Tech services company UST in Aliso Viejo has set itself a seemingly monumental hiring task – bringing on 10,000 new employees in the second half of this year to meet growing digital demands.
Currently with over 26,000 employees across 25 countries and 35 offices, UST says it’s seeking to add “more technologists and creative thinkers to its expanding workforce.” That includes 2,000 entry-level engineers as it seeks to grow the workforce by about 40%.
It’s among the more ambitious hiring plans for a locally-based tech firm in years.
“UST’s core platforms, innovation-led services, and domain-led solutions deployed at scale have resulted in the need to hire and expand our global workforce exponentially,” joint Chief Operating Officer Manu Gopinath told the Business Journal on Aug. 6.
He added: “The onset of the pandemic has necessitated businesses of all sizes to transform their internal processes and even service offerings digitally.”
Gopinath said UST would also continue to expand its cybersecurity efforts globally.
“The talent competition is so fierce that all organizations face steep challenges in securing the best talent.
That said, UST is well on track to meet the goal of hiring at least 10,000 associates globally,” according to the COO.
He added: “UST has an extensive ecosystem of talent partners across the globe who provide us the agility, flexibility, and scalability to meet this growing demand.”
UST provides a variety of tech services to large corporations. Its client list consists of Fortune 500 and Global 1000 companies. The company, which counts deep ties to India, had more than $1.2 billion in revenue last year.
Late ’21 Hires
The 10,000 are planned to be hired in the second half of calendar year 2021, according to Tinu Cherian Abraham, global public relations manager. The targeted geographical areas are the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific, including Australia.
Since the onset of the pandemic, UST says it’s further accelerated the digital transformation of companies and the rise of the digital economy, which has spurred demand for hiring skilled talent. In fact, the hiring push may well be competing with a hunt for talent across the technology sector as world economies recover.
“We are looking at expanding globally with inorganic growth of acquisitions and investments, and the continued advancement of new technologies of digital transformation, cybersecurity, automation, block chain, artificial intelligence/machine learning and data insights,” according to Chief Executive Krishna Sudheendra.
The company says it is looking at engineers with key skills in digital transformation, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, Java, data science & engineering, application development and modernization, artificial intelligence/machine learning and robotic process automation/intelligent process automation, to use the technical terms.
Innovation Catalysts
“Now is an ideal time to join UST. With our flexibility and hybrid workplace culture, we embrace solving business-critical problems of our customers and promote entrepreneurship as they are the catalysts of innovation,” added Alexander Varghese, also a joint chief operating officer.
The new hires will help UST’s clients transform their businesses with a human-centered approach and the power of technology.
Entry-level employees who join UST undergo more than 100 hours of accelerated skilling programs. Team members are empowered to run with their own ideas – bringing them to life through hackathons and programs like UST’s in-house incubator, UST Garage Ventures.
UST says its employee retention is above the industry average, and it has one of the highest percentage of employees re-joining the company.
The OC-based company encourages and helps women candidates seeking a career “comeback,” especially those who have taken a job break for family reasons or to raise children.
