Harley-Davidson Inc. has eliminated 125 positions in its IT department as it outsources some information technology work to Infosys Inc.
The Bangalore, India-based company, which has a U.S. headquarters in Plano, Texas, announced this week it plans to open an office location at 10850 W. Park Place in Milwaukee to assist with the work it currently does with Harley-Davidson Inc. A new five-year engagement with Harley Davidson was the catalyst for locating the new delivery center here.
“These are back office, commodity services,” said Maripat Blankenheim, director of external communications at Harley. “When the IT management area evaluated which services to outsource, there were 125 positions that weren’t part of the new structure.”
Harley has created 68 new positions in the IT department, which the employees whose positions have been eliminated can currently apply for, Blankenheim said.
In addition, Infosys has 71 open positions.
“We are in the process of a company transformation,” Blankenheim said. “This is the IT portion. When we looked at ways to gain efficiencies, one of them was looking at where a third party supplier could more effectively provide technology services than we can in house.”
The company has evaluated all its segments to remain competitive in the global industrial space, she said.
“It’s completely out of necessity. We want to make sure that we are in the best position possible as a leading global manufacturing company to be here for the next 110 years,” Blankenheim said.
