In May 2006, Bangalore-based IT major, Infosys Technologies Ltd., announced its plan to recruit graduates from foreign universities under the commitment to create a diversified, global workforce. According to this plan, Infosys would recruit 300 graduates from universities in the US this year and 25 graduates from the UK in 2007, company sources revealed. NR Naryana Murthy, one of the founders and Chief Mentor of the company with a 60,000-plus workforce commented, "This represents a very important landmark in the evolution of Infosys. We firmly believe that the future success of Infosys lies in its ability to create an environment that is open to people from different nationalities and ethnicities." He also added that Infosys can now play an even more strategic role for its clients empowered by a diverse workforce. Shortly after this announcement, in July 2006, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest software exporter announced that it would hire about 4,000 people from across the world. TCS already has 7.5% of its workforce as non-Indians.
Corporate
India is abuzz with the keyword "Workforce Diversity". Announcements
by Infosys and TCS can hardly be viewed as isolated incidents. They are only reflection
of the significance the "Global Indian Companies" or post-millennium
"Indian MNCs" are assigning on having a diversified workforce. In the
last couple of years, a host of Indian companies in different sectors like Tata
Sons, Videocon, Ranbaxy, Bharat Forge, Asian Paints and Wipro have made major
global presence through acquisitions of overseas companies. Harnessing and operating
a diversified workforce is of business imperative to these companies today. As
India, as one of the fastest growing economies in global village, braces up to
become the next economic superpower, leading organizations with global aspirations
are embracing workforce diversity as an essential business strategy. |
