Vice President Mike Pence sang the praises of the Trump economy at an event announcing that Infosys Technologies will spend $35 million on a new U.S. Education Center in Indianapolis, Indiana by 2020 and will hire 2,000 to 3,000 new employees in the state by 2023.
“From the outset of this administration we’ve been setting records,” Pence declared, citing historic cutting of regulations, release of American energy, and passage of the new tax cut and reform law. He lauded the expansion of Infosys in Indiana before noting business growth across the country in the first 15 months of the Trump administration.
“As I stand before you today, more than 500 businesses have announced more than 475 billion dollars in new investments and more than 5.5 million Americans have actually already received a pay raise or a bonus in the wake of the President’s tax cuts,” said Pence, who thanked Infosys.
The Vice President then announced that FedEx is spending another $1.5 billion to expand their express hub in Indiana. He mentioned the previously announced $10 billion Foxconn investment in Wisconsin that is expected to create 13,000 new jobs and will break ground soon. Pence also lauded the $350 billion investment by Apple, to occur over the next five years.
“We have the right leadership in President Donald Trump and on Capitol Hill,” said Pence who added, “The best days for Indiana and America are yet to come.”
Infosys announced on Thursday the new “U.S. Education Center in Indianapolis to train American workers and arm them with skills for the digital future.” The company has also committed to hiring 10,000 new American workers over the next two years and said that it will hire 2,000 to 3,000 in Indiana by 2023. Infosys employs over 200,000 workers around the world.
“Infosys’ state-of-the-art training facility will teach thousands of folks across America right here on Indiana soil,” said Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb in the Infosys announcement. Infosys President Ravi Kumar said the center will serve to “prepare our American employees—and those of our clients—to master the kinds of advanced skills that are now required to succeed in our digital future.”
Infosys Limited has faced heavy criticism over their extensive use of H1-B visas. President Trump criticized the overall H1-B program on the 2016 presidential campaign trail. In February 2017, shortly after Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States, Infosys Limited co-founder and then-President H1-B visa conceded, “We should stop using H-1B visas and [stop] sending a large number of Indians to those countries to deliver services.”
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