IBM Head Count In India Tops 50,000

[OhioChick]

If the current growth rate continues, IBM will have more than 70,000 workers in India this year.

By Paul McDougall
InformationWeek

Feb 1, 2007 12:00 PM

In an aggressive effort to tap the country's low-cost, highly skilled tech workforce, IBM has more than doubled its head count in India in the past two years, the company acknowledged Wednesday.

The technology company's Indian workforce now stands at 53,000, up from 39,000 a year ago and 23,000 two years ago. If the current growth rate continues, IBM will have more than 70,000 workers in India in 2007—almost 25% of its current worldwide workforce of 300,000 or more than 50% of its U.S. employee head count of 130,000.

IBM workers in India are engaged in everything from routine coding to high-end system design. A year ago, the company made the decision to consolidate all development of software for service-oriented architectures in the Indian tech hub of Bangalore.

But IBM isn't looking at India just as a source of cheap IT labor. The country also represents a big growth market for a company whose sales have been relatively flat for the past several quarters. IBM said Wednesday that sales in India increased 37% year over year in 2006, making the country its fastest growing geographical market.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197002525

[951-Riverside]

1. ....Good I'll make sure to avoid IBM products n/t

[VegasWolf]

2. It's not just IBM, it's pretty much all tech companies. Between the tax savings our

own country paid us ( you just gotta luv the old Reptillian congress, never an easier bribe ) for outsourcing American jobs and the money that India would pay us to bring high paying jobs into India, the headcount was virtually free.

[OhioChick]

3. IBM sees growth in India but skill shortage a worry

Thu Feb 1, 2007 7:26 PM IST

BANGALORE (Reuters) - IBM, the world's largest computer services company, sees better growth in India as retail and small- and medium-sized firms spend more on technology, but a skills shortage was a challenge, an official said on Thursday.

IBM said its business in India grew 37 percent in 2006, making it the company's fastest-growing country operation, as telecoms, banks and government departments ramped up spending on computer hardware and services.

"India's basic economy has played a big role for us, and we are seeing growth coming from across industries," Shanker Annaswamy, regional general manager for IBM India and South Asia told a news conference.

"We see market growing so we are also investing in new areas like retail and healthcare. Hopefully, we will see growth. If you ask me am I positive, (I am) very positive."

http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2007-02-01T191620Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-285973-1.xml


<snip> But the rush for staff has led to rising wages and a skills shortage.

[Xipe Totec]

4. I.B.M = India Business Machines n/t