Showing posts with label cognizant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cognizant. Show all posts

Monday, June 1, 2009

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Wipro `warns’ US on H1-B

Wipro's executive chairman, Azim Premji, has warned that a proposal to restrict hiring holders of H1B visas for skilled workers will choke America of talent coming in and could generate a trade war with countries such as India.

"In my opinion it's a very drastic initiative," he said in an interview, referring to a bill in the US Senate basically preventing firms from hiring H1Bs in the US or bringing in holders of L1 visas for semi-skilled workers.

"It will choke the United States of talent coming in. You will not be able to substitute the absence of this talent with local hires because it's not easily available," Premji said.

"Also, you'll generate a trade war with countries such as India," he said, calling it as a freedom-of-trade issue. "It's precisely what President (Barack) Obama said in the G20 meeting: The United States will not get into a spate of protectionism."


Premji suggested the US must realise that today 60 to 70 percent of the growth of the revenues of large American companies comes from India and China.

"These are the growth markets. It's a simple thing for our government to raise tariffs. It's a simple thing for our government to say no American corporation will get central or state government contracts, or defence contracts," he warned.

Noting that the software and BPO industries for India represent 24 percent of its exports, Premji said: "These are critical industries for emerging countries... There's no way our government can take it lightly."

Asked what would happen if the bill passes, the Wipro chief said Obama "is too sensible to pass it. He's too mature".

Describing global trade in IT as vital "because the economies of all countries are getting more and more the dominance of services, versus manufacturing and agriculture", Premji said: "To risk a cycle of protectionism, it's not worth it."

"What's the total of visas issued in a year? 20,000 to India. What will you achieve? The 20,000 will come down to 12,000. You'll create 8,000 more jobs, theoretically, with the rules. "What's that compared to 9 per cent unemployment on a total labour force of 100 million?" he asked, calling it "a very short term approach".

Asked why IBM and Accenture were employing so many people in India, Premji said: "They like the low labour rates... the quality of the people, the willingness to work hard. They're not getting the people they need in the United States. That's the bottom line."

Saturday, May 16, 2009

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No cut in H-1B visas for Indians: US Consul-General

There is no cut in H-1B visas for Indians, US Consul-General for Hyderabad, Cornelis M Keur, has clarified. While the US Government had made it clear that companies give preference to Americans in employment as the jobless rate had risen to 9 percent in the wake of the recession, there had been no significant change in the H-1B visa policy, Keur maintained.

In a programme organised by the Press Club, he described as misconceived the notion that H-1B visas were detrimental to jobs for US nationals.

Raising the cap on H-1B visas would help promote economic growth by bringing in extraordinary and boosting competitiveness, he said. However, the slowdown had meant that companies receiving funds under the US Government’s bailout package would have difficulty hiring H1B workers.
However, students with requisite skills were still attractive for US employers.

Many had also interned with US companies who were now sponsoring them for their H1Bs, he said.

“There are three million Indians in United States who are contributing to its prosperity,’’ Keur said, and also made special mention of the Telugus who have made a mark in various fields besides IT.

Keur said that the Hyderabad Consulate General was processing around 350 visas a per day as against the targeted 500. But this would pick up in June once the new staff were trained by the experienced hands who had been brought in from Chennai and Delhi. There were one lakh students from Andhra Pradesh pursuing higher studies in the USA and demand was likely to increase, he said.

On students and professionals from India being at risk from violent crime, Keur pointed out that nationals of other countries also faced such hazards and that the US administration was taking steps to curb the menace.
Press Club President GS Vasu and General Secretary Ravikanth Reddy were present.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

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US consulate denies H1B visa curtailment for Indians

The US Consulate on Wednesday denied any curtailment of H1B visas to Indians. "Due to economic slowdown world over, the US Government has taken a decision to tie up its unemployment problem which is nine per cent. But, there was no significant change in visa policy," US Consulate General, Hyderabad, Cornelis M Keur said.

"We continue to issue H1B visas with little more scrutiny", Keur told reporters at 'Meet the Press' programme organised by Press Club Hyderabad.

At the same time, the US Government has framed a policy for the companies to give preference to native Americans in employment, he added.

