Wipro restructuring leads to many exits at the top hierarchy
Wipro CEO Thierry Delaporte’s reorganisation of the company structure has resulted in some 75 senior VPs and VPs and 300 general managers exiting the firm in the past few months.
TOI reported details of the planned reorg in November. One of its objectives is to reduce the number of layers in the firm as part of an effort to drive sharper client focus. Delaporte, who took over six months ago after a long stint with Capgemini, believes accountability has been adversely impacted by the multiple layers. There are some 200 SVPs and VPs in the company.
When TOI contacted Wipro on the exits of senior leaders, the company said, “Effective January 1, Wipro replaced its earlier structure of seven strategic business units, service lines and nine geographies with four strategic market units (SMUs) and two global business lines (GBLs). The company has selected leaders who are best suited for the roles in the new structure. Consequently, the top layer of the pyramid has narrowed down. Wipro is also in the process of hiring talent from outside and will be onboarding several senior regional leaders and global account executives soon.” Recently, Wipro appointed IT veteran and former AWS executive Douglas Silva as the country head for Brazil. He will report to Mukund Seetharaman, managing director of Latin America.
Delaporte has moved away from more than 20 P&Ls to four. He has shifted the focus from industry verticals to geographies He’s also changing the mix of talent. In a recent interview with TOI, he said, “The need for talent has changed from less operators and less generalists to deep content and domain specialists and technology experts. We are also bringing talent from the outside. We want to be a true global player.” Delaporte said that clients expect the firm to be proactive, disrupt them, have strong opinions, challenge the status quo and be a proactive force of change.
Phil Fersht, CEO of HfS Research said that Delaporte’s new geographic restructuring requires him to keep some bench strength as the new model will take some time to get right, and having extra resources available ensures delivery stays stable. “In addition, we are expecting a strong year for outsourcing from US and European firms and there is little immediate need to downscale when the pipeline is there to grow the firm,” he said.
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End Note-This story has not been edited by SightsIn Plus, published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.