Silicon Valley: Indian companies intend to increase the pace of offshoring, reflecting the growing global reach of many Indian companies, according survey by consulting firm McKinsey.

According to its just released Global Survey of Business Executives : Confidence Index, for January 2007, the number of Indian firms intending to hire staff overseas increased by 12 per cent from 30 per cent in September 2006 and to 42 per cent in December 2006.

According to the consulting firm, 61 per cent of all executives globally say the majority of their hiring will take place in the country where their companies are headquartered. The firm says this figure has remained almost unchanged over the past three months.

According to the survey, "In India, executives seem to be looking to offshore some of their own operations, after years of benefiting from Western companies doing the same," the survey says.

However, executives are likelier than three months ago to say that new hires working in a different country from headquarters will perform functions identical to those performed at home, perhaps, indicating year-end assessments of efficiencies and costs, it said.

Overall, the survey shows that executives relatively high confidence in economic conditions remained unshaken during the final quarter of 2006, despite the upheaval the quarter delivered, and executives are hiring.