OffshoringManagement.com >> Research >> Articles on Offshoring Infosys announces plans to hire 10,000 Americans. So, how do you get hired? Infosys to hire 10,000 Americans over two years - Infosys will also open four new Technology and Innovation Hubs across the United States .

. Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Cognizant, and others are hiring in America and Europe. Do you want to join an Indian Offshoring firm Onsite? Most western governments are beginning to take a cue from American president Donald trump and are erecting protectionist measures against offshoring and work visas. Mr. Trump recently signed an executive order requiring officials to review the H1-B work visa program. Similarly, in April, the UK and Australia introduced measures to toughen its visa rules for foreign workers. In response to this, Infosys made headlines by announcing plans to "hire 10,000 Americans," a move that was immediately lauded by White house. (re: White House welcomes Infosys decision to hire 10000 Americans). Regardless of what politicians and policy makers say or do, businesses continue to find immense cost-benefits of offshoring, which means that the trends are not reversible. As a follow-up of such announcements, Americans may be motivated to explore jobs and career opportunities with offshoring firms. Professionals with knowledge of the dynamics of offshoring and globally distributing work, and those comfortable in managing geographically distributed teams have a distinct edge in the marketplace. However, landing a job is not as straightforward as it sounds. During my time at Infosys in Canada and the US, I had an opportunity to observe and work on their business operations and had referred several of my former colleagues to work there. After Mr. Trump's Executive order and Infosys' announcement, I decided to revise an article I had written on the topic a while ago (link). Getting hired by an offshoring services firm requires an understanding of couple of dimensions: Organizational structure (job and job descriptions) and

Organizational Culture, dynamics and management style Organizational Structure: Job and Job descriptions At the simplest, software services firms work with client organizations to solve their Information Systems and Business Process needs, that may include enhancing new capabilities and sustaining existing systems and processes. The operational structures, Culture and 'management style' is similar across software services firms that send part of their work offshore because the business of offshoring are similar. There may be subtle variations in titles, designations and acronyms for business units. The "big 3" - TCS, Infosys and Wipro- alone currently employ over 150,000 people each. Likewise, Service divisions of companies like IBM, Accenture, HP, Cap Gemini etc employ over 100,000 people in India alone. Software service firms have traditionally hired for specific roles in local geographies. Service and consulting firms operate with distinct business units (BU) based on geography (e.g US operations, Canada business unit etc), technology (e.g SAP practice unit, SFDC practice, .Net unit etc) or business verticals (e.g Banking and financial services, Insurance, Manufacturing etc). There may be an interweaving and overlap between the BU's that support massive operations internally and for clients. The firms also hire for distinct roles offshore (e.g in India and China) and onsite in the US, Canada, Europe and elsewhere. Roles in Business Enabler or Corporate Functions (BEF)

Service firms, like other large organizations require a wide array of skills to manage their corporate functions. These include specialized roles for managing the corporate planning, finance and accounting, Human Resources, legal, administration, travel management, internal Information Systems (IS), corporate communications, facilities management etc. These roles may fall into two broad categories: Global operations - Much of the Finance and Accounting, Information Systems, administration, corporate affairs, etc is generally managed in a global-operations centers which are consolidated in a few lower-cost locations (like India)

- Much of the Finance and Accounting, Information Systems, administration, corporate affairs, etc is generally managed in a global-operations centers which are consolidated in a few lower-cost locations (like India) Country specific - Some of the business supporting roles like a local HR representative, local finance person or local IS support may either be hired or outsourced locally. For instance, the receptionists or facilities manager at the Dallas office may be contracted out from a local staffing firm. Likewise, a local PR firm may be contracted out for specific campaigns. Staff in enabler functions may also be deputed from home office to global locations. Onsite hiring challenge and opportunities: If you are an American, Australian or European looking for opportunities in such enabler functions at Infosys, you may have to network with hiring managers locally in your city, state or province. Roles in Delivery Stream (Projects and Client Operations) The majority of people employed by service firms work on client projects, engagements and initiatives in myriad technologies ranging from old workhorses - mainframes- to cutting edge SaaS, Digital and cloud solutions and platforms. The 'complexities' of business arise because of various dimensions, including managing people working across geographic locations and with clients from across geographies, cultures and business verticals ranging from Hospital Management to the financial sector and everything in between. These roles fall into a few categories Developers, Programmers and Engineers: These are staff at the 'bottom of the pyramid' with titles that include Programmers, Programmer Analyst, Software Engineers, Test Engineer, QA Analyst etc. Slightly more 'senior' employees may be given more fancy titles like 'lead.' The bulk of recruitment for these roles can be managed from offshore locations for obvious reasons: cost arbitrage. Onsite hiring challenge and opportunities: Infosys' CEO in recent media interviews announcing the American worker hiring explains "We will open up four new technology and innovation hubs across the country focused on cutting edge digital technologies, including Cloud, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning." This certainly seems like an opportunity for Americans specialized in such technologies. Locally hired cloud and big-data engineers may be expected to travel to client locations to work there onsite. These niche skills are certainly going to be in demand, but there are a couple of challenges Operations to support Cloud, Big Data and Analytics can be performed from any global location. Offshore service firms are sure to leverage lower-cost talents in their home country and may minimize local hiring. When given requirements specifications, individuals need not be sitting with business users onsite to ‘code' or configure a software platform.



