IT major Infosys Technologies isplanning to go for campus recruitment across the country from next year.

Infosys CEO and Managing Director S. Gopalakrishnan told reporters at a CIImeeting on Wednesday that companies which skipped campus recruitment followingthe global economic downturn this year are looking at training about 18,000 oftheir employees under the extended mode till January 2010.

The recruitment and expansion process would begin early next year, he said onhopes that economy will revive in the second quarter of the current fiscal. Gopalakrishnanexpected better performance from the IT companies including Infosys in thefirst quarter results and said the meltdown has affected their growth rate.

He said the IT and ITES industry would continue to grow despite the economicslowdown and its growth rate is expected to pick up by mid next year. On theexpansion activities he said the company has no immediate plans to expandactivities in two-tier cities in Andhra Pradesh.

Work for the second campus at the SEZ has already begun and is expected to becomplete by next year as the campus with over 10,000 employees in the Hitechcity was inadequate, he added.