Cognizant to Hire 10,000 U.S. Workers

By Alex Barinka - Dec 2, 2013

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH), one of the largest providers of outsourcing services, plans to hire about 10,000 U.S. workers, potentially soothing concerns that the industry is harming the domestic job market.

The move, which President Gordon Coburn is scheduled to announce at a speech in Texas today, will increase the company’s 29,000-employee domestic workforce by about a third over the next three years. The new positions will be full-time jobs in science, technology, engineering and math -- or STEM -- fields.

A legislative battle over immigration reform has put a spotlight on outsourcing providers and their effect on U.S. technology jobs. Companies such as Cognizant and Infosys Ltd. (INFO) often rely on work visas to bring in consultants from overseas, rather than hiring local workers to do the job. In October, Infosys agreed to pay a record fine to the federal government after a probe into its use of visas.

For Cognizant, an improved U.S. economy is making it more feasible to hire full-time workers in the country, Coburn said in an interview. The company has raised its forecast for profit and sales twice this year.

“The stabilization of the economy in the U.S. has given our clients more comfort in innovation and investing in growing their own top line,” Coburn said. “There is clearly long-term demand for skilled technology professionals here in the U.S. We are working hard to identify the talent to meet our clients’ needs.”

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-02/cognizant-to-hire-10-000-u-s-workers-amid-outsourcing-concerns.html