JOIN USInfosys on Tuesday announced that it will hire 10,000 Americans over the next two years, and open four Technology and Innovation Hubs (TIH) in the US.
The decision to hire local talent comes at a time when the Trump administration made visa curbs that made sending engineers to the US costly for Indian companies.
Commenting on the development, Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka said the plan will help Infosys invent and deliver the digital futures for clients in the US. “Learning and education, along with cultivating top local and global talent, have always been the core of what Infosys stands for and it makes us a leader in times of great change,” he said.
Infosys stated that the TIH will focus on technology areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, user experience, emerging digital technologies, cloud, and big data.
The first hub will be opened in Indiana in August 2017, and is expected to create 2,000 jobs by 2021. These hubs will play a key role in industries such as financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, retail and energy, among others.
The company said it would also take the model of hiring fresh engineers from colleges and training them on its core technologies to global markets of the US and the UK.
The decision to hire more people abroad, in addition to the existing about two lakh people, will create additional burden on the company’s labour costs. The North American market accounted for over 60% of Infosys’ total revenue of $10.2 billion in the FY 2017.
Nasscom president R Chandrashekhar told DH that the industry body is supportive of local hiring by companies. “This kind of approach of combining skilling and local hiring will help Indian companies; it is in consistent with the broader approach in the industry for a long time,” he said.
Commenting on the development, Aston Business School UK doctoral research scholar Sanjoy Sen said Infosys appears to have adopted a smart strategy by announcing its extensive recruitment plans in the US market, which incidentally is no real surprise as this had been predicted as the most obvious course of action for Indian IT companies.
“However, the smartness is reflected in being able to convert this risk into an opportunity by vocally demonstrating its commitment to the US cause. This reiterates that Infosys is truly a global player who is a member of the local community in the US marketplace and not an Indian player who does business overseas with Indian resources,” said Sen.
R Chandrashekhar, Nasscom president: This approach of combining skilling and local hiring will help Indian companies; it is in consistent with the broader approach in the industry for a long time