Will H1B Visas Affect Indian Techies? Industry Body NASSCOM Says... - Details

Nasscom on Wednesday said H-1B visas have nothing to do with immigration issues and instead fill critical skills gap in the US, as the apex industry body asserted that technology will be the "lynchpin" of US economic growth, triggering continued need for "win-win partnerships" between companies on both sides.

Nasscom vice president Shivendra Singh slammed "myth" that H-1B workers are cheap labour, replace American workers, or depress US salaries, and sought to assuage concerns around any adverse impact of President Donald Trump's latest moves and orders on flow of Indian tech professionals to the US.

Singh told PTI that Nasscom does not have any reason to be less optimistic around Indian IT industry's growth story, given that India and Indian talent have very important role in growth of US economy. He expressed optimism that the developments in the US would not cloud the outlook for the Indian IT industry.

Nasscom's comments assume significance given the growing unease around Trump's policies and the impact it could have on export-led USD 250 billion Indian IT industry, which derives biggest chunk of its revenue from the US market.

President Trump began his second term with a spate of executive orders on Tuesday and moved quickly to end a decades-old immigration policy of birthright citizenship -- that is automatic citizenship for children born in the US to non-citizen parents. Many believe, and worry, that this could potentially impact children born in the US to H-1B visa holders, as well as other categories like green card holders and those on temporary visas.

Trump has also repeated his warning that he will impose 100 per cent tariffs against countries of the BRICS bloc, of which India is a part, if they take any steps to replace the US dollar.

Singh said Nasscom is "optimistic that technology will continue to be lynchpin of growth of US economy".

"Given the efforts of Trump administration on trying to generate more money for US economy, we see huge potential for win-win partnerships with Indian tech industry," Singh said.

Asked how the revoking of birthright citizenship would impact H-1B holders, Singh expressed his empathy for those likely to be affected but emphasised that immigration policies are the absolute prerogative of a nation.

"I empathise...on challenges it may bring to those who have children during their tenure in the US...but immigration is absolute autonomy of a country - in this case the US," he said.

He stressed that H-1B visas are nowhere linked to immigration debate or issue as it is a non-immigrant visa.

"H-1B not an immigration but a trade issue, it is important to classify the difference between this and immigration," he said.

Singh drew attention to Indian IT industry's hiring efforts in the US.

"Our companies have invested USD 1.1 billion in US for local upskilling, and we are working with 2,55,000 employees who have been upskilled and 2.9 million students have been positively impacted. So we are doing our bit in the US working with 130-plus university and colleges to upskill locally, so we can hire locally," he said.

India-headquartered companies per se account only for a small 8.5 per cent chunk of 85,000 tech visa, he said, adding that the fact that 70 per cent of H-1B visas go to Indian nationals "is a clear testimony about Indian critical skillsets and they are in demand by Indian and US industry due to demand-supply gap and need for talent".

Asked if the latest developments could cloud the outlook for the Indian IT companies after latest Q3 earnings commentary of many large tech firms triggered hopes for demand revival in coming quarters - Singh said: "Why should it affect (outlook)?"

"This visa bridges a critical skills gap...does skills gap exist during Trump's era? As of now, the answer is yes. Will the H-1B visas be important as result of that, the answer is yes. Will India be important because of our skillsets - Indian nationals getting 70 per cent of visas - the answer is yes. So India has a very important role and Indian talent has a very important role in growth of US economy," he said.

A lot of myths need to debunked when it comes to the H-1B visas, he said.

"You can fit 85,000 people in one stadium so we are not talking about big numbers here...Also mean wages for H-1B visas are far higher than mean wage for an average American worker. So a lot of myths have to be debunked on H-1B, which is a non-immigrant visa and hence not an immigration issue," he said.

Referring to Trump's latest announcement of USD 500 billion investment in AI infrastructure through a new venture Stargate, Singh said that the move affirms US' commitment to technology.

"If the new US administration is promising to grow the economy, it means more joint opportunities, win-win partnerships with US enterprises and more growth for US through tech-led intervention where Indian tech industry will have critical role to play. So I do not see any lack of optimism, based on any of these areas," he said.

While the Indian IT industry will continue its endeavour of diversity and look at other markets "the US will remain a very important market", as would H-1B visas.

"We don't see any reason to be less optimistic around growth story, if measures are taken to grow US economy, it will be growth for US companies and our companies. I hope we will continue to grow in medium and long term," he said