Wipro looks to beef up US operations

This move is also being determined by slowing US economy and immigration issues. Local hiring also reduces negative sentiments as far as Indian IT players are concerned. Kurien said,“US is the technology capital of the world and if one does not win there then it is very unlikely you will win anywhere else.”

At the end of first quarter of FY14,Wipro generated 49.7% of its revenue from the US market,which is lower than its peers like TCS and Infosys. During the same period,TCS got 54.1% of its revenue from the US while it was 61.4% for Infosys.

Given this gap,Wipro plans to hire senior leaders from other companies or industries to strengthen its management capability in the US. “There will more focus on global leadership rather than Indian leadership,” Kurien said.

Even in Wipro’s current management team,the presence of a non-Indian is virtually non-existent though they have locals heading the country operations in Germany or France. According to Kurien,Wipro is now more of an Indian company than a global one.

Saurabh Govil,senior vice-president (human resources),Wipro,said,“Our hiring onsite has gone up especially in the US where we are employing more locals. Our belief is that if one has to have a truly global leadership then one has to build local leadership.”

Wipro has established development centres in the US and currently around 35% of its employees based in that country are locals. According to Govil,the IT major has been hiring senior officials in the US with right alignments in terms of pay,role and career growth. “We have not seen any challenges in attracting people for the right roles,” he remarked.

However,it is unlikely that Wipro would be appointing anybody as America business head as the company had changed its operational structure by creating various verticals for different businesses. As part of these plans,Wipro will be hiring not just from other rival companies but also from diverse sectors.

Among the large Indian IT services companies,there has been a concerted move to attract foreign talent as they go about expanding into newer geographies. Infosys,for example,has had few US citizens in the key roles. Stephen Pratt,who heads the consulting and systems integration business of the company,has been with them close to a decade. It has also started its subsidiary called the Infosys Public Services,focused on healthcare and public sector in the US and Canada,which is headed by Eric Pasternoster,an American.

Cognizant is perhaps a good example of a leadership team with a diversified background. Headquartered in the US with roots in India,the company,though headed by Indians,boast of many non-Indians in key executive roles like president Gordon Coburn,CFO Karen McLoughlin and executive VP,strategy and marketing Malcolm Frank.