Obama administration has taken up a practical approach in establishing relations with the countries while there were efforts for strengthening relations with India because of the "Brain Borrowing", he said.

Making a special reference about the Andhraites whose presence can be marked in various fields in the US including IT, Keur said, "there are three million Indians in United States who are contributing to its prosperity."

The Hyderabad Consulate, the fourth in the country, was established due to the growing trade and development in the State in the fields of IT, Pharma and Biotechnology, he added.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

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US shouldn't kill hi-tech talent: Steve Ballmer

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer provided a window into his family’s immigrant past to make a case for America keeping its doors wide open to allow the best and brightest to work in the land of opportunity.

The son of a Swiss immigrant father and a Jewish-American mother, the 53-year-old evoked the example of his parents as he spoke of his unease with the protectionist measures that are being planned by the new Obama administration.

“My father was an immigrant right after World War II when he went to work for the US Army as an interpreter in the Nuremberg war crimes trial. And then he met Americans in the army who sponsored him to migrate to the US in 1949,” Mr Ballmer said in an interview to ET on Tuesday.

“We are prepared to participate in broader immigration reform which allows us to bring hitech talent. My father, my mother’s parents were all immigrants. It’s a great thing for the US,” he said in response to a question about the brouhaha over H1B visas.

American companies having overseas operations are worried about President Barack Obama’s proposed taxes on income earned abroad, and India’s top tech firms such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro are anxious about rising anti-offshoring sentiment in the US.

Ballmer said his initial reaction was that such tax proposals are not good for business and that his company would continue to hire skilled professionals in countries such as India and China if Microsoft is unable to employ them in the US.

Microsoft, which was criticised by US Senator Chuck Grassley for retaining and hiring more foreign workers even as it announced plans to lay off around 5,000 employees, is one of the biggest users for H1B work permits issued by the US to skilled migrants from countries such as India.

“We opened a development lab in Vancouver of Canada because we could not get visas for everybody, and the Canadians were willing to give visas,” Ballmer said. “If the US government allows us, we will have those people to work for us in the US, but if the government does not allow us, we are prepared to have those people work elsewhere, whether it be here in India or in China.”

Regarding President Obama’s plans to tax overseas earnings of American companies to create more local jobs, Mr Ballmer said he would wait for more details. “I think the government have to be thoughtful because there are unintended consequences: will their actions create jobs in the US, or will they tend to drive even more jobs out of the US. In general, business is saying this is not a good thing,” he said. Ballmer, who had offered to buy Internet search rival Yahoo last year to compete with Google, said Microsoft is seeking to develop its own technology for search.

“People still speculate, but I have made it clear: they turned down our offer, it’s fine and we will move on. The truth is in this economic

condition I am glad they did not accept the offer of $33 (per share). They might be sad they did not accept an offer for $33, but we crossed the bridge and now we are exploring other opportunities,” he said.

Despite enjoying a near-monopoly in the computer desktop market, Microsoft still lags behind Google and Yahoo in Internet search. And open source software Linux, which is available for free downloads, also continues to put pressure on the company.

“We have competition from this funny thing called Linux, which does not even require it to be successful. In a sense we have all the best and the worst of competition; we have a competitor that’s going to keep competing whether it’s successful or not because it does not require financial resources, it’s keeping our prices down.” Ballmer, however, added that Microsoft would be open to work with Yahoo and create a stronger offering for those currently spending on advertising with Google.

“We are not going to acquire them but are open to work together. We and Yahoo together will be stronger. Everybody who advertises on Google in the US and elsewhere would like to advertise on a combination of Yahoo and Microsoft,” he added.

Monday, May 11, 2009

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US adds “fraud prevention tactics” rule to H-1B visa for Indians

US tightens H-1B visa rules for Indians
The United States has adopted fraud prevention tactics to prevent misuse of the H-1B visa programmes for highly skilled professionals, after complaints of outrageous abuse by Indian firms, according to a top US official.

According to the US Department of Homeland Security Secretary, new fraud prevention techniques will be used now.

The top most priority of the Obama administration is to provide jobs to the Americans but of late the senator has accused many Indian companies have been accused of misusing this visa system and profiting from it.

The H-1B work visas are for highly skilled professionals and have been most beneficial for IT sector professionals from India.

