Hartford Business Journal

10 Hartford Business Journal • April 2, 2018 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com S tate officials and employers alike cheered last month as Indian IT giant Infosys an- nounced plans to hire 1,000 information technology employees in Hartford by 2022. But given that local companies often complain of a tech skills gap being a hurdle to hiring, can Connecticut provide enough talent? Bruce Carlson, CEO of the Connecti- cut Technology Council, which among other things helps employers connect with tech students, said it's a question worth asking. It wasn't long ago that both General Electric and Aetna both stated their desires to move their corporate head- quarters out of Connecticut in search of larger tech talent pools in Boston and New York, respectively. (Aetna canned its planned move after announcing its pending merger with CVS Health.) "For them to get 1,000 employees in a Hartford headquarters means they may have to cannibalize a lot of other companies that are here," said Carlson, who added that there's a lot of talent at state colleges and employers. And it's not just Infosys that has an appetite for more workers, Carl- son said. Norwalk IT firm Datto, for example, has also stated a need to ramp-up hiring of tech workers. Of course, a competitive market could benefit workers with those skill sets, but companies may be left wanting or having to raise salaries. "It's important that we stand up and try to figure out how we can put the current (workforce) pipelines on steroids," Carlson said. One problem some companies face in seeking tech talent, is finding candi- dates with four-year degrees and three to five years of experience. They are considered the "holy grail" of the tech workforce. "I understand why you want that, but we need to give students a chance," Carlson said. Infosys' stated intention to train commu- nity college grads and others in a months-long "finishing school" program may help ease any potential talent shortage, as would developing training programs with area colleges, like Infosys has done in connec- tion with its North Carolina tech hub. Meanwhile, two major Greater Hartford employ- ers that helped court Infosys (and that operate in several of its key customer spaces) downplayed any concerns about the talent pipeline. Executives at Hartford HealthCare and Cigna, which both have sizable IT staffs and a growing focus on apps and other tech offerings, say they aren't sweating a run on their IT teams. "At the end of the day, students go where jobs are, and if we can cre- ate an economic environment where they will choose to go to colleges and universities, that tide will lift all ships," said Mark Boxer, global chief informa- tion officer at Cigna. "The more com- ers, the better, in my mind." In fact, since Infosys' announce- ment, Boxer said he's already received several inquiries about the state from other tech companies, which he did not name. He calls that interest part of the halo effect. Hartford HealthCare CEO Elliot Joseph shared similar sentiments. "We don't think of it as a poaching situation," Joseph said. "We see it as a farm system." Meantime, both Boxer and Joseph perceive plenty of potential benefits for their organizations, one of which pays for healthcare services while the other provides them. Bloomfield-based Cigna already has a business relationship with Infosys that included an undisclosed number of Infosys contract employees working at Cigna locations. "We've had a chance to kick the tires on their capabilities," Boxer said. The relationship has led Cigna to hire some Infosys employees over the years. Boxer said Infosys has broad exper- tise because it works across multiple industries and with multiple clients. Proximity is increasingly important for tech partners, because it fits into a rapid software development approach called "agile methodology," which Boxer says emphasizes in-person col- laboration and frequent testing. A stronger local presence also makes it easier for companies that use Infosys' services to boost manpower during times of high need and to draw it down during slower periods. So, while nothing is guaranteed, Hiring Spree Infosys to test Connecticut's tech talent pipeline Gov. Dannel P. Malloy at a press conference last month announcing that Infosys plans to hire 1,000 workers for its new Hartford hub. Beside him (left) is DECD Commissioner Catherine Smith and (right) Mayor Luke Bronin, Hartford HealthCare's Elliot Joseph, Infosys President Ravi Kumar, Cigna's Mark Boxer and State Rep. Matt Ritter. PHOTOS | CONTRIBUTED Infosys H-1B applications While its domestic hiring could surpass its use of foreign labor in Connecticut in the coming years, as of 2016, Infosys remained the most prolific user of H-1B visa labor in Connecticut, as measured by the number of related applications (LCAs) filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Source: MyVisaJobs.com 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 H-1B applications Infosys CT applications All CT applications 622 1,069 939 1,242 715 7,827 7,447 8,917 10,142 10,035 622 1,069 939 1,242 715

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