H1B visa: New US bill to hurt IT firms
BENGALURU: The US is set to pass a bill on immigration with major implications for the $146-billion Indian IT sector and its employees. The bill seeks to prohibit companies from hiring H-1B employees if they employ more than 50 people in the US and more than 50% of those employees are H-1B and L-1 visa holders.
The bill, if passed, will place severe restrictions on Indian IT companies that are the largest users of H-1B visas. Though companies do not disclose the data, it is believed that the large Indian IT companies have more than 50% of their employees on H-1Bs and L-1s.
Last week, Senators Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin introduced a bipartisan legislation that would reform the H-1B visa programme, consistent with the US Congress’s intent to ensure that qualified American workers are given the first opportunity at high-skilled job opportunities. The duo has argued that the H-1B visa was meant to fill gaps in specialized areas that cannot be filled by Americans. “There’s a sense of urgency here for Americans who are losing their jobs to lesser skilled workers who are coming in at lower wages on a visa programme that has gotten away from its original intent. Reform of the H-1B visa programme must be a priority,” Grassley said in a press statement recently.
The two have argued that outsourcing companies import large numbers of H-1B and L-1 workers for short training periods and then send these workers back to their home country to do the work of Americans.
Indian IT companies have been the largest recipients of H-1B visas and have come under intense scrutiny by lawmakers.
The Bill also gives the labour department enhanced authority to review, investigate, and audit employer compliance with programme requirements, as well as to penalize fraudulent or abusive conduct. It requires the production of extensive statistical data about the H-1B and L-1 programmes, including wage data, worker education levels, place of employment and gender.
HIGHLIGHTS
• The US is set to pass a bill on immigration with major implications for the $146-billion Indian IT sector.
• Indian IT companies have more than 50% of their employees on H-1Bs and L-1s.
• This development should also be seen in the background of the forthcoming US Presidential elections.
If this bill goes on to become a law then a large number of Indian IT companies will bear the brunt.
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Source:Timesofindia