One is bound to wonder if an American Data Engineer specialized on big-data would want to work for a services firm or explore careers in a software solutions company or with an end-user organization? Project/Program/Delivery Management: The vast army of developers employed by offshoring firms requires a complex web of program, project and resource managers. These managers focus on the tactical challenge of keeping the operations running: gathering client requirements, interfacing with client staff, translating requirements into codable specifications, ensuring that developers work on the speck, reporting on the effort (time/cost/people expended), ensuring compliance with standards, ensuring smooth communication between onsite-and-offshore teams, among other tasks. Onsite hiring challenge and opportunities: The reality is that much of project and delivery management is done offshore though a very small number of program managers are also hired or deputed onsite. Account / Relationship / Engagement Management: Account and Engagement managers are counterparts of the offshore Project/Delivery Managers. They are resident at client locations, and are expected to be the 'onsite face' of the firm to the client. Account managers and Engagement managers may have a lot of operational responsibility of billing and invoicing, and are also accountable for ensuring that deputees from offshore are eased into their onsite gigs. Onsite hiring challenge and opportunities: Account and Relationship management roles are where Americans and locals are likely to see most of the job opportunities. However, one must keep in mind that service firms like Infosys, Accenture and others are extremely selective about people in these roles since these folks are the onsite ‘ambassadors' of the firm. Experienced account managers, especially those with a rolodex of client contacts are extremely valuable. Not surprisingly, poaching from other service frim (e.g IBM or Wipro hiring an Accenture Account manager is extremely common) Sales and Pre-sales support: Sales support staff are the rainmakers, essentially people who focus on bringing-in new clients and converting prospects into clients. They may also be supported by technical sales specialists. Onsite sales roles typically complemented by an army of offshore based pre-sales staff that helps with proposals, documentation and other back-end client research tasks. Onsite hiring challenge and opportunities: Just like onsite account and relationship management roles, service firms look for specific sales-traits while hiring candidates (Are you a rainmaker who also understands global delivery? Do you have a pre-existing relationship at Fortune 500, Global or other target clients? Can you translate your contacts and network into concrete revenue?) Technology and consulting: Consulting is the holy grail of the services business eager to 'move up the value chain.' Consulting may be for broad areas like Digital Transformation, validation of business strategies or for larger technology transformation (e.g a global SFDC or SAP rollout program). Consluting services may include Technology Strategy and Architecture consulting and consulting on business Domain specific problems. Onsite hiring challenge and opportunities: Technology service firms including Infosys continually look for world-class consulting talent with the right credentials. Americans with the right education, background and experience in consulting may find opportunities at companies like Infosys. If you are seeking such an opportunity, you may have to ask yourself Do you have a unique brand (of your own) that you can help sell you and your services for your prospective employer?



Are you willing to travel frequently to different client locations?



Are you comfortable reskilling yourself continually to meet the changing requirements in the market? The Culture @ Offshoring Service firms

Those looking for opportunities at software service firms like Infosys need to understand the (homegrown) aspects of the distinct culture. Bottom-up Culture: Most software service firms have designed well-oiled boot-camp like machinery that ensures a steady inflow of trained personnel at the bottom rungs recruited out of engineering school and academies. These service firms have been hiring tens of thousands of entry-level engineers a year (although the pace of hiring has slowed in recent years). IBM, Accenture, HP and others also hiring thousands of entry level software engineers and programmers in India.



