Indian IT firms training US students to ensure access to talent

Pune: Indian IT services companies such as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Tech Mahindra Ltd., and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. are now investing in training school and college students in the United States even as they step up local hiring in key markets such as North America.

According to the companies, these initiatives are part of pre-hiring programmes to make sure they have a ready pipeline of skilled talent. This, at a time when it has become harder for Indian IT firms to get the number of H-1B work visas they need.

TCS, which is among the biggest IT employers in the US, has trained more than 30,000 K-12 students since 2009 and worked with another 1.1 million students on computational thinking. The firm has hired 21,500 Americans, including 2,500 graduates, in the last few years.