New York Stock Exchange-listed Wipro says its Wipro Technologies unit will create another 1 000 jobs for skilled professionals in SA over the next three years.
Wipro sees SA as a market with growth potential and has created a structure to drive its business in the region. The company entered SA in 2007, and currently has an office in Johannesburg, and 500 staff members.
Senior VP and head of Wipro Technologies' focus markets and global sales operations, Manoj Punja, says the company has identified SA as one its five focus markets. In the next few years, the company plans to make “aggressive investments” in SA and Africa, he adds.
“SA's IT end-user spending, as a portion of real gross domestic product (GDP), will reach 8.6% in 2013,” says Punja. He says this growth positions the country at the upper-middle level of IT spender nations within emerging markets.
Wipro will create the additional jobs for skilled professionals as it seeks to tap into SA's potential. Punja says the group is also looking at expanding and will initially look at Gauteng and the Western Cape to broaden its presence. Over time, it will consider KwaZulu-Natal.
“SA is one of our focus geographies where we see long-term growth both in terms of domestic opportunity and as a gateway to other markets in the region,” says Punja. Wipro points out that spending on IT is projected to increase from $10.7 billion (R87.4 billion) in 2011 to about $17.4 billion, or R142 billion, in 2015.
Punja says the company has initiated programmes to hire and train to develop long-term talent to fulfil its plans.
“To tap the large pool of IT educated graduates, Wipro plans to initiate campus recruitment drives and establish training and skills development programmes. These recruits will then undergo a competency evaluation test and be deputed on projects accordingly.”
The company has not disclosed an investment amount, saying this would be subject to business and growth plans. Punja says the spending will focus on talent and customer proximity.
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