Wipro CEO to Hire U.S. Workers as Technology Spending Rebounds

By Katie Hoffmann and Margaret Brennan

Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Wipro Ltd., India’s third-largest software-services provider, plans to hire more workers in the U.S. to take advantage of a rebounding technology market.

“We are seeing signs of stability, signs of decision making coming back,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Azim Premji, 64, said in an interview at Bloomberg headquarters in New York yesterday. “So overall positive, but still cautious.”

Premji is betting that U.S. employees will help the Bangalore-based company win local orders, including contracts with the federal government, as the world’s largest economy starts to recover from the worst recession since the 1930s. Wipro gets about half its revenue from the U.S.

The company plans to hire about 500 local employees for a new services center by June, he said. He declined to name possible locations, saying he is talking to different state governments. The company already has a center in Atlanta.

“Everybody wants employment,” said Premji, who attended Stanford University. “That’s the trump card today.”

Larger rival Infosys Technologies Ltd. reported second- quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates last week after winning more business from current customers.

Wipro designs and builds software programs, maintains computers, and provides product-engineering services and back- office support to General Electric Co., Cisco Systems Inc., Citigroup Inc. and other customers. It will report results on Oct. 27 for the three months ended Sept. 30.

Wipro rose 1.4 percent to 581.70 rupees yesterday in Mumbai trading. The stock has more than doubled this year, compared with a 79 percent increase for the benchmark Sensitive Index on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

U.S. Universities

The company has been working with schools such as the Georgia Institute of Technology to help bolster engineering education, which is subpar in the U.S., Premji said. U.S. graduates have become more affordable in the recession, he said.

Premji said he was worried about President Barack Obama limiting H-1B visas in a bid to fight unemployment. The visas allow foreign workers to come to the U.S.

“In the emotion of unemployment, he should not get carried away,” he said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Margaret Brennan in New York at mbrennan25@bloomberg.net; Katie Hoffmann in New York at khoffmann4@bloomberg.net