Indian IT software services company Infosys is being seen as yielding to US President Donald Trump administration's arm-twisting tactics on jobs for Americans in America as Bengaluru-based Infosys led by CEO Vishal Sikka said it will be creating 10,000 Americans in the next two years.
"We're glad to see companies like Infosys see opportunity in the American economy again," Ninio Fetalvo, a White House spokesman, told the Washington Post in a statement.
The newspaper's headline "Under fire from Trump for stealing American jobs, this outsourcing firm says it will create 10,000 new jobs in US" suggested that the company reacted in response to the protectionist stance of the Trump administration.
In addition to hiring Americans, the company had also announced setting up of four technological and innovation hubs in the country. The first such hub will open in Indiana in August 2017.
"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," Sikka had said in a statement.
"New advances in technology – artificial intelligence, in particular – are radically transforming our world, and it is within our reach to learn these new technologies and to be the innovators and entrepreneurs who bring solutions based on these technologies to our clients in all industries," he added.
Indian IT companies such as Infosys, TCS and Wipro are facing allegations of snatching jobs from Americans by deploying Indians in the country, using H-1B visas.
Infosys had over 2 lakh employees as of March 31, 2017; the nationality-wise break-up was not available.
At around 1.10 pm on Wednesday, Infosys shares were trading 1.65 percent higher at Rs 936 apiece. The BSE Sensex was down 12 points to 29,909. Top index losers were Lupin, ICICI Bank and Tata Steel.
TCS was up 2.05 percent at Rs 2,339 and Wipro was 0.49 higher at Rs 497.
