Indian outsourcing firm Infosys commits to creating 10,000 US jobs

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Infosys is joining a growing list of international firms that are pledging their support for American jobs.

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The Indian outsourcing firm announced Tuesday it is creating 10,000 jobs in America over the next two years.

Employees walk below the Infosys logo at the company's campus in Electronics City in Bangalore, India.

Infosys, India's iconic outsourcing firm, is also opening four new technology and innovation hubs across the U.S. that will train American workers in areas like cloud, artificial intelligence and big data. The first hub will launch in August 2017 in Indiana, which alone will create 2,000 U.S. jobs by 2021.

"Learning and education, along with cultivating top local and global talent, have always been the core of what Infosys brings to clients; it is what makes us a leader in times of great change. In helping our clients improve their businesses and pursue new kinds of opportunities, we are really excited to bring innovation and education in a fundamental and massive way to American workers," Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka said in the announcement.

"It's so good to welcome Infosys to Indiana, and to expand our growing tech ecosystem with the addition of their estimated 2,000 Hoosier jobs," Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said in the release.

The announcement follows President Donald Trump's "Buy American, Hire American" executive order, which called for the H-1B visa program to be reviewed. Any changes to the H1-B program could hurt Infosys, which has benefited from the specialized worker non-immigrant visa. Wall Street analysts have already warned that any changes or restrictions to the H1-B program would hurt India's outsourcing sector, which relies on business from the U.S.

In fact, more than half of Infosys's sales comes from the U.S., and Lockheed Martin, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and IBM are just some of the clients it has served.



President Trump signs 'Buy American, Hire American' executive order Tuesday, 18 Apr 2017 | 3:43 PM ET | 00:27



Infosys's plan to bring jobs to America marks a turn in the company's growth strategy, which has primarily been centered around offering outsourcing and consulting services to U.S. clients at a lower rate by leveraging Indian talent.

Infosys's expansion in the U.S. does raise questions as to whether jobs will be cut in India. The firm has been under pressure as of late to accelerate earnings growth as it faces fierce competition from its Indian peers, rising wages in India which have made it more challenging to keep costs down and broader commoditization of some of its services.

Nonetheless, the news about its ambitious plan in the U.S. will likely set an encouraging backdrop for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming trip to Washington D.C. — which sources close to the Indian government say may happen sometime this summer. While Trump and Modi have spoken on the phone, the leaders of the two largest democracies in the world have yet to meet in person.

"It's important for Modi to be seen as part of a small grouping of foreign leaders that have been early visitors of Trump. It shows that India is part of an important cluster of countries," said Shailesh Kumar, a senior analyst at consultancy Eurasia Group and a former India economist at the U.S. Department of Treasury.

To read more, please visit: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/02/indian-outsourcing-firm-infos...

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