HYDERABAD: While the decision of the Infosys to hire 10,000 American nationals over the next two years raised many eyebrows, experts from the field maintain that it is a normal practice and does not showcase the impact of tightening of H1B visa regulations.
Infosys on Monday announced that apart from hiring 10,000 American workers, the company also intends to open four technology centres in the US.
However, those related to IT industry say the hiring of American workers is not anything new. As per available data, Infosys in 2014 alone hired close to 3,000 American workers. “This is not a big deal as they are hiring in a span of two years,” said Ranga Pothula, president, Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association (HYSEA).
The Infosys’ decision to open technology centres in the US is in line with their market strategy, suggest experts. For instance, Infosys plans to set up four technology centres in the US.
The first one to begin operations would be the centre at Indiana in August this year. Close to 2,000 American workers are expected to be hired but only by 2021. Also, Indiana is home to the cloud software and solutions provider Appirio, a company that Wipro hired for a whooping 500 million dollars in 2016.
Infosys plans to set shop at Indiana, close to their rival, began shortly after this acquisition. The construction of the technical centre is still ongoing.
“Giving more focus on hiring of American workers is one way of letting the US administration know that the Indian companies are hiring local talent,” said Pothula.
If you look at the past few years the service companies such as Tata, Wipro, Infosys have all been hiring US local talent. So, this trend is there already. But this has become more relevant due to the change in H1B rules.