Wipro Technologies, one of India’s largest IT services companies, is expanding its presence in SA, promising to create 1 000 new jobs over the next three years.

Wipro, which is listed in the US and India, and which has annual revenues of US$7bn, is a big player in the business process outsourcing market. It employs about 130 000 people worldwide.

It says it will set up what it calls a “strategic delivery centre” in SA, which will result in employment for about 1 000 skilled professionals in the next three years.

“Wipro has chosen SA as a market for potential growth and created a special structure to drive global presence and business growth in the region,” the company says in a statement. It says it regards SA as a “gateway” to other countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The company is a big player in the telecommunications, financial services and oil & gas industries in Africa.

“Factors such as the time-zone advantage, language, cultural compatibility and skills access makes SA a favourable destination for the growth of business process outsourcing and IT services,” says Wipro senior vice-president Manoj Punja.

Wipro already has an office in Johannesburg and has about 500 people onsite and offsite serving clients in the region. It plans to “initiate campus recruitment drives and establish training and skills developments programmes”, with recruits being seconded to IT projects after undergoing a “competency evaluation test”.

The company says it wants to diversify its client portfolio in SA, expanding in the financial and telecommunications sectors.

Wipro was founded in 1945 as a maker of vegetable oil, later expanding into new areas, including IT hardware and services. — Staff reporter, TechCentral