Wells Fargo to Open India IT Facility

Bank says shortage of U.S. IT talent reason for India IT venture.

Due to a shortage of domestic IT talent, Wells Fargo (San Francisco) announced it will open a new technology facility in Hyderabad, India later this year.

The bank says the facility will provide technology resources, including software development, for a variety of functions for Wells Fargo. The bank stresses that the new venture will in no way affect its U.S. employment levels and will not involve customer-facing positions or the handling of customer information. According to Wells Fargo, the move is a result of resource issues.

"This is simply about supply and demand. Like most major U.S. companies we're facing a shortage of qualified technical talent and we're not able to continue to meet this growing demand for such talent here in the United States alone," said Victor Nichols, head of Wells Fargo's Technology Information Group, in a statement. "Computer science graduates in the United States have decreased by about a third in the last four years, and during that time India has produced an abundant supply of technology and operations talent, with over a half a million technology and engineering graduates annually. We believe this new facility will help us to meet our growing business needs for technology skills that no longer can be supplied solely from the United States."

Nichols said since the move was not the result of cost savings, American jobs would be kept safe. As homegrown talent becomes available in the U.S., he predicted that the bank would continue hire U.S. IT workers to increase its technology team here.