Wipro Spectramind, the business process arm of Wipro, plans to sign non-poaching agreements with 11 BPO firms in the country to counter 'high staff attrition' even as the company saw a dip in its strength at the end of the fourth quarter.

"We have signed non-poaching agreements with nine firms and plan to sign similar agreements with 11 more firms this year," Wipro Spectramind chairman and managing director Raman Roy told reporters in Bangalore on Friday.

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The company's strength went down to 9,300 in the fourth quarter ending April 2004, net decline of 156 people, as against 9,456 people in December 2003.

Wipro Spectramind is the largest BPO player in the country, with a staff strength, which is more than 60 per cent of its nearest competitor.

"The attrition rates are as high as 100 per cent," Roy said, asserting that 'fatigue' was not the reason for people quitting BPO firms, but switch for "short gains" in salary in rival companies.

About 250,000 people, largely young graduates, work in the four-year old Indian BPO industry, which is growing at a rapid pace with the entry of multinationals.

Firms witnessing their staff jumping to rival firms enter into non-poaching agreements that stipulate informing the BPO firm from where they are hiring the staff from and a total ban on recruitment during training periods.