New Delhi: Call centre companies are looking at soft skills like neutral accent, aptitude, attitude and sound communication capabilities rather than hard skills in their prospective employees, according to Bangalore-based human resource outsourcing firm TeamLease.

Soft skills like neutral accent and sound communication capabilities, coupled with a professional attitude are what Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies are mostly looking for at the time of hiring, Ashok Reddy, managing director, TeamLease, said.

He said BPO companies who perceive these attributes would be the major differentiators in the call centre business.

TeamLease, which maintains people on its own payroll and leases them out to companies as when required by them on a payment basis, plans to increase its BPO exposure to 35 per cent from the current 20 per cent of its total strength of 2,500.

"Currently, 20 per cent of our employee base of 2,500 is in Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) sector. Based on the projects in the pipeline, the potential in that sector could go up to 30 to 35 per cent in the next 18 months," Reddy said.

"We are looking at it in excess of 2,000 to 3,000 in the next 18 months as the potential leasing number for the support functions in BPO segment," he said.

TeamLease has a customer base of over 50, which includes Reliance Telecom, Metro Cash & Carry, Sify, Philips, ING Vysya, Alcatel and Intelligroup among others.

PTI