Dell To Expand India Outsourcing

MANHASSET, N.Y. — Dell Computer plans to add 2,000 people in India by the year's end as the PC maker seeks to make the country a hub for software development and back-office work, an Associated Press report said Friday (April 29).

Dell (Round Rock, Texas) now employs 8,000 in India, the report quoted Cell chief executive Kevin Rollin as saying. The expansion means that almost 20 percent of the company's 53,000-person global workforce would be employed in India.

Although Dell reportedly moved some call-center jobs back to the U.S. from Bangalore in November 2003, Rollins said the decision was attributed to internal management issues. Dell runs three call centers in India, a product testing center for corporate customers, and a global software development center, according to the report.

An increasing number of electronics companies have set up design and sales hubs in India, and the city of Bangalore has become an outsourcing center for software development.

Rollins was quoted as saying Dell plans to open more offices in India to shift technology work and tap India's growing computer market.