The Infosys Apprentice – You’re Hired!

Bangalore-based Infosys is launching an apprenticeship programme in the UK which hopes to see at least 100 youngsters work with the company for periods of up to two years. The first tranche of apprentices is scheduled to join the company in September, most likely in internal IT support roles. But Infosys Strategic Global Sourcing head, Srikanth Iyengar, told me that they expect to extend the roles available to include sales support, back office support, BPO, and – significantly – low end programming.

We are highly supportive of the commitment that the IT industry makes to apprenticeship programmes (see here), particularly because most of the market leaders are not themselves UK-headquartered. We have long been concerned that the offshoring of low-end IT jobs – by all players, not just those India-based – risks strangling the UK IT industry at its roots. So, although the numbers are tiny, at least Infosys is doing something concrete to give UK school-leavers a basic grounding in essential IT skills – and a reasonable prospect of a ‘real’ job for those that pass muster.