Infosys targets UK graduates in recruitment drive

Offshore Indian IT giant Infosys is launching a drive to recruit UK graduates for entry-level jobs as the company expands its European operations.

The company has already recruited 125 graduates for a similar programme in the US and is now looking initially for 25 graduates from 12 UK universities, including Cambridge and University College London.

Infosys has almost 60,000 employees worldwide, with around a third based outside of India and 1,500 of those in its UK operation. BG Srinivas, senior VP and head of Europe at Infosys, told silicon.com the aim is now to attract top graduate talent - first in the UK and then other parts of Europe.

He said: "We are looking at adding talent at the entry level and getting them on board as they graduate. We can put them through our training programme in India so they can understand our software processes and methodology and get them groomed into the Infosys way of doing things."

The graduates will spend six months in India doing full-time classroom training, from which they will earn a certification and gain hands-on experience working on projects before they are then put to work with clients in their local market.

Srinivas said the move is part of Infosys' strategy to expand its "global delivery model" and build up operations outside of India in its key markets worldwide.

He said Infosys is also confident its brand can compete with some of the traditional multinational companies which are all competing for the best graduate talent. "There is curiosity about what is happening in India," he said.

The recruitment drive starts on 16 October and Infosys is looking for graduates with a technology or liberal arts background. "It is about aptitude and the ability to learn and pick up new things," he said.