Infosys to set up innovation hub in Raleigh, hire 2k Americans

India's second largest software services firm Infosys today said it will set up a technology and innovation hub in Raleigh in North Carolina, where it is expected to hire 2,000 American workers by 2021.
In July, Infosys had announced it will set up a centre in North Carolina as part of its plan to hire a total of 10,000 locals for its US operations in the next two years.
The move was also seen as a bid to woo the Trump administration that has been critical of outsourcing firms for "unfairly" taking jobs away from the US workers.
The first of the four centres -- located in Indiana -- was announced in May this year.

Infosys, in a statement today, said the new hub in Raleigh will open in early 2018 and occupy 60,000 sq ft.
The company plans to hire the first 500 workers in Raleigh innovation hub within two years, with the remainder to be hired in the state by 2021, it added.

Towards its plan of hiring 10,000 people over two years, the company has already hired close to 1,200 American workers, Infosys said.
"The North Carolina Technology and Innovation Hub... Will focus on delivering cutting-edge solutions in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, data and advanced analytics, cloud and big data," Infosys President and Deputy COO Ravi Kumar said.

He added that the centre will help to serve clients in IT, life sciences, clean technology and advanced manufacturing sectors in a better manner.
Infosys, which employs about 2 lakh people globally, will expand its local hiring in the US as it battles visa-related challenges that often make sending engineers to the US costly.
The North American market accounted for over 60 per cent of Infosys' USD 10.2 billion revenue in the 2016-17 fiscal.
New hires will include recent graduates from the state's prestigious network of colleges, universities and community colleges, as well as local professionals.
Infosys is also partnering with North Carolina Community College System to create a customised programme to train the workforce.

"We plan to include pre-employment training... As well as extensive post-employment training that will focus on technical and soft skills," North Carolina Community College System Vice President of Economic Development Maureen Little said.