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New H-1B visa move to hit IT firms
A new bill aimed at cracking down on Indian outsourcing firms is being supported by both Republican and Democratic parties, the probability of its approval is more positive than negative.
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Washington: A new bill aimed at cracking down on Indian outsourcing firms is being supported by both Republican and Democratic parties, the probability of its approval is more positive than negative.
Two US senators have filed legislation that would cut the number of skilled-worker permits, known as H-1B visas, the Department of Homeland Security issues to 70,000 from 85,000– a reduction of some 17%, according to a report by Wall Street Journal. Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida, said in a statement this week that the bill he and Alabama Republican Senator Jeff Sessions are also proposing stipulates that the government give the visas based on salary, rather than by way of lottery.
This is designed to target outsourcing firms “that rely on lower-wage foreign workers to replace equally-qualified US workers,” according to Nelson’s statement.
Former workers at Walt Disney Co.’s Epcot Center theme park in Orlando, Florida – Nelson’s home state – have accused the company of replacing them with foreign workers who they had trained. Disney has said this didn’t occur.
In November, Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley and Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin introduced a bill that, among other provisions, mandates that all companies that want to hire workers using H-1Bs first try to hire US citizens.
Outsourcing firms like India’s two largest, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and Infosys Ltd., send thousands of their information-technology workers to the US on the visas. The two bills reflect a “trend towards protecting jobs in the US fueled by the political season with upcoming elections,” said Dinesh Goel, a partner at outsourcing consultancy ISG India, referring to elections set for November 2016.
While it is unclear if the bills will become law, such moves threaten to make doing business more difficult for outsourcers by affecting “their ability to send the talent from India to the US,” Goel said.
