Russia, Ukraine’s reputation as software engineering talent hub will take a hit: Thierry Delaporte, Wipro CEO – Business Today
Wipro CEO Thierry Delaporte said that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis can have implications on talent base, especially software engineering workforce in these countries.
“Russia, Ukraine, Belarus have emerged as a hub of software engineering and that is where we could see the impact. Our clients expect us to have talent centres outside one main market and this also reminds us that we …….
Wipro CEO Thierry Delaporte said that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis can have implications on talent base, especially software engineering workforce in these countries.
“Russia, Ukraine, Belarus have emerged as a hub of software engineering and that is where we could see the impact. Our clients expect us to have talent centres outside one main market and this also reminds us that we need to be flexible in our approach and shift the bases in response to the emerging situation,” Delaporte said in response to a question by Business Today.
He added that the IT services major is looking to strengthen its talent base outside India in various centers, particularly those close to client geographies in Europe and United States. “India has always been at the heart of the global IT talent, but we are trying to expand our workforce footprints in other important centres too.”
In terms of impact on Wipro’s business from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Delaporte said that there is no imminent change in the deal pipeline, client spending, etc., although due to the prevailing situation, as well rising oil prices, sectors like manufacturing, energy may take a hit.
“We don’t have operations in Russia or Ukraine and we are extending all possible help to our clients, employees in neighbouring European countries,” Delaporte said.
“I am meeting 3-4 clients every day and I haven’t seen any change whatsoever in the client’s confidence in spending. Hence, we have a very positive outlook for the upcoming quarter where we have given an outlook for sequential growth in revenues in the range of 1-3 per cent,” the Wipro CEO said during the press conference.
The Bengaluru-headquartered IT major is also planning to double down on its freshers hiring in FY23. The company said that it hired 19,000 freshers in FY22 and will double its freshers hiring in FY23. Wipro added 45,416 employees in FY22. The attrition for Q4, FY22 lowered by 500 basis points at 23.8 per cent.
To ensure employee retention in a high demand environment, Wipro has also increased the frequency of its promotion cycles, especially quarterly promotion for freshers.
The company has also increased the senior leadership presence in premier client locations outside India and nearly 50 per cent of the top leadership is now in the main office and customer facing geographies under a new operating structure ,as per the Wipro management.
