With 1,600 hired in 6 months, half of Wipro's 14,000 US staff are Americans

Bengaluru-based firm has more than 180,000 staffers globally; has invested over $2 bn in US

Wipro, India's third largest software exporter, said that that half of its 14,000 employees in the United States are American citizens, with nearly 1,600 local hires made in the last six months to deal with clients in emerging technology areas such as digital and cloud.

"Wipro hired over 1,600 employees by attracting and nurturing local talent to drive innovation and help transform clients' businesses into digital enterprises. During the past decade, Wipro has invested over $2 billion in the US," said the company in a statement.

The Bengaluru-headquartered company has more than 180,000 employees across the world.

Wipro said it has focused on creating jobs in the US "underscoring its strategy to build a deep local talent pool close to its clients".

Indian IT services firms such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro and others, who have largely been dependent on H1B visas to send software engineers to the US on client projects, are increasingly focusing on local hiring there. These firms have seen a major shift towards digital technologies in past two years and that have pushed them to have more people locally to solve problems being close to the clients. Increased protectionism by the US administration is also pushing these companies to have more local hires and create jobs for Americans.

While Infosys has committed that it would hire 10,000 Americans over next two years, TCS has also ramped up local hiring.

The company has hired both laterally and from universities. "Wipro, which counts nearly 300 of the largest employers and innovators in the US as its clients, also hires laterally for senior positions at the company."

The company has more than 40 facilities across 23 states in the US that are located in close proximity to clients and has more than 1,000 employees each across "next-generation local delivery centres" in states of Florida, California, Georgia and Texas.

Wipro has added two multi-client delivery centres, a new hub to create advanced digital offerings in Mountain View, California and another in Farmington Hills, Michigan, which are staffed predominantly by local talent to offer engineering services to its clients mainly in the automotive segment.

"We will continue to build a strong local talent pool with diverse skill sets and make strategic investments in close proximity to our clients to serve them better. Talent is the bedrock of our success and we are investing in building STEM capabilities within the US through teacher development programmes in the underfunded school districts of New Jersey, Dallas and Boston," said Abidali Z Neemuchwala, chief executive officer, Wipro.