Infosys plans to set up design hub in Rhode Island, recruit 500 Americans

Global software major Infosys on Monday said it would hire 500 Americans in US' Rhode Island state in the next 5 years.

"We will hire 500 American workers in Rhode Island over the next 5 years where a design and innovation hub will be set up in multi-year partnership with its state,a said the city-based $10 billion firm in a statement here.

Welcoming the IT firm, Governor Raimondo said the people were equipped and prepared to compete for the Infosys jobs.

"Infosys joins a growing local market of innovative, advanced industry firms that have chosen to plant a flag in Rhode Island where we have invested in higher education and job training," he said.

The hiring in Rhode Island is part of the company's announcement on May 2 to recruit 10,000 Americans by setting up four such hubs across the US to focus on new technologies, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, user experience, emerging digital technologies, cloud and big data.

"The partnership with Rhode Island marks another important step for us in the US, as the state's educational institutions, design-rich environment and economic development tools have positioned it competitively," said Infosys President Ravi Kumar, as per the statement.

The new hires will include designers, design architects, specialists in information design and experts to accelerate the digital transformation of the company's clients in the area.

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Three big problems with Trump's new Nafta plan

The Trump administration has outlined its plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It says the US will seek a “much better” agreement that reduces the trade deficit between the US and its partners, Canada and Mexico. In response, the two countries released brief statements welcoming the proposal. They say they consider a possible renegotiation as a step towards modernising NAFTA to address the new realities and challenges of the 21st century.

Despite these good intentions and purported goodwill, the US objectives for a revised NAFTA are unachievable. Three problems with the US negotiating position reveal the limited understanding of Donald Trump, the US trade representative, Robert Lighthizer (who will lead the negotiations), and their advisers about NAFTA and its side agreements.

1. A mistaken view of job losses

The US case for renegotiating the agreement is based on the claim that NAFTA is to blame for various (and unspecified) “problems for many American workers”. Allegedly, these problems have led to the explosion of US trade deficits since 1994, when the agreement entered into force, and the closure of “thousands of factories”. According to the US trade office, this situation left millions of American workers “stranded” and unable to use the skills in which they had been trained.

As candidate and president, Trump has repeatedly claimed that “disastrous trade deals”, including NAFTA, resulted in the loss of manufacturing jobs in the US. But US manufacturing jobs were not lost to Mexico, they were lost to China and technological change.
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