The company said the new facility, located in Buenos Aires, would support the Latin American operations of its European and North American clients, with an initial focus on Spanish customers. Capgemini expects the center to house approximately 1,500 staff by 2009.
To solidify its presence in Latin America, Capgemini has also acquired Network Consulting Group, a provider of consulting and package application implementation services that employs approximately 100 staff across Argentina and Brazil. Capgemini said NCG had strong connections to its own client base in Spain and Portugal.
According to Eric Morgan, CEO of Capgemini’s Iberian operation, the choice of Buenos Aires as the location for the company’s first Latin American center was a relatively easy one. Argentina was an obvious destination for us, as South America represents a very large portion of the business of our key clients in Spain, he said.
Capgemini derives over 3% of its annual revenue from the Iberian region, and currently employs approximately close to 5,300 staff there, out of a total headcount of just under 82,000.
Paris, France-based Capgemini has been growing its offshore headcount at a rapid rate over the last year or so. In its quarterly results presentation earlier this month, the company revealed that it had approximately 19,000 staff in offshore locations, including India, China, Poland, and Morocco, equivalent to 23% of total global headcount.
The ramp-up has been most apparent in India, where Capgemini’s headcount more than doubled during 2007 to about 16,300. This was largely due to the acquisition of Kanbay at the beginning of the year, which added approximately 5,000 staff to Capgemini’s Indian operation.
According to a report this week in India’s Business Standard, Capgemini is aiming to have some 40,000 employees in India by 2010. The company has offices in six Indian cities: Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Pune.
