PROVIDENCE – Infosys Ltd. and Gov. Gina M. Raimondo announced Thursday that the company plans to hire 500 additional tech workers across Rhode Island by 2023.
“Rhode Island’s strong leadership, positive business climate, and innovative spirit are exactly what Infosys looks for in a host community,” said Ravi Kumar, president of Infosys. “We are excited to increase our commitment to the state and continue nurturing design-focused specialists, as well as tech talent to serve the needs of our clients in the U.S.”
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These 500 new employees are part of the company’s broader workforce commitment of hiring an additional 12,000 employees across the country, according to the company. The company has now committed to filling over 1,000 positions in the Ocean State to date.
Many of these jobs, Kumar said, will be part of a hybrid model where eventual employees will work from home several days during the week.
Infosys’ spokeswoman Chiku Somaiya said compensation for these roles will be based on the skill set of the employee and years of experience but would not say any potential median salary.
When asked how Infosys will ensure it hires Rhode Islanders and not also seek transplants, Pryor said, “These will be Rhode Island-based jobs,” and pointed to the company’s existing partnership with the Community College of Rhode Island. Pryor told a Providence Business News reporter that the company is looking to expand that recruitment partnership.
“This news represents a major commitment by Infosys,” said Pryor. “And it will unleash more economic energy and cause a ripple effect.”
Pryor said there will also be contract opportunities for small businesses looking to partner with Infosys.
Many of the people that will be hired for these 500 additional jobs will not have a college degree, Kumar said in a Facebook Live event on Thursday with R.I. Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor and Raimondo.
“It’s not just about a four-year college degree,” said Raimondo.
In 2019, the India-based technology services and consulting giant opened its Digital Innovation and Design Center in Providence.
“Infosys has been a critical partner to Rhode Island since setting up shop in Providence two years ago,” said Raimondo, who said they participated in the state-led workforce program Back to Work RI.
In 2017, the company first made their job pledge to create 500 jobs in the Ocean State by 2022. Some of these positions included designers, design architects, specialists in information design, and technical experts and consultants. At the time, the company was expected to receive tax credits up to $10 million, with $8.5 million of them in the form of Qualified Jobs Incentive tax credits. Pryor said the company’s future tax credits will depend on the amount of investment Infosys puts into a potentially new facility.
According to Infosys’ announcement on their website, the newly announced Rhode Island-based positions will include a variety of tech-focused roles, and will include jobs related to company’s recently launched Reskill & Restart program, which aims at reskilling workers who have been economically impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Infosys had also helped the state develop the CRUSH COVID RI mobile application that has aided the R.I. Department of Health with contact tracing and symptom tracking for those who have downloaded the application.
Alexa Gagosz is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Gagosz@PBN.com. You may also follow her on Twitter at @AlexaGagosz.
This story has been updated to include comments from the governor’s Facebook Live event and from the Commerce Secretary.
