Wipro push to hire more westerners

To head off growing protectionist sentiment in these regions – Suresh Vaswani

 

Wipro, India's third-largest IT outsourcing company, plans to boost the hiring of US and European staff this year, in part to try to head off growing protectionist sentiment in these regions, said Suresh Vaswani, joint chief executive.

 

"Protectionism is a risk we are very cognisant about but there are ways to mitigate against it," Mr Vaswani said. "We want to globalise and localise a lot more. We want to hire a lot more local people in the countries where we operate and drive ethnic diversity."

 

India's IT industry is coming under threat from protectionism as unemployment rises in developed markets, fuelling the desire to keep IT jobs at home.

 

The US government's $787bn stimulus package this year, for example, included a "Buy American" clause for public works and building projects. Barack Obama, US president, has said he would seek to end tax breaks for companies that outsourced jobs overseas.

 

Indian outsourcers are responding with increased lobbying, but hiring more westerners may be another way around the problem - especially as rising unemployment is making it easier for Wipro to recruit in western markets. Of more than 97,000 Wipro employees, only about 8-9 per cent are non-Indian. However, the company plans to increase its presence at university campus hiring events while other big recruiters are staying away. It has participated in careers fairs at institutions such as Cranfield School of Management, Manchester Business School, the University of Hertfordshire, Saïd Business School and Rotterdam School of Management.

 

Source: Financial Times