Indian IT services major HCL Technologies on Tuesday said it has opened a global development center in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and expects to hire over 3,000 people in the next few years for the facility.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa participated as the Chief Guest in the online inauguration of HCL’s first Development Centre in Sri Lanka on 07 September 2020. High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Gopal Baglay also attended the event as a Special Guest, the Indian High Commission said.
In his remarks during the inauguration ceremony, Prime Minister Rajapaksa spoke about Sri Lanka’s efforts to accord priority to the IT sector and develop Sri Lanka as a global technology hub. He observed that the presence of HCL- a global IT leader – in the country is an asset for Sri Lanka and will generate significant opportunities for Sri Lankan youth. He congratulated the management team of HCL and conveyed his best wishes for the project.
In his comments at the event, the High Commissioner observed that HCL’s presence in Sri Lanka would help in empowering the youth through creation of jobs and enabling the transfer of knowledge and skills. He observed that the lighting of the lamp during the inauguration ceremony symbolized the illumination of the Sri Lankan economic landscape by the talent and ability of young Sri Lankan ideapreneurs.
He added that India shares her capabilities with all friends and partners and India would continue to develop its multi-faceted cooperation with Sri Lanka for progress and prosperity in the region.
HCL’s office in Colombo will have world-class infrastructure, multi-layered data and physical security protocols, and high-end systems to support its global customer base.
The company will primarily focus on offering next-generation solutions to serve major blue-chip organizations, the company said in a statement.
The office in Colombo which currently has a seating capacity for more than 650 employees, already has over 100 new HCL local recruits.
By the end of November 2020, HCL hopes to further add over 600 seats at this center, it said.
“HCL plans to deploy about 3,000 people in the coming three to five years and of which 1,500 employees will start working in Sri Lanka in the next 18 months,” it added.
HCL will also implement its Work Integrated Education Program to foster growth by actively cooperating with local ICT and engineering institutions in order to develop and train the local talent pool.
“We have already hired our first set of employees in the journey and we hope to take this number to over 3,000 people in the coming three years…We are very positive of the growth prospects we foresee in the country and looking forward to bringing in global opportunities to the local communities in Sri Lanka,” HCL Technologies President and CEO C Vijayakumar said.
For freshers, HCL will focus on hiring A Level, Higher National Diploma (HND) students through skills training and hiring program, it said adding that the company will also invite Sri Lanka expats to come back home and work with the firm.
HCL noted that Sri Lanka is accelerating into an emerging destination of choice for the global ITO and BPM market, and is among the best destinations for providing off-shore services for IT-enabled service as well as services related to finance and accounting, legal, insurance, banking, and telecommunications.
HCL had joined hands with the Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka in February 2020 to launch its local entity — HCL Technologies Lanka (Private) Limited and set up its first delivery centre in the region.
Through this entity, HCL will provide services to global clients in the areas of applications and system integration services, and infrastructure Services.
Headquartered in India, HCL Technologies empowers global enterprises with technology solutions. It offers its services and products through three business units – IT and Business Services (ITBS), Engineering and R&D Services (ERS) and Products and Platforms (P&P).
Courtesy: Colombo Page
