India-based IT services firm Infosys Ltd said it plans to hire 10,000 U.S. workers in the next two years and open four technology centers in the United States, starting with a center this August in Indiana, the home state of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Reuters says.
The move comes at a time when Infosys and some of its Indian peers such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS.NS) and Wipro Ltd have become political targets in the United States for allegedly displacing U.S. workers' jobs by flying in foreigners on temporary visas to service their clients in the country.
The IT service firms rely heavily on the H1-B visa program, which U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered federal agencies to review.
In a telephone interview with Reuters from Indiana, Infosys Chief Executive Vishal Sikka said his company plans to hire U.S. workers in fields such as artificial intelligence.
"When you think about it from a U.S. point of view, obviously creating more American jobs and opportunities is a good thing," Sikka said.
Last month, two industry sources told Reuters that Infosys was applying for just under 1,000 H-1B visas this year. One of the sources said that was down from about 6,500 applications in 2016 and some 9,000 in 2015.
Indian IT service firms, which typically flood the lottery system each year with thousands of applications, have been among the largest H1-B recipients annually.
