On July 10, India’s largest IT company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) said the US freeze on H-1B visas is an ‘unexpected and unfortunate’ move that played with the lives of professionals who had worked hard to deliver value to American customers.
Read on to find out more…
USA’s Plans To Engage The Locals Going Overboard?
U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order includes halting a range of visa approvals until the end of the year — including those for intra-company transfers. This mainly impacted the IT industry professionals and skilled workers who have been transferred to the onshore facilities of the US companies.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with visa ban, TCS reported profit below expectations as the lockdowns disrupted clients’ operations.
Earlier when the US administration had revised the H-1B regulations TCS and its peers had enhanced local hiring.
In a separate order for international students, the Trump administration said that if the students were attending only online classes, they would have to leave the country. This move could affect over 200,000 Indian students in the US.
According to a Reuters report, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have sued the Trump administration on the student visas move.
The US has told India that it will try and mitigate the impact of new visa rules.
TCS Outraged, Warns Visa Ban Will Cost US!
According to a Bloomberg report, TCS CEO Rajesh Gopinathan said at the company’s first quarter earnings conference via video conference, “The ignorance around this ruling should be addressed.”
TCS becomes the first among Indian IT firms to call out the visa ban. It said work visa holders play a major role in running banks, retailers, manufacturing companies, telecoms and have a provide a significant contribution to the US economy.
In a major reprimand he highlighted, “Playing with the status of people who’ve moved away from families and committed to spending five-six years in a foreign country without immigrant status to deliver value to customers, is a short-term gimmick.”
He also said that the move has put massive stress on a huge swath of Indian-born engineers that have lived in the U.S. for years and helped support American clients, who will ultimately be the ones hurt most.
However, during the event Gopinathan said: “The attitude towards us in a country where we contribute significantly is unexpected and unfortunate.” The move will have no material impact on TCS’s business, he added.
Gopinathan said, “We invest in skills and make this talent available in a fungible manner for use by customers.”
He further said that this helps clients avoid ‘large fixed costs to have access to this kind of talent.’ He said that the investment by TCS and its peers helps American firms tap a pool of talent that’s continuously adapting to new technology.
Now a lot of questions have risen related to the economic crisis, employment issues, US elections and many more ! Though the main questions remain- Will the US as well as the Indian economy be impacted adversely by the visa ban? Or will both economies emerge strong and self-reliant?
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