Riyadh: Tata Consultancy Services now has a country office in Oman, which is set to be inaugurated next month, expanding the footprint of the Indian IT giant in the Middle East, according to a top official of the company.
Interacting with PTI on the sidelines of a global conference in Riyadh, Sumanta Roy, president and head of the Middle East and Africa business region of the TCS, said the inauguration is scheduled to be held on February 24.
"We have a country office now in Oman. It was informally opened a few months ago, but now the formal inauguration will take place next month," he said when asked about the firm's future plans in the region.
"We have requested the ambassador of India (in Oman) for the inauguration event," Roy told PTI. Oman, with its capital at Muscat, is a neighbouring country of Saudi Arabia, which also has a sizeable population of the Indian diaspora.
ALSO READ: Assam: SIDBI Hosts Program To Boost Innovation, Investment And MSME Ecosystem
"TCS used to service Omani customers through partners and other means, but this is our first full-fledged office in Oman," the top official said. Roy attended the second edition of the Global Labour Market Conference (GLMC) and took part in a panel discussion. The event was held in Riyadh under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, at the sprawling King Abdulaziz International Conference Center (KAICC) on January 29-30.
TCS Expands Presence in Middle East & Africa, Highlights Riyadh's Women-Centric Workforce
TCS has nearly 10,000 employees in the Middle East and Africa region, with a large share of them being natives of India, Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan and South Africa, the company's regional head said and added that of these people servicing this geography, there are about 3,000 of them in Riyadh.
TCS opens Oman office, expands Middle East footprint.
"A significant portion of our employees in the region are in Riyadh. We have a woman centre here, where about 700 Saudi women actually work, and it's the centre's tenth year," he said. The head of the Middle East & Africa region of the IT giant also recalled the establishment of this service delivery centre that started as a BPO about ten years ago. "So, ten years ago, it was not really a place where employing a woman was really a fancy thing or legally required. So, we did it for the sake of doing it," Roy said, adding, "It was a joint venture with one of the firm's customers, GE, but today it's not, "we are a 100 per cent owner of this," he added.
Tata Consultancy Services has been operating across this region for about 25 years, and with the Oman office, the technology bellwether will be expanding its footprint in the Middle East. "We work in all the GCC countries and in Africa and worked mostly in southern and eastern Africa. We are not there in north and western Africa," Roy said. When asked about the company's experience in Saudi Arabia, the top official said TCS has an office in Dammam besides Riyadh. He added that there will be about 5,000-6,000 people servicing Saudi Arabia, of whom about 2,000 will be from India, offshore, while the rest, 3,000 will be fifty-fifty (employees from India and Saudi Arabia).
Roy Highlights Women's Resilience in Workforce and Pandemic Response in Saudi Arabia
Asked about the strength of women in the company's workforce in the country, Roy said it is around 40 per cent. The company also took some key measures during the time of the pandemic, and many of its women employees showed resilience when lockdown and isolation had become routine. Dubai-based Roy said the company "did not let go of any people" during the pandemic. The Covid-19 pandemic was a time when IT companies and other firms were badly hit, and a large number of people lost their jobs in the sector due to pandemic-induced constraints that compelled many firms to take drastic steps to stay afloat and minimise financial losses. "Covid was completely unknown to anybody... a black swan event. So many questions (were there), financial stability, ability to execute contractual commitments. And it was difficult for senior management to juggle. But, we took the principle that employee safety will be number one," Roy said.
He praised the women of Saudi Arabia for showing resilience in making efforts to help keep the company operations going in times of crisis. "Here in Saudi Arabia, and hats off to Saudi women (colleagues), during the relaxation of the (Covid-induced) curfew period..the curfew used to be relaxed for 3-4 hours. Within that time, they came to our office, picked up their laptops and desktops, got them configured at their residences. It is something... unbelievable," he said. Roy said a helpline for counselling was set up. It was more geared towards the expat population because they were worried about their parents and other family members back in India. "But, here, we made available a lot of psychiatrists to counsel..tele-counsel and telemedicine," the top official recalled.
ALSO READ: बेंक अफ बड़ौदानि बाहागोफोरा 5 जौखोन्दो खमायदों मानोना दालालफोरा बेसेननि थांखिखौ खमायदों
"And, in parts of Africa, we took the initiative to ensure our employees were the first set to get vaccinated, and in India, definitely the Tata group took the decision of vaccination first," he said. During the interaction, he also urged Indians to explore Saudi Arabia, saying the country has "hidden gems all over the place".
"Riyadh is a happening place, and visitors will be pleasantly surprised. And Saudi Arabia, the place in general, you will be surprised by the pace of development, and all those stereotypes of the Arab world shown in Hindi films are really not true," he said.
FIRST Business Portal addressing the potential of business capability of North East Region.
