Corrected - Cognizant to hire 10,000 in US in next three years

(Corrects fourth paragraph to say Cognizant is one of the top applicants for green cards in the United States, not India)

By Sruthi Ramakrishnan

Dec 2 - Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp will hire at least 10,000 people in the United States over the next three years, the IT services firm's president, Gordon Coburn, said.

The company currently employs more than 29,000 in the United States. It had about 166,400 employees as of September, with the majority of its employees being located in India.

Shares of IT services companies took a hit earlier this year on news that the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee was debating a draft immigration bill that could hurt Indian outsourcing firms' businesses in the United States. (http://link.reuters.com/fug67t)

Cognizant is one of the top applicants for green cards in the United States and analysts have estimated that about 65 percent of Cognizant's employees in the United States work on H-1B or L-1 visas, or work permits.

Coburn also said the company will also establish the headquarters of its U.S. operations in College Station, Texas to step up recruitment of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) graduates.

The company's global headquarters will remain in Teaneck, New Jersey.

"750 or more (hires) will be in Texas," Coburn said. Cognizant also announced a $150,000 grant to the Texas A&M University to promote STEM education.

The company, one of the largest STEM recruiters in the United States, hired more than 7,000 there over the last two years, Coburn said.

"We have not set specific (hiring) goals for India or other regions," he said. However, he added hiring will continue in other regions.

(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)