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The Trump administration is reportedly mulling suspending non-immigration visas including the H1B, L1, H-2B and J1 visas. The H1B visa, in particular, is used by Indian & Foreign IT companies while hiring Indian employees for IT contracts for US-based companies.
Reports indicated that the H1B visa could be suspended extending into October 1, which is when new visas are issued. The reason is largely rising unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking to CNBCTV-18 Shivendra Singh, Vice President & Head, Global Trade Development at NASSCOM said that the impact will be on both Indian and global companies and if the US wants to successfully combat COVID-19, IT employees need to be exempt from suspension.
"It will not just impact Indian IT companies. It will impact the global industry. So any company which utilizes non-immigrant visas which include H1B visa as well as STEM OPt will be impacted. And this is beyond the Indian IT industry. We need to look at the fundamental question as to why these visas are important. They are important because they fulfill a very critical skill gap that exists in the US for all companies and ensures that the US economy remains competitive from a global perspective."
"If there are any kind of temporary suspensions or restrictions on these visas, the question to be asked is why is this happening. From our respective, if you look at tech workers, they are performing an even more important job in the COVID recovery period as essential workers. Whether it is in hospitals, healthcare, or online education, a lot of these areas, tech workers are laying a very important role."
"Hence from our perspective, they should be classified as essential workers. They should be exempt from any ban and that should be based on none other than the department of homeland securities CISA guidelines (on identifying Critical Infrastructure during COVID 19 pandemic) which provides details on the roles which would be essential as tech workers. So we are saying you go by those guidelines and provide an exemption if restrictions are imposed."
While there is no clarity on the suspension fine print, Indian IT companies are expecting suspension to be valid for fresh visa issuances starting from October.
"As we understand this is not impacting people (employees) that are in the US at this point but for IT employees that have come back here and have to go back there could be an impact as we understand but we need to see the fine print. If there is a temporary restriction or ban that goes beyond the first of October, it will impact the new H1B visa season for sure" added Shivendra.
Many reports, however, suggest that the direct impact on Indian IT may be limited as Indian IT companies have reduced the dependence on H1B visas over a period of time.
While TCS and Infosys' expected exposure to H1B visa is just 40-50 percent, Wipro and HCL tech's is expected to be even lesser at about 30-35 percent.
"It is true that the exposure is lesser. This is based on a number of factors. It is also the change in the global economic model, digital transformation and more work being done near the client. it is based on the fact that you need domain expertise for workers based out of onsite locations."
"The percentage of visas, if you look at the top 7 IT companies, those numbers have drastically come down to nearly about 6000 out of 65,000 visa quota. The issue is not that. The issue has to be seen from the fact that these roles that these employees take are very critical roles and they are in short supply in the US and thus they are brought to the US. Till the time the skills gap is not addressed in the US, these roles will continue to be necessary."
Note:-
The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) is a trade association of Indian Information Technology (IT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry. Established in 1988, NASSCOM is a non-profit organisation.
NASSCOM initiated a program called '10000 Startups' in 2013. The purpose of 10000 Startup is to support and impact 10,000 startups in India by 2023.NASSCOM carries out a number of events annually, targeting startups in the Indian ecosystem so as to nurture them and help them develop into bigger organisations.
Reports indicated that the H1B visa could be suspended extending into October 1, which is when new visas are issued. The reason is largely rising unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking to CNBCTV-18 Shivendra Singh, Vice President & Head, Global Trade Development at NASSCOM said that the impact will be on both Indian and global companies and if the US wants to successfully combat COVID-19, IT employees need to be exempt from suspension.
"It will not just impact Indian IT companies. It will impact the global industry. So any company which utilizes non-immigrant visas which include H1B visa as well as STEM OPt will be impacted. And this is beyond the Indian IT industry. We need to look at the fundamental question as to why these visas are important. They are important because they fulfill a very critical skill gap that exists in the US for all companies and ensures that the US economy remains competitive from a global perspective."
"If there are any kind of temporary suspensions or restrictions on these visas, the question to be asked is why is this happening. From our respective, if you look at tech workers, they are performing an even more important job in the COVID recovery period as essential workers. Whether it is in hospitals, healthcare, or online education, a lot of these areas, tech workers are laying a very important role."
"Hence from our perspective, they should be classified as essential workers. They should be exempt from any ban and that should be based on none other than the department of homeland securities CISA guidelines (on identifying Critical Infrastructure during COVID 19 pandemic) which provides details on the roles which would be essential as tech workers. So we are saying you go by those guidelines and provide an exemption if restrictions are imposed."
While there is no clarity on the suspension fine print, Indian IT companies are expecting suspension to be valid for fresh visa issuances starting from October.
"As we understand this is not impacting people (employees) that are in the US at this point but for IT employees that have come back here and have to go back there could be an impact as we understand but we need to see the fine print. If there is a temporary restriction or ban that goes beyond the first of October, it will impact the new H1B visa season for sure" added Shivendra.
Many reports, however, suggest that the direct impact on Indian IT may be limited as Indian IT companies have reduced the dependence on H1B visas over a period of time.
While TCS and Infosys' expected exposure to H1B visa is just 40-50 percent, Wipro and HCL tech's is expected to be even lesser at about 30-35 percent.
"It is true that the exposure is lesser. This is based on a number of factors. It is also the change in the global economic model, digital transformation and more work being done near the client. it is based on the fact that you need domain expertise for workers based out of onsite locations."
"The percentage of visas, if you look at the top 7 IT companies, those numbers have drastically come down to nearly about 6000 out of 65,000 visa quota. The issue is not that. The issue has to be seen from the fact that these roles that these employees take are very critical roles and they are in short supply in the US and thus they are brought to the US. Till the time the skills gap is not addressed in the US, these roles will continue to be necessary."
Note:-
The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) is a trade association of Indian Information Technology (IT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry. Established in 1988, NASSCOM is a non-profit organisation.
NASSCOM initiated a program called '10000 Startups' in 2013. The purpose of 10000 Startup is to support and impact 10,000 startups in India by 2023.NASSCOM carries out a number of events annually, targeting startups in the Indian ecosystem so as to nurture them and help them develop into bigger organisations.
