articles

Home / DeveloperSection / Articles / Not Indian, US companies use majority of H-1B visas: Report

Not Indian, US companies use majority of H-1B visas: Report

Ailsa Singh1387 04-May-2017


                     Not Indian, US companies use majority of H-1B visas: Report


Before some days, the Donald Trump administration has blamed Indian IT companies of taking the lion’s share of H-1B visas, but the recent data shows that American companies use the majority of these visas for foreign professionals.

As per data available with US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the National Foundation for American Policy, among the top 30 companies that grab H-1B visas, accounted for 35,120 visas from the total of 65,000 approved application in 2015 almost 19  were based in US, nine in India and two in France.

Nearly 18,904 visas were granted to the 19 US-based companies, as per a report in the Financial Express. In 2015, Indian companies had grabbed only 15,136 visas. According to the media report, visas taken by the Indian companies were even lower in 2016.

Also Read: America's stance on visas soft after India's tough stance

US has been continuously targeting the Indian IT companies from last few months, particularly Infosys and TCS  for grabbing a large part of H-1B visas and taking jobs from the local people unfairly.

The Indian companies are finding alternative ways to sail over the H-1B debate. Recently Infosys announced, it will hire 10,000 US workers in the next two years.

However, the company's Chief Operation Officer UB Pravin Rao stated that there is scarcity of experienced talent workers in the US. In an interview to Hindu Business Line, Rao said that the company will have to train people on newer technologies.


Also Read: Infosys to hire 10000 American workers

On the issue of low salaries to employees on H-1B, Rao said: “We don’t differentiate between the Indians and the Americans. Our salaries are competitive and meet regulatory and compliance requirements. It totally depends on the geographical location and the skill sets. This is not about cost cutting but having a much more global mix in your talent pool.”

US government has noted that H-1B holders are paid much less than their counterparts. However, a Nasscom survey says that average salary of H-1B holders was at USD 82,000 in 2015, 35 percent more than USD 60,000 which is minimum prescribed wages.


TCS and Infosys accounted for only 7,504 -- 8.8 percent -- of visas in 2014-15, the IT industry body also said.

The media report said, the visa debate comes at a time when the gap between demand and supply of computer science engineers, especially in new technologies like cloud and mobile computing is widening.

Read More At: Contrary to Donald Trump claims, H1B visas benefit US companies the most

Leave Comment

Comments

Liked By