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Indian tech majors are increasingly opening centres in the US in a bid to portray a job creator image as they are faced with higher visa rejections.
In the last few weeks, Indian technology companies have gone into overdrive to ensure they are not seen as job takers in a US election year.
TCS centre
TCS has opened another development centre in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Located in the Normandale Lake Office Park, the 50,000 sq. ft facility will house 300 TCS employees and it will be a technology delivery hub for its regional customers.
In July, Infosys expanded its presence in the US by opening a new delivery centre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
This centre, housing 125 employees, will support one of its marquee clients, Harley Davidson. McCamish Systems, an Infosys BPO company, earlier this month increased its presence in the insurance segment by commencing operations in Des Moines, Iowa. The centre currently has 87 employees, serving clients in the insurance sector.
Mindtree factility
A few days ago, MindTree announced its first development centre in the US when the company announced the opening of a new facility in Gainesville, Florida.
Similarly, in August, Nasdaq-listed iGate opened a new development centre in Washington DC that the company claims will create 250 new jobs which the company plans to create by bagging US government contracts.
Balancing act
Industry watchers opine companies are doing this as they have one eye on business needs and the other on their US image. This, coupled with clients increasingly demanding companies’ presence in their countries and higher visa rejections, has impacted Indian companies.
While the exact amount of an H1-B visa costs for a company can’t be ascertained, a rough estimate pegs it at $12,600 per person. According to Nasscom, visa rejection rates are about 40 per cent at present in the US. According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services data, only 85,000 visas will be granted annually to companies.
“Outsourcing dynamics are changing and Indian companies are trying to address this with models such as servicing clients from onsite or nearby locations,” said Sanjoy Sen, Senior Director, Deloitte, India.
Interestingly, despite higher onsite costs and a dearth of software professionals, companies are trying to fine-tune their requirements as per clients’ needs and hard ground realities.
> venkatesh.ganesh@thehindu.co.in
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