Low Attrition Rate at Koratty Infopark

THRISSUR:
As the IT industry in India continues to grapple with high attrition rates, companies at Infopark’s off-city campus in Thrissur are bucking the trend thanks to the region’s low cost of living, good road connectivity, hassle-free roads and proximity to leading educational institutions.
Most of the IT service providers at the state-run IT park located at Koratty have recorded surprisingly low number of resignations in the past few years and are finding it easy to attract employees as they expand operations.
“A number of surveys had projected very high level of attrition rate across Indian IT industry. However, companies at Infopark Thrissur were largely able to retain their workforce; the location of the park has played a key role in this regard,” Infopark CEO Hrishikesh Nair said.
A recent Nasscom survey has suggested that the attrition rate among IT service companies in the country stood at 17.6% this year while the BPM industry recorded an attrition rate of 36%.  As per the data available with Infopark, the attrition rate in its Thrissur campus has remained around 5%-7% for the past year.
“Well-connected roads, proximity to major public transit points and the presence of leading educational institutions are an added advantage of Koratty, compared to Kochi and its suburbs,” he said.
Koratty is less than 40 km from the International Container Transshipment Terminal, around 18 km from the Cochin International airport and nearly 8 km from the Angamaly railway station.
Chinmay Varma, Vice President (Engineering) of mobile app developing firm Qburst, said he had received only two resignations in the past two years; and those were all for personal reasons. The company employs around 144 IT professionals at the Thrissur campus.
He also noted that Qburst is looking to recruit more freshers in the coming year as it plans to scale up its operations in Infopark. “The campus has around seven professional educational institutions in close proximity and this ensures availability of manpower,” he added.
Harikrishnan, Founder of Software developing firm Zinemind, said that the company had zero resignations in the past year. Zinemind, which started off two years back at Infopark Thrissur with three staff, now employs around 30 people. “The location is favourable for finding employees. We are also recruiting people from metro cities like Bengaluru and they are finding the place convenient to settle down with their families,” he added.
Francy Antony, General Manager, Braddock Infotech Ltd, said three people had resigned from the company in the past two years, which is very low compared to the attrition levels in cities. “Cost of living is very low here, which is seen as a positive factor by employees. Also, a large section of the staff here are fond of the rural atmosphere in Koratty,” he added.
Jothish Kumar, the Technical Director of software developing firm Yoptimizo, noted that low pollution and hassle-free travel are the major advantages of the location for his employees. There were zero resignations in the company during 2015, he said.
The companies are also looking to buy more space in the new 3.3 lakh sq ft building for expanding their business. The new IT block will start operations in January 2016.
The building, notified as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), is expected to generate 3,000 job opportunities in two years.  Both plug-and-play as well as warm shell layouts are available in the building. Infopark Thrissur, spread across 30 acres, houses nearly 30 companies, employing over 700 IT professionals.