The Tokyo-based IT firm, a unit of Japan’s former telephone monopoly NTT, said it will absorb about 28,000 employees with the purchase, mainly from North America and India, bringing its total global workforce to more than 100,000. “NTT Data will expand our North American operations while also aiming to offer services with cutting-edge technology” in cloud storage and other sectors, the Japanese firm said in a statement filed to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The company said the Dell operations were particularly strong in the US healthcare sector. The move comes as Japanese firms rush to expand overseas, as the domestic market is set to shrink due to a falling birthrate and shrinking workforce, while the elderly population grows. NTT Data has more than doubled in market value since 2011 on rising sales to financial and healthcare businesses using the company’s data centres and software, Bloomberg News reported. The company provides software and systems for functions including electronic medical records, surgery management, billing, insurance claims, according to Bloomberg. ― AFP