Infosys to add 1,000 UK staff to help with digital growth
Indian software exporter Infosys has said it will hire 1,000 new staff in the UK to meet increased demand for its services during the pandemic.
Infosys will ramp up its presence in the UK over the next three years after the pandemic “exacerbated” the need for digital skills and infrastructure.
The New York-listed company said it will provide training and mentoring opportunities in the cloud computing, data and analytics and artificial intelligence spaces. The majority of this new workforce will be recent graduates from either colleges or universities.
“While the talent gap has been looming, the events of the past year have exacerbated the need for vital digital skills as businesses have rapidly accelerated their digital transformation,” chief executive Salil Parekh said. “Bridging the digital divide and making quality digital education accessible to every citizen are vital to the establishment of a robust future workforce, and the UK’s economic recovery.”
It is a move that will be welcomed by the UK Government after recent figures showed youth long-term unemployment has hit a five-year high. Under-25s have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic and the government is keen to get them back into the workforce through the so-called Kickstart Scheme.
“This investment from Infosys is a vote of confidence in the UK and its technology sector and will help that sector scale new heights – creating the jobs of the future,” UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
“We need more firms like Infosys with a commitment to investing in people to help the UK build back better.”
It comes shortly after the UK signed a new post-Brexit trade deal with India which promises to deliver up to more than 6,500 jobs. Johnson said the deal was worth £1bn and paves the way for a trade agreement between the two countries.