LPO Express may face a Halt due to Lack of Talent Supply

The LPO industry is still very nascent, but it has already seen a tremendous growth in a short period of time. According to the experts, the LPO industry is expected to experience exponential growth in the coming years. While there remain a number of positives in favor of India backing this growth, there are also some considerable challenges as well. One of them is lesser interest of the young Law graduates in the LPO industry which may deprive the LPO industry from gaining its estimated momentum.

Even though about 80,000 Lawyers graduate every year in India, but the number of them considering LPO as a career option remain very low. This is even more surprising, considering when about 45% of the Lawyers graduating feel that LPO industry pays better remuneration than the old stereotype Law jobs in a Law firm. However, one of the significant reasons for the Lawyers not considering the LPO option remains lack of awareness. This is despite the fact that LPO remained most eminent subject of debate in the media, particularly in times of economic crisis. Further, many students believe that LPO industry offers tasks that are rather repetitive in nature and could made them loose their legal knowledge and other competencies. Many students also think of it as just another form of BPO entity, where they might be required to do a monotonous job which requires no skills or domain knowledge. Clearly, there seems to be a great barrier of perception in minds of these young Lawyers speculating a career in the LPO industry.

However, with the Indian LPO vendors expanding their operations in various geographies and many UK and US law firms enhancing their capabilities in India, there seems to be a lack of talent supply in comparison to this increasing demand. Many experts believe that this dearth in talent supply could be one of the potential obstructions in stopping India from grabbing its estimated 75% share in the legal outsourcing services market. Further, other emerging destinations such as South Africa and Ireland are also expected to give India a stiff competition.

In light of such scenario, one of the significant challenges for the Indian LPO industry remains is to attract this much needed manpower. For this, they need to overcome the current perception which these Law graduates hold about the LPO industry. This requires greater interaction by the LPO vendors with their prospects to increase their awareness about the potential career in the LPO industry.