IT firms set to pull back Japan staff; but Wipro differs

Amid fears of a nuclear catastrophe following the 11 March earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Indian technology firms that have a presence in that country have begun to evacuate their employees.

While Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has already started the evacuation process, Infosys and HCL have given its employees the option of returning to India. Cognizant, on the other hand, is giving its employees the option of moving to client locations within Japan or perhaps even to China, apart from returning to India. 

While Japan contributes only about 2 per cent of the total revenues for Indian IT firms, almost all of them have a presence in the country, long known for its technological excellence.

TCS, India's largest information technology company, which has already initiated the process of relocation, has over 200 employees in Japan. Of this more than half are Indians.

"The safety of our employees is our top priority. We are ready to relocate our Indian employees and their families back to India as well as move our local Japanese employees and their families to other locations of safety," a company official said in Bangalore. 

Infosys Technologies, whose Japanese staff of 500 includes 367 Indians, has given the Indian employees the choice of returning to India.