore or London.


The first problem: Finding that many qualified people. Infosys received 1.3 million résumés last year. "In peak seasons we receive around 6,000-10,000 resumes in a day," says Nandita Gurjar, vice president of human resources development at Infosys.

Despite that magnitude, managers say the percentage of qualified candidates is disappointing. The story is the same at German software company SAP, which needs to find 4,000 new employees for positions in programming, development, solution management, engineering and sales.

"In the last 16 quarters we reported double-digit growth and, as a result, we need to hire," says Claus Heinrich, SAP's head of global human resources. "But it's a challenge to find qualified people".

Infosys took matters into its own hands. The company created Campus Connect, a partnership with top Indian engineering schools to educate students according to company standards. "We needed to meet our growing demand for 'industry-ready' professionals," says Infosys' Gurjar. Infosys trains professors to teach industry-specific courses, offers seminars taught by Infosys employees, and sponsors events at tech competitions.

In developing countries, human resources is a hot field, since growth is occurring so rapidly. But the supply of candidates isn't keeping up with demand. So Accenture started HR Academy to boost the candidate pool. The company partnered with XLRI, a prominent Indian business school, to create classes that will produce a quality talent pool, which will then work for Accenture. The company is looking to replicate the program in other countries.

For applicants not in the Infosys program, the way in is daunting. Every recent college graduate who makes it past the first round of interviews undergoes a logical thinking test that can include analytical thinking, arithmetic, reasoning and written communication skills. Applicants also need to show that they can thrive in a variety of cultures.

To speed up the selection process many employers now have candidates take an online test or fill out a questionnaire to weed out completely unqualified applicants. In order for Steve Wynn's latest resort, Encore, to open in Las Vegas in December, the company needs to hire about 5,500 new employees. If it's anything like the chain's opening in Macau, China, 50,000 applications are expected.

To speed up the process, candidates fill out an application at Wynnjobs.com. Wynn then does "e-screening" to evaluate applicants' experience levels. Those without experience or the necessary licensing (for dealers) are tossed. Wynn also designed a series of online questions designed to knock out people who don't share the company's values. The next level of questions determines candidates' likelihood of success on the job.

"Making sure they stay here is really important," says Peter Early, Wynn's senior vice president of human resources. "More than anything though, it's important that we get the people who can uphold the high service standards here."

Once the initial pool is culled, candidates go to an audition, which is what the job interview is called. Since hotel and casino employees have so much interaction with customers, managers want people who deal well under pressure, interact positively with customers and can demonstrate that they can do the tasks their jobs require.

Hiring managers use software to rate candidates on their performance during a series of scenarios. For instance, a roulette dealer must go through several rolls of the dice while the hiring manager acts as the customer.

Infosys recently rolled out an online culling process of candidates. And while it might make HR's job easier, it takes half a day for job candidates.

Despite the technology, it's still a long process. That's why hiring managers want those selected to stay for the long term. The question is, how does an employer make thousands of new hires feel like part of a cohesive team?

Infosys and Accenture both have massive training facilities, and their programs are partly technical schools, partly team building exercises.

At Accenture, newly-hired consultants from all over the globe descend on St. Charles, Ill., for two weeks at the Q Center, a former women's college that was turned into a training facility. First, though, all employees are schooled in the Accenture way of doing things at the company's home office--everything from using the computer system to navigating the company.

Accenture's CEO William Green recently joked that lots of studying goes on at the Q Center during the day but that at night the real bonding begins with trips to the local bars.

Wynn's way of showing new hires its culture is through a program called Storytellers. In the employment office there will be photos of employees along with examples of their work that went above and beyond.

Early says the best example of this at the original Wynn Hotel is the staff of the restaurant Bartolotta. When they learned one of the diners recently returned from serving in Iraq, the entire staff chipped in to pay for the couple's dinner. Throughout the evening, each staff member, including the chef, stopped by the couple's table and thanked the serviceman for his efforts. They also baked a cake that said "Thank you."

"That's how we try to connect them to the aura and feeling of the place," says Early. "What gives the company its soul is the people who work here."