ZF English

Accenture makes no long-term plans

12.02.2008, 19:48 9

The clashing macroeconomic projections and frequent legislative modifications are eroding investors' confidence and reducing their chances of making medium and long-term predictions, believes Aurelian Sima, who runs the Romanian BPO operations of US firm Accenture.
"Business environment stability is the first indicator an investor is looking at when considering a potential investment. (...)," says Sima.
Besides legislative changes, macroeconomic indicators' lack of predictability is another difficulty investors present on the domestic market are coping with.
"Whereas in mid-2007 we could say the Romanian economy's advantage is its predictability, we can no longer say this now. The opposing statements regarding the trend of inflation in 2008, for instance, are harming the business and reducing investors' confidence," states the head of the BPO unit of Accenture, an US company providing consulting services, technological solutions and outsourcing services, with global turnover worth 19.7bn dollars in the fiscal year that ended in August 31, 2007.
Salary budgets are most affected by the volatility of forecasts related to macroeconomic indicators. Authorities' contradictory statements are generating instability and a certain state of nervousness in the private environment. Sima says investors' confidence will rise as authorities' projections become more consistent and closer to reality.
Sima underscores another problem is authorities' lack of support for major employers. "We did our homework before arriving on the market, but all business development has to be supported by what we find on the market at the respective moment," he states.
Accenture has over 280 employees in Bucharest and plans to reach 2,000 employees on the medium and long term.
The US company's BPO unit has four business lines: human resources, financial, procurement-logistics and insurance. Accenture also has a consultancy unit and a software development and maintenance unit on the domestic market.
BPO employers, including Accenture, Genpact and TechTeam, have been among the stars of the work force market in recent years, announcing recruitment plans involving hundreds and even thousands of people.
At present, no expat works in the BPO unit of Bucharest and the unit does not have any Romanian customer.
"There are contacts with potential customers domestically and they seem to be open to outsourcing services. A company has to have high values or volumes to resort to such services and it is multinationals that are still the large companies.
Accenture is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the head of the BPO centre in Romania says there is no talk about floatation on the Bucharest Stock Exchange for the time being.

Accenture
Cannot make medium and long-time plans in Romania because of the contradictory macroeconomic projections and frequent legislative changes
Has over 280 employees in Romania and want to reach 2,000 employees on the medium and long term
Its BPO unit has 4 business lines; also has a consultancy and a software development and maintenance unit domestically
Does not have any Romanian customers at present
Isn't considering floatation in Bucharest

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