The Hindu Business Line : Swine flu: IT majors closely monitoring Mexican centres

On high alert
TCS is advising employees in Mexico City and San Luis Potosi to work from home
Wipro Ltd is in the process of providing required travel advisories for affected locations
Infosys has been monitoring the situation closely
Genpact has taken “proactive measures to protect local employees”

Moumita Bakshi Chatterjee

New Delhi, April 28 With swine flu outbreak in Mexico now triggering fears of a global pandemic, Indian IT companies – which have operations in Mexico – have swung into action. While Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has put its offices in affected zones on ‘high alert’ and is even advising employees in Mexico City and San Luis Potosi to work from home, Wipro Ltd said it is in the process of providing required travel advisories for specific affected locations.

The WHO has already ratcheted up its pandemic alert level to Phase 4 for the swine flu, signifying that there is a sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus causing outbreaks in at least one country.

Many Indian IT firms have set up delivery centres in Mexico, as a strategic nearshore location to the US. Such facilities allow IT and BPO companies to offer sourcing options to the North American clients. TCS, for instance, has two centres in Mexico with over 1,400 professionals, while Genpact has 2,000 employees spread across two centres. Infosys Technologies’ Monterrey centre in Nuevo León has 221 employees on its rolls.

“We are aware of the developing situation of swine flu cases across countries such as Mexico, the US, Europe, Canada. Our employees at the locations of high alert are safe. We are in the process of providing required travel advisories, education on swine flu, precautions to be taken and information on emergency assistance,” Mr Laxman Badiga, CIO, Wipro Ltd, said.

A TCS spokesperson said that the company has put its offices in affected zones on high alert and that several precautionary steps have been adopted internally, in the organisation. These include continuous communication to employees on avoiding crowded places and asking staff in high risk areas such as Mexico City and San Luis Potosi, to work from home. “According to Government of Mexico risk advisory, there is no restriction travelling to and from Mexico. However, travel is being advised only if considered absolutely necessary and unavoidable,” a TCS spokesperson said.

Although Infosys has not yet issued a travel warning, it has been monitoring the situation closely. “All our employees in Mexico are well….We are closely monitoring the situation and in the event of a breakout we will work with customers and our employees at onsite locations to take the necessary action,” it said.

BPO major Genpact also has taken “proactive measures to protect local employees” against H1N1 swine influenza. “The state of Chihuahua, where Genpact’s Mexico operations are based, has not detected any case of infection, or death from the H1N1 Swine Influenza,” Genpact said, adding that it was taking preventive measures to ensure the safety of workers in Mexico and other facilities in countries that are likely to be hit by the virus.

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