H-1B visa effect: Infosys to hire 10,000 American workers

Indian Information Technology major Infosys will hire about 10,000 people in the United States over the next two years and set up four technology and innovation hubs there as part of its efforts to tide over visa related issues.

Through these new hires and centres, Infosys will also focus on enhancing its play in new technology areas like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, user experience, cloud and big data.

Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka told PTI that the first hub, which would open in Indiana in coming August, would create 2,000 jobs by 2021 for American workers.

The location of the other three centres would be decided over the next few months. These hubs would not only train people on technology and innovation but also help in working closely with clients in key industries such as financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, retail and energy.

The North American market accounted for over 60 per cent of Infosys’ USD 10.2 billion revenue in the 2016-17 fiscal.

Mr. Sikka, however, said these steps were not being taken just to mitigate the impact of stricter visa norms in the U.S.

He said that over the last three years, there was an increase in the use of new technologies such as AI and virtual reality and even the traditional projects were becoming highly automated.

“As work becomes more next-gen, you need a more healthier mix of global and local talent and so, you need to rethink the traditional, what has historically been called ‘global delivery model’ and bring in a lot more talent locally,” he noted.