US protectionism forces TCS to hire more foreigners

MUMBAI: Seeking to mitigate protectionist measures like visa restrictions being adopted by countries like US, the top Indian IT exporter, TCS, is looking to hire more local nationals in key markets.

Besides, the company, which already has more than 10,000 non-Indian nationals on its payroll, is also cutting down on the amount of work at its customer locations and move the work to other remote locations to ensure continuity for customers.

Listing out the various macro-economic risks for its businesses across the world, Tata Consultancy Service said in its annual report for 2008-09 that there has been "a rise in protectionist sentiment in many countries which are looking to impose tariff and non-tariff barriers affecting companies in the Indian IT industry."



"Some initiatives to curb mobility of IT professionals have been introduced in the US. The company is following the events closely to determine the impact, if any, on its operations," it added.

"To counter possible protectionist tendencies by other countries, the company is refining the business model to reduce the amount of work at customer locations and move work to other remote locations and hiring of more local nationals in key markets to ensure continuity for customers," TCS added.