BANGALORE, India -- Wipro, India's third-biggest software maker, said it had opened an outsourcing center Thursday in the Philippines as surging costs and a domestic talent shortage drive Indian technology firms overseas.
The 45,000-square-foot (4,180.6-square-meter) facility in Cebu city will eventually be staffed by 900 employees, Bangalore-based Wipro said.
The center will provide customer service as well as technical and financial accounting support to Wipro's global operations.
"The Philippines is one of the largest English-speaking nations with a strong information-technology orientation and a talent pool of 29 million," said T.K. Kurien, president of Wipro's outsourcing unit.
"This is one location that we definitely want to expand our presence in," Kurien said in a statement in Bangalore.
The Philippines is emerging as a key outsourcing location for Indian technology firms.
Investment advisory firm Tholons said in a recent report that Manila was among the top five prime outsourcing locations and Cebu an emerging destination for outsourcing firms.
The study cited the availability of skilled professionals and lower costs as among the advantages offered by such destinations as Cebu.
Indian information-technology firms such as Tata Consultancy, Infosys, Wipro, Satyam and smaller companies are stepping up acquisitions and opening more facilities overseas.
They have plans to employ thousands of people to escape the rupee's rise against the dollar and soaring wage costs in India.
The rupee rose more than 12 percent against the dollar in 2007, eroding export revenues.
The IT industry's average annual salary rose 11 percent last year to 620,000 rupees ($15,700), a survey by the market-research firm IDC India said in September.
Wipro, whose outsourcing arm employs about 20,000 people, has opened facilities in Romania and Shanghai in the past nine months.
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