Azim Premji, chairman of India's IT major Wipro has warned that the US faces a more acute skill shortage in information technology than India and blamed failings in America's education system and restrictive immigration policies.
"There is a scarcity of IT professionals in the US," Premji said, adding "engineering is not a growing talent, and that is a cause of concern."
Premji warns against perils of joblessness
He said Indian groups would confound expectations of a looming skills shortage in the country and continue to draw on lower-cost, highly trained graduates to retain their technological edge.
However, he said Wipro would also continue to expand outside India to serve non-English speaking countries and could open a base in Russia within 18 months.
Premji, a Stanford University graduate, told the Financial Times that the US education system was not doing enough to attract mathematics and science teachers or to steer students towards those subjects.
"Maths is not considered as important, and students are not getting a premium when they graduate as engineers," he said.
The US produces about 70,000 engineering graduates a year, a fraction of India's 400,000, though that number is boosted by holders of three-year diplomas.
Premji said US skill shortages have been made more acute by visa rules that have cut the number of science students and professionals allowed into the US.
He said the curbs made it difficult for outsourcing companies to serve US-based customers and warned that the powerful Indian IT industry could lobby the Indian government to impose retaliatory measures on the US.
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