Over the next three years, IBM Corp. expects to invest around $6 billion in its information technology (IT) services in India. The company has invested $2 billion in its India operations during the past three years. IBM, which earns about $47 billion per year in revenue from its IT services, currently employs around 43,000 skilled technical workers in India and plans to increase this number to 60,000 within the next year. The company has found it extremely beneficial for its coffers to offshore its IT services to India, where skilled technical workers earn much less than tech workers in the United States. Software programmers in India, for example, earn anywhere from 40 percent to 80 percent less their American counterparts. Researchers at IBM's service center in Bangalore are looking for ways of automating operations so that computers instead of employees can manage common IT tasks. They are also evaluating new portal technologies that use advanced search tools to help systems administrators in foreign locations quickly solve problems, such as downed networks. Although offshoring its IT services provides a number of advantages for IBM, the company risks alienating its American workers. There are currently less than 150,000 workers employed by IBM within the United States, which represents roughly half of all its employees worldwide. A company spokesman claims that its $6 billion investment in India will not affect them, but American employees are showing increased anxiety and concerns about IBM's use of offshore locations.