Protecting local jobs
Satyam Computer Services has taken a big step towards dispelling fears that foreigners will eventually take over Australia's IT industry.
The vendor recently announced another office in Sydney (a 150-seat regional solutions hub), complementing its Sydney city and Melbourne locations.
The foray of Indian services companies like Satyam into Australia in recent years has been met with trepidation by the community. Long associated with outsourced call centres, the fear has grown to the possibility that Indian nationals would take local IT jobs too (a case in point is anger over the ANZ Bank's decision to establish IT operations in Bangalore).
However, at the launch, India's consul general to Australia Sujan R. Chinoy made a salient point that Satyam's investment went against this line of thought.
"[It] means that a great deal more is going to be done in Australia in terms of creation of jobs, in terms of keeping business on site in Australia," he told reporters.
"I think it will also do well to remove some of the cobwebs of doubt that exist in industrial and labour circles in Australia about what the globalised IT market poses by way of a challenge to Australia's IT sector."
The way Chinoy puts it, Satyam will be no different to an EDS or IBM Australia that employ thousands of Australians. The company's local operations already consist of 42 percent Australians or permanent residents.
Added to that, Satyam has partnered with the Australian Computer Society's ACS Foundation scholarship program. The vendor will hire 50 Aussie graduates over the next few months, and another 50 next year.
It all presents a compelling case for us to forget our fear of India and start looking at the positives.