Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions company headquartered in India, has announced plans to invest more than $300 million in Arizona by 2026 and hire more than 220 employees here by 2023. The company will also expand the reach of its STEM and Computer Science education programs in Arizona schools over the next two years.
Surya Kant, Chairman for North America at TCS, told AZ Tech Beat that the reason for this investment in Arizona is simple.
“Arizona is a very special place,” he said. “Our business is really to help companies across sectors. We’ve found a lot of companies are moving to Arizona and we want to support them. We are very happy to be expanding our presence in Arizona.”
He noted that Arizona provides a great ecosystem for companies in industries like technology, manufacturing, financial services and healthcare. Not only that, but Arizona recently ranked 8th in the country for its net increase in tech jobs, according to the CompTIA Cyberstates 2021 report.
Investing in jobs
TCS already has more than 780 employees in Arizona, but this investment will grow the company’s local workforce to more than 1,000 employees. Local employees provide more than 50 TCS customers in Arizona with help in banking, manufacturing, healthcare and utilities. Employees also manage customers’ IT operations and help them take advantage of technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning.
New employees will be based in the TCS Phoenix Business Center and across the state. The TCS Phoenix Business Center serves as a flagship office for the company’s 30 facilities in the US, meaning the center will also support the company’s needs as it continues to grow around the country.
Kant emphasized the company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. Currently, TCS employs 155 nationalities across the world and 36.5% of the company’s workforce is women. He said TCS will prioritize diversity when hiring the new Arizona employees.
While the CompTIA report found that Arizona ranked high for its tech workforce representation, several Arizona tech founders say that companies in the state should be even more focused on inclusion.
Investing in education
The other major part of TCS’ investment in Arizona is its investment in the state’s STEM and computer science education in schools both in Arizona and across the country. Not only is this a way for the TCS to contribute to the communities in which it operates, but it also helps create a pipeline for talent as the company requires more and more local employees to support its continued growth.
Talent acquisition has historically been a major challenge for growing tech startups in Arizona. According to Code.org, Arizona currently has more than 9,713 open computing jobs, but there were only 1,014 graduates in computer science in 2018, and just 30 percent of Arizona public high schools currently teach foundational courses in computer science. This means that about 8,700 Arizonans could be in jobs with an average salary of $87,658.
TCS recognizes the need for more education in this area and has developed two different programs meant to decrease this job discrepancy. The company’s Ignite My Future in School (IMFIS) program is focused on teaching computational thinking during school hours and the goIT program, in partnership with ASU’s Innovation Lab, is focused on building these skills after school hours. These programs are currently in Arizona high schools and middle schools, but there are plans to eventually implement them in elementary schools as well.
Arizona was one of the first places in the country that implemented these two programs. In addition to the several connections the company already had in the state, Kant said TCS also chose Arizona to be one of the first states because leaders believed that Arizona’s leadership and educators are open to new ideas and are very progressive when it comes to STEM education.
TCS has seen significantly positive results since the implementation of the IMFIS and goIT programs. More than 1,200 educators have accessed IMFIS online content, helping more than 70,000 Arizona students. The success in Phoenix has helped the company to scale these programs across the US.
The students who complete the program also have a leg up in eventually getting a job at TCS.
“As they come back to us in the future and apply to TCS, we would certainly welcome them,” Kant said. “We have always had a belief that we should be here to help the communities, companies and customers in Arizona. We are also very proud to bring in the next generation of leaders through STEM education.”
“Doing the right thing”
This investment in Arizona is evidence of TCS’ major growth. According to Kant, the company has hired more than 21,500 employees in the past five years. And, as industries look to recover from the effects of COVID-19, TCS expects to hire an additional 10,000 local employees in the US by 2022. More than half of the company’s business is done in North America.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and Arizona Commerce Authority’s President and CEO Sandra Watson both expressed excitement about the TCS announcement.
“TCS has a global reputation for excellence,” Ducey said. “Their selection of Arizona for this significant expansion demonstrates the strength of the Phoenix market and vitality of our local businesses.
“This investment highlights Arizona’s thriving innovation ecosystem as well as our robust pipeline for technology talent,” Watson added. “We thank TCS for their continued commitment to our state.”
Ultimately, Kant said, the company strives to be a positive influence in communities globally.
“Our biggest focus is really doing the right thing for everyone,” he said. “Communities are not just a stakeholder in the business, they are the focus of the business…We are very happy to work in the communities where we are and the communities are very happy to have us here.”