Software-as-a-service (SaaS) major Zoho Corp is looking to hire at least 2,000 employees across engineering, technology and product development as it looks to expand in India and around the world.

"We have already started hiring locally and plan to start upskilling programmes such as Zoho Schools of Learning in these locations as we scale our operations," Prashant Ganti, head of products, tax, accounting & payroll, Zoho, told.

Zoho is looking to hire more software developers, quality assessment engineers, web developers, designers, product marketers, writers, technical support engineers and sales executives.

Ganti told the company plans to grow organically and expand to other geographies.

“We have been following the transnational localism approach, where our global expansion is happening by hiring locally in the countries where we are setting up operations," he said.

Zoho, which has a presence across India and the US, recently entered geographies such as Egypt, Jeddah and Cape Town.

The company is also working on tapping talent in rural India, Gati said. Its global headcount is presently around 10,800.

“Most of the talent in urban areas comes from villages and smaller towns. Companies need to take opportunities to where the talent is, and invest in upskilling,” Ganti said.

Chennai-headquartered Zoho’s revenue from operations jumped over 22.3% to Rs 5,230 crore for FY21, according to filings with the Registrar of Companies. It clocked a net profit of Rs 1,917.70 crore for the year, more than twice the previous year’s – making it arguably India's most profitable unicorn.

On the firm’s plans for the financial year 2023, Ganti said that Zoho would continue to invest in a vertically integrated tech stack.

“We are also investing in enhancing our audio/video capabilities, which have become crucial for all business functions. In India, we are also investing in rural revival initiatives, and in creating a deep-tech ecosystem in the country,” he added.

The SaaS company offers HR solutions through Zoho People, financial management through Zoho Books and other products such as Zoho Inventory, Zoho CRM, and Zoho Site. It is also looking to tap the financial management suite market that was previously served by Intuit’s Quickbooks.

“It throws up a huge market opportunity for Zoho. We want to help many businesses that are looking for a good alternative and help them transition smoothly,” Ganti said.