According to joint chief executive Suresh Vaswani, the move is part of a drive to increasingly “globalise and localise” manpower and “drive ethnic diversity” in the countries in which it operates.

Only 8% to 9% of Wipro’s 97,000 global workforce is non-Indian, but the company is increasing its presence at graduate careers fairs and other events to raise the number of foreign workers – at a time when overall hiring at the company is slowing down.

The global recession is making it easier to recruit in Western markets as unemployment rises.

Mr Vaswani said: “Now is the time to hire. There are good people available. We have wanted to hire local people, but they have not always been available. Now they are.”