Virtusa plans expansion in Sri Lanka and targets doubling workforce

Virtusa, a leading global provider of digital engineering solutions, is aiming to strengthen its presence in Sri Lanka by doubling its current headcount in the country, according to a senior official.
Highlighting the significant role of Sri Lanka within Virtusa’s global workforce of approximately 35,000 individuals, Naresh Supramaniam, Virtusa’s Country Head for Sri Lanka and Asia Pacific Business Head, said the company’s technology centre in Colombo aims to double its current workforce of 3,000 within the next two to
three years.

“In the past month we’ve seen a large number of new opportunities being allocated to Sri Lanka, showcasing our confidence in the local talent to shine on the global stage,” he said.
Despite the brain drain that has begun since the economic crisis last year, Supramaniam said the company has the ability to attract the required talent in Sri Lanka as it provides the staff with the opportunity to work within its global network.

Nevertheless, he identified brain drain as a pressing issue that requires policy-level attention. This, he emphasised, it is crucial for Sri Lanka to retain the talent necessary for the advancement of the country’s economy.
He also down played the potential impact of Artificial Intelligence on jobs, both in the ICT sector and in general, highlighting that the initial hype surrounding every new technology has been more or less similar.

Meanwhile, highlighting Virtusa’s dynamic evolution, underscored by the acquisition by private equity firm Bring Private Equity Asia and subsequently the EQT Group, one of Asia’s largest private equity firms, Supramaniam stressed on the enrichment of the company with global management expertise and outlined the multifaceted transformation occurring across the pillars of technology, sales and HR.

He made these remarks as Virtusa Sri Lanka hosted Brian Jochum, the company’ Chief Marketing Officer and the member of the Global CXO team last Friday in Colombo. Jochum’s visit to Sri Lanka followed his visit to Virtusa offices in India.
As Jochum addressed Sri Lankan media last Friday, he explained Virtusa’s approach to engineering excellence and its impact on stakeholders. His insights offered a deeper understanding of the company’s strategic positioning and its commitment to delivering high value solutions. 

Inoka Dias, the incoming Head of HR (Sri Lanka) for Virtusa, who also spoke at the event highlighted the company’s fresh brand perspective and the ongoing efforts to upskill and develop the talent at Virtusa.
Dias underscored Virtusa’s philosophy of creating ‘glocal’ (global and local) opportunities for their employees, creating a future-proof workforce. 
Virtusa serves Global 2000 companies in the banking, financial services, insurance, healthcare, communications, media, entertainment, travel, manufacturing and technology industries.