By Shaik Ahmed Ali and Arvind Sukumar, CNBC-TV18

IT companies are moving lock, stock and barrel to Vizag from Hyderabad. One of the reasons is that their employees want a better quality of life.

The palatial campus of Kenexa, a human capital management company, is one among several companies that are relocating their headquarters to the Rishikonda Hills of Vizag. Kenexa has invested nearly USD 10 million to build the 700-seater campus. Nearly 60% of the company's employees working in Hyderabad have opted to move here.

“The first batch of 30-40 employees have already moved. Hopefully, by the year-end, 60 to 70 per cent of them will move here. Our future growth will be in Vizag. We are committed to it and this will be our future global service centre,” said Raghuveer Sakuru, MD, Kenexa (India).

Kenexa said the reason for the move is increasing pollution and traffic congestion in Hyderabad. Though the company had to spend nearly USD 3 million on relocation packages for its employees, it's not complaining.

"The cost of the land is significantly lower here. So, you can afford to build bigger buildings and give larger workstations. So, our average per employee square feet runs into 160-170 square feet,” said Rudy Karsan, Global CEO, Kenexa.

Software companies are also relocating to Vizag. Satyam is constructing its second campus while Infosys, Wipro and TCS are making huge investments in the city.

Instead of going for fresh recruitment, the companies are planning to relocate their employees from Hyderabad to Vizag. They are hopeful that their employees will be more than willing to work from Vizag, even at lesser salary.

“The awareness among youngsters is such that they are willing to even accept 10-15% lower earnings and be in a place like Vizag than in a congested and polluted place like Hyderabad,” said Pradeep Dhobale, Chairman, CII Andhra Pradesh.

The Vizag district authorities are trying to take advantage of the trend. They have started offering group-housing schemes to attract young professionals.