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IBM to hire 14,000 in India: Report
New York: US tech giant IBM plans to increase its payroll in
India this year by 14,000 workers, even as it cuts 13,000
jobs in Europe and the United States, a labor group said on
Friday.
The shift, first reported by The New York Times, highlights
the transfer of some skilled jobs to low-wage countries such
as India by a number of companies including IBM, the world's
largest information technology company.
The moves in India were indicated in what was claimed to be
an internal company document posted on the website of the
Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, of Washtech,
which seeks to unionize high-tech workers.
It indicated IBM's Indian workforce would rise to 38,196 in
2005 from 24,150 in 2004.
IBM declined to comment on the document or specific
workforce levels. But company spokesman Edward Barbini said
IBM is increasing its staff in high-growth countries such as
India to meet increasing demands.
"IBM India has seen double-digit growth in the last five
years," Barbini told AFP. "In 2004, IBM India recorded
revenue growth of 45 percent. We ended December 31 with
roughly 23,000 employees in India making IBM India's sixth
largest IT employer."
Barbini offered no specifics on increases in Indian hiring,
but noted that the company has announced it would hire 1,000
programmers for a new software center in Hyderabad.
"India, China and Brazil are high-growth markets for IBM and
we are hiring to support our local growth in those markets,"
he said. "There is a rapidly growing demand for business
transformation services."
Washtech said the moves were hurting workers in the US and
elsewhere.
"IBM is really pushing this offshore outsourcing to
relentlessly cut costs and to export skilled jobs abroad,"
Marcus Courtney, president of Washtech, told the Times.
"The winners are the richest corporations in the world, and
American workers lose."
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