18,000 People On The Bench At Infosys

“[The] problem is, all of these initiatives are expensive. If the global economy doesn’t bounce back in a year or so, India’s outsourcers could find themselves saddled with legions of employees who have little to do. Infosys offered jobs to 18,000 college graduates last year and plans to hire more this year. But with scant work to give them, the company is doubling the length of their training to six months and assigning them mock projects to hone their skills. Though that’s not cheap, Infosys says it’s worth the investment.”

Read the full article here from Business Week: India’s Outsourcers: Using the Slump to Get Bigger.

I can’t help but wonder what these 18,000 people are doing! Are any of you out there who can enlighten us?