: IT major Infosys plans to focus more on local hiring in the US and is also looking at setting up development and training centres in the country as part of its efforts to tide over visa-related issues.
Infosys has been in favour of a healthy mix of local and global personnel even though hiring locals in overseas markets often pushes up operational costs for IT outsourcing companies.
With the US mulling over various measures to make visa norms stricter under the Donald Trump administration, Indian IT firms have been contemplating tweaking their business models and accommodating more locals.
“We are closely monitoring the overall situation with respect to visa... In the last 24 months, we have focused on increasing our presence in the US with a lot more local hiring,” Infosys Chief Operating Officer UB Pravin Rao told investors on a recent conference call.
He added that at this stage, Infosys has not seen any “undue things” that will impact the way it does business.
“In this year, we will continue that focus. We will accelerate it. We will also start looking at developments and training centres in the US as well,” he said.
Rao, however, did not talk about the investments Infosys will make on the expansion.
The North American market accounted for over 60 per cent of Infosys’ $10.2 billion revenue in the 2016-17 fiscal.
During his election campaign, US President Trump had promised stricter immigration laws and protection of local jobs.