Most software service firms have designed well-oiled boot-camp like machinery that ensures a steady inflow of trained personnel at the bottom rungs recruited out of engineering school and academies. These service firms have been hiring tens of thousands of entry-level engineers a year (although the pace of hiring has slowed in recent years). IBM, Accenture, HP and others also hiring thousands of entry level software engineers and programmers in India. Onsite travel is a huge perk : For a vast majority of new recruits at software service firms, going onsite is a big perk. Offshore employees are motivated to pack a suitcase and travel globally for opportunities earn allowances in dollars, pound, Euro and other 'foreign' currencies. Announcement by Trump administration to review the H1 work visa is certainly a setback for these engineers. These service firms have also evolved extremely sophisticated travel/visa management processes. Given the visa restrictions, some onsite hires in America may also be expected to travel to other regions like Europe.

: For a vast majority of new recruits at software service firms, going onsite is a big perk. Offshore employees are motivated to pack a suitcase and travel globally for opportunities earn allowances in dollars, pound, Euro and other 'foreign' currencies. Announcement by Trump administration to review the H1 work visa is certainly a setback for these engineers. These service firms have also evolved extremely sophisticated travel/visa management processes. Given the visa restrictions, some onsite hires in America may also be expected to travel to other regions like Europe. Homegrown leadership: Another distinct characteristic of Indian software service firms is the homegrown nature of leadership. Many of the senior managers joined and grew with the firm. Founders of many of these firms (including Infosys and Wipro) continue to manage operations from behind the scenes. To their credit, many of these leaders at offshoring firms have contributed to the astronomical growth during the past couple of decade. The pool of internal leadership talent includes alumni of offshoring firms who move across competing firms. With a strong inward looking management culture, American employees may find it harder to assimilate

Another distinct characteristic of Indian software service firms is the homegrown nature of leadership. Many of the senior managers joined and grew with the firm. Founders of many of these firms (including Infosys and Wipro) continue to manage operations from behind the scenes. To their credit, many of these leaders at offshoring firms have contributed to the astronomical growth during the past couple of decade. The pool of internal leadership talent includes alumni of offshoring firms who move across competing firms. With a strong inward looking management culture, American employees may find it harder to assimilate Costs budgeted in rupees: Many Indian software service firms continue to be headquartered in India, and their cost and operations are budgeted in rupees. Though they operate globally and also report their finances according to U.S. GAAP standards, few have grown to be truly multinational. Subsidiaries of service firms in North America operate as branches with local managers enjoying an element of Profit and Loss (P&L) responsibility, but may not enjoy the autonomy for hiring-and-firing. What this means is simple: recruitment process may continue to be slow since it is centralized.

Bottomline: Getting hired by Offshoring firms in the West requires an understanding of organizational culture and business dynamics. One just needs additional focused research to find the right niche... And paraphrasing NYT columnist Tom Friedman, if you are looking to be hired by Indian firms, your opportunities magnify if you "can speak a little Hindi ..." (Vishal Sikka, the first non-founder-CEO of Infosys speaks fluent Hindi too Other articles of interest in 'Make in America' category: 'Political victory': White House welcomes Infosys move to hire 10,000 Americans

Infosys to Hire 10,000 American Workers After Trump Criticism



Indian IT firm Infosys to hire 10,000 American workers - Criticism over H-1B visas has led to falling stock prices, and new moves.



Under political pressure, Infosys says it will hire 10,000 American workers



Giving in to Trump's bullying, India’s outsourcing giant Infosys is hiring 10,000 American workers

*Author © Mohan Babu K : All Rights Reserved 2017 Mohan is a technology executive with extensive experience in offshoring. Mohan is the author of a book on globalization titled "Offshoring IT Services: A Framework for Managing Outsourced Projects" (McGrawHill, India, 2006). He regularly blogs his views on offshoring and Globalizationg. Disclaimer: The opinions mentioned in this article are that of the author and do not reflect the policies or thoughts of Infosys, or any other organization. He would be pleased to receive E-mail correspondence regarding this paper or related topics. Please forward your feedback to Mohan by email All rights are reserved. Readers may browse, or share this article online including via social media. No part of this work may be reproduced; any quotations must acknowledge the source. Exceptions to the above, such as including the article in a compendium to be sold for profit, are permitted only by EXPLICIT PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT of the author.

