India's IT firms seek American, global work force

Washington, May 31: The Indian outsourcing has taken a new turn with more and more technology companies of the country hiring foreigners including Americans, by opening several offices around the world.

The firms are launching the global recruiting effort because of labour shortages in the country as the companies are expanding beyond data entry and back-office processes into areas such as design, research and development, and sophisticated business applications that require highly skilled workers, according to a report in The Boston Globe.

Currently, more than 10,000 American expatriates work in India for Indian information technology consulting and other outsourcing firms, a number that is expected to grow, said Forrester Research in Cambridge Vice President (Asia Pacific research) John McCarthy.

Leading software provider Infosys Technologies Ltd will spend 100 million dollars over the next year to hire and train 25,000 workers and college graduates from around the world, including from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd of Bangalore will add 30,500 employees over the next year, including 1,000 from the United States.

As these firms scour the world for highly skilled talent, they have also promised to pay the prevailing wage for new hires in Japan, the United States, and England.

According to the Globe report, Infosys will train 300 graduates it recruited from American colleges this summer to acquaint them with the firm's culture and with their Indian colleagues. The new employees will receive starting salaries of 55,000 dollars after completing a six-month course at the firm's training facility in Mysore.

They will then start full-time jobs in the company's offices in Texas, Arizona, Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, or California.

Meanwhile, American firms seeking to reduce labour costs are stepping up offshoring efforts and will be sending more white-collar jobs abroad.

Mr McCarthy estimated that US employers will move 3.4 million jobs and 136 billion dollars in wages overseas by 2017. These jobs will include positions in technology, finance, life sciences, human resources administration, and business management.

Analysts from Connecticut-based research firm Gartner Inc, said outsourcing of IT jobs from the United States, Europe, and other major regions to developing countries will increase to 30 per cent in 2015, up from under 5 per cent today.

UNI