HCL Technologies commends local talent as it celebrates one year in Sri Lanka

• To invest $ 10 m to expand headcount to 5,000 in next 5 years

By Darshana Abayasingha

Global technology solutions service provider HCL Technologies marked one year of operations in Sri Lanka last week, having employed over 1,000 locals and setting up a state-of-the-art global delivery centre in Colombo. 

The company will invest up to $ 10 million in Sri Lanka, and recruit up to 5,000 professionals and school leavers over the next five years, HCL said. 

HCL Technologies Corporate Vice President Srimathi Shivashankar told Daily FT: “Largely our investment will be on employment to service our global business and Fortune 500 clients, directly from Sri Lanka. For this we are in need of experienced talent competent in new-aged technologies such as digital, engineering services, which are on the breakout point now. Our approach is to ‘hire and skill’ of where we will hire them and skill them, for these jobs.”

HCL has launched several programs to nurture and attract new talent in Sri Lanka, including young graduates in technical and non-technical streams. This includes its early career program, HCL TechBee, this year to give Advanced Level students a head start to pursue their career path in IT.

HCL Technologies empowers global enterprises with technology for the next decade, based on deep-domain industry expertise, client-centricity and entrepreneurial culture of ideapreneurship. The company offers its services and products through three business units: IT and Business Services, Engineering and R&D Services and Products and Platforms.

HCL delivers holistic services in various industry verticals, including Financial Services, Manufacturing, Technology and Services, Telecom and Media, Retail and CPG, Life Sciences and Healthcare, and Public Services, with consolidated revenue of $ 10.54 billion in its last year. 

Commenting on how COVID-19 had affected its operations, Shivashankar said the pandemic’s biggest change was the acceleration of digital services – globally, whereby information technology services have grown exponentially over the past 18 months, in terms of innovation and technology.

Investing in the right skills and talent to develop, build, enhance and service these new IT innovations in the coming years is critical, she said. Another aspect is in terms of operations, where companies must “rethink human capital approaches to address some of outcomes are attributed to the pandemic”.

HCL Sri Lanka supports global customers for all lines of business, including application and product development, digital technologies, networking and cloud solutions and infrastructure services. Some of the specific strengths we see being displayed by the local team is their resilient mindset and aspirations of the youth to embrace technology – this is very encouraging in our ambitious journey ahead, the company said.

“The country consisting of a very talented pool of skilled professionals and a young generation full of passion, has supported and driven HCL to move forward with its planned expansions and growth in the country. The infrastructure being world-class we are able to scale our operations with the new office space at Cinnamon Life which will enhance the work experience for HCL employees with latest technology and a safe environment,” Shivashankar added.

HCL Technologies Chief Human Resources Officer Apparao VV said the company was delighted to celebrate its first year of success in Sri Lanka, adding: “We are optimistic about the country’s growth prospects and look forward to bringing in more global opportunities to the local community.” 

Reiterating the confidence and capacity of the Sri Lankan team, Apparao is certain the local operation will continue to play an increasing role in serving HCL’s global clients and thanked the Board of Investment and Government for the support to expand its base in the country.