Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Friday said it does not expect the US action on the green card programme to affect its workforce strategy or customer engagements, as India's largest IT services company cited its single-digit applications under the programme over the past two years and focus on local hiring.
The US on Thursday suspended eight IT firms, including TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant and Microsoft, from a programme to apply for green cards for foreign workers, contending that the practice has shut out Americans from the job market.
"Our PERM applications were in single digits in the last two years, and hence we do not expect the suspension of the program to impact our workforce strategy and customer engagements," TCS said in a statement.
The company said it will comply with any directive from the US Labor Department, and emphasised its workforce strategy is firmly anchored in hiring local talent, supported by a robust campus recruitment model.
"We have noted the announcement by the US Government on the Permanent Labor Certification Program (PERM), and TCS will comply with any directive from the Department of Labor. Our workforce strategy in the US is anchored in hiring local talent, supported by a robust campus recruitment model," it said, adding that the company has built a significant local workforce across 31 offices and delivery centres throughout the country.
As announced earlier, TCS said it intends to hire an additional 15,000 people in the US over the next five years to further augment its local workforce.
After the US suspended eight tech firms, including prominent Indian ones, from a key green card programme, industry body Nasscom said immigration and skilled talent mobility are "two distinct issues" that should not be viewed through the same lens.
The latest action comes amid mounting challenges for Indian IT companies in the US, including tighter scrutiny of work visas and higher costs for H-1B applicants. The latest development in the US - the biggest market for the USD 300-billion Indian IT industry - adds to uncertainty for tech outsourcers that rely on the cross-border movement of skilled professionals.
In a statement, Nasscom said the decision affects a specific immigration pathway, but that it has consistently maintained the two issues should be kept apart.
"The US Department of Labor has...announced the temporary suspension of certain IT companies, including Indian technology companies operating in the US, from filing new applications under the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) programme. While the decision affects a specific immigration pathway, Nasscom has consistently maintained that immigration and skilled talent mobility are two distinct issues and should not be viewed through the same lens," the association said.
The industry body emphasised that the H-1B visa programme has historically played an important role in addressing short-term skill gaps in the US and will continue to be used to address short-term talent gaps.
"However, over the past few years, Indian technology companies have significantly reduced their dependence on H-1B visas, while steadily expanding local hiring and building a strong domestic workforce in the US," according to the Nasscom statement.
Nasscom said these companies work with the majority of US Fortune 500 companies, enabling them to innovate and grow, and generate more local jobs.
"Consequently, the number of employees transitioning from H-1B visas to permanent residency through the PERM process is also relatively limited," Nasscom said.
Indian technology companies operate across more than 80 countries and have consistently demonstrated their commitment to complying with local laws and regulatory requirements, the industry association said, expressing confidence that firms will continue to adhere to applicable regulations in the US as well.
The US action was announced by Vice President J D Vance, Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling, and Attorney General Todd Blanche as part of a crackdown under the aegis of the US Anti-Fraud Task Force.
"I am hereby suspending from the Permanent Labour Certification Programme some of the largest IT outsourcing firms in the world, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini," Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling said, adding the Department of Labour is also suspending Microsoft and Adobe from the programme due to multiple active federal investigations.
Sonderling said the Department of Labour will not accept any new or process any pending permanent labour certification applications involving these companies.
Since 2009, just these companies alone have requested almost three million foreign workers. They've received over 230,000 H-1B visa approvals and over 100,000 permanent labour certifications, Sonderling said. That's hundreds of thousands of jobs that were taken from American workers, Sonderling said. Indian professionals account for over 70 per cent of all approved H-1B petitions annually.
The US Vice President referred to foreign workers hired on H1-B visas as foreign indentured servants and the companies using the programme as visa mills.
Vance also announced an investigation into the J-1 visa programme for research scholars utilised by nine major universities, including Yale, Harvard, Stanford and Caltech.
