Infosys Technologies on Monday announced its first largescale plan to recruit 300 college graduates from universities in the United States in 2006 and 25 graduates from the United Kingdom in 2007 as part of an ongoing commitment to create a diversified, global workforce.
In 2005-06, Infosys doubled the percentage of non-Indian employees, hiring more than 25 different nationalities.
According to a statement from Infosys, in the first phase, Infosys' university-level recruiting programme in the US will bring more than 100 American college graduates to India in August 2006.
The new employees hired will develop their engineering skills at Infosys development centres across India for six months before returning to Infosys offices in the United States.
This is the first global recruiting initiative of its size to bring foreign talent to India.
"This represents a very important landmark in the evolution of Infosys. We firmly believe that the future success of Infosys lies in its ability to create an environment that is open to people from different nationalities and ethnicities," said N R Narayana Murthy, chairman and chief mentor, Infosys.
"Through the breadth of understanding and cross cultural adaptability that can only be found in a diverse workforce, Infosys will play an even more strategic role for its clients," he added.
Infosys began recruiting for entry-level software engineer positions at top universities in the US following a successful pilot programme that brought 10 young Americans to work in Bangalore.
Applications were admitted from all majors, including liberal arts majors, for the software engineering position.
In August 2006, more than 100 new employees from American universities will begin their careers at the Infosys Global Education Centre in Mysore, India, one of the largest corporate education centres of its kind in the world.
They will participate in a customised education programme for four months, after which the American trainees will be relocated to various Development Centres throughout India for another two months before returning to various Infosys locations in the United States.
Along the same lines, a pilot programme will take place to recruit students from universities in the United Kingdom.
"As we expand our global presence, we need to attract bright talent from the local economies. It was with this in mind that we launched university-level recruiting programme in the US," said T V Mohandas Pai, member of the board - Human Resources and Education and Research, Infosys.
"We plan to run a pilot at top universities in UK this year for 25 positions. We feel college graduates from the US and UK offer unique skills and perspectives that will blend with the skills of our Indian employees to expand our capabilities in all areas," he added.
