A few of the workers who lose their jobs - nearly 1 in 5- is expected to be hired by HCL, said Atish Banerjea, Dex's chief technology officer. Although the layoffs at Dex are company-wide, the bulk of the workers hired by HCL will be employees at Dex's Cary headquarters and in Morrisville.

It's unclear just how many Dex workers will lose their jobs, because the company isn't disclosing the size of Dex's IT department. Baner jea cited "competitive reasons" for keeping that number confidential. Overall, Dex has 3,000 workers, including 400 in the Triangle.

Workers who lose their jobs will receive severance packages. Those workers were notified Thursday, but jobs will be phased out over the next few months, spokesman Chris Hardman said.

Dex has been on a cost-cutting binge that has triggered a series of layoffs. It eliminated 475 jobs at the end of last year and 200 jobs this year before the announcement. Those cuts included outsourcing its internal graphics operations.

Working with HCL will produce "a significant amount of savings," Banerjea said, but declined to provide specifics. The company previously set a goal of cutting its annual costs this year by $140 million.

HCL sites in Cary, where the company has 278 workers, and India will handle the work for Dex. Financial details of the multiyear contract weren't disclosed.

This month, HCL, which generated $3.3 billion in revenue last fiscal year, signed a five-year, $500 million deal with drugmaker Merck that is expected to create at least 100 local jobs.

In 2008, HCL announced it would create 513 jobs in Wake County by 2013. If it meets that goal - and the company anticipates it will - it's eligible to receive $5.07 million in state incentives.

An HCL spokesman declined to say how many workers it expects to hire in Cary thanks to the Dex contract.