The US move is likely to hit the Indian IT industry.

On April 23, the US Senate proposed H1B visa legislation, much to the dismay of India’s IT sector.

The country’s third largest software exporter Wipro said the proposal is an antithesis to globalisation and is a restrictive trade practice.

The apex software body Nasscom said though the stated objective of the Bill is to prevent fraud and visa abuse, several of the provisions of this bill are against the principles of free trade and are creating trade barriers.

"In many ways, it is targets Indian companies and restricts their ability to compete in the US marketplace. This is also against President Obama's stand against protectionism at the G20 summit," Nasscom President Som Mittal said.
Source: ibnlive.com

Monday, May 4, 2009

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H1B Cap : Latest Update

First Count : April 9, 2009 - 42,000 and 20,000
The USCIS issued the first cap count on April 9, 2009. As of that count, approximately 42,000 H1B petitions had been received under the “regular” cap. While the 20,000 advanced degree limit had been reached, USCIS indicated that some more advanced-degree cases would continue to be accepted, to allow for normal rates of denials and withdrawals.

Second Count : April 13, 2009 - 43,000 and 20,000
The next count was issued April 20th, for cases filed through April 13, 2009. As of that date, the USCIS had received 43,000 regular cap cases. Additionally, advanced-degree cases were still being accepted due to the expectation that it is normally necessary to accept some percentage more than 20,000 cases to end up with 20,000 H1B petitions with approvals.

Third Count : April 20, 2009 - 44,000 and 20,000
The count for April 20, 2009 reflected an additional 1,000 regular cap filings in the week following the previous count. The advanced-degree cap filings must have been very light, as the USCIS had still not reached the limit for those cases.

Fourth Count : April 27, 2009 - 45,000 and 20,000
The fourth count was issued April 27, 2009. As of that date, approximately 45,000 regular cap cases had been received by the USCIS. Advanced-degree cases were still being accepted.

Conclusion
Regarding the H1B cap, FY2010 was very different from the couple of years immediately preceding. This is driven primarily by the economy. It appears to be a clear indication that the request for H1B workers is largely self governing, and that, when the job market is depressed, the H1B filing levels drop accordingly. Critics of the H1B program, who claim that the H1B numbers should not be increased, are incorrect in their assessment, as the supply-and-demand cycle seems to be working again with H1B filings greatly reduced due to the decrease in demand, even for highly skilled workers.

Monday, April 27, 2009

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US visa move raises protectionism fears

Source: ndtv.com
For all those seeking to find a job in the land of opportunity, protectionism may be eating into their dream and aspirations. In what could turn into a bitter ruling for overseas job seekers, two US senators have introduced a bill seeking to reform H1B visa procedures that would make it harder for companies to hire non-Americans.

Most importantly, the bill puts an onus on employers to prove that they had tried to recruit an American citizen before hiring an H-1B, which wasn't the case before. It also prevents companies who have a majority of H-1B employees on their payroll to hire any more.

The bill says that the employers must first make "good-faith attempt" to recruit a qualified American worker. It prohibits advertisements for only H-1B employees and also says that a company cannot hire more H-1B workers if 50 per cent employees are under the same category.

Moreover, it seeks the labour department to have more authority to investigate abuse.
However, Nasscom says it is surprised because it was in touch with people in the US Congress and administration.

“What really impacts us is the one that prohibits Indian companies from getting H1 and L1 visas. From our perspective this is targeting Indian companies. It’s protectionist in nature and it would prevent Indian companies to compete in the US markets,” Som Mittal, President of Nasscom said.

The Indian companies earned nearly $47 billion from the export of software and services around the globe during fiscal year 2009. The industry leaders say while they agree with stricter measures, the move should not be protectionist.

Suresh Senapaty CFO of Wipro, said, “There are two aspects—one is to remove the anomalies of the existing law to stop misuse and we completely support that. But if it is to promote protectionism policies, then it is against what all the leaders agreed in G20 including president Obama.”

Well, American President Obama has promised to talk comprehensively on immigration reform in May.

The US issued 85,000 visas under the H-1B category during the last financial year, of which Indian companies got 12,500. Now, getting one of these going ahead would become tougher, especially if such bills get passed.
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Don't see new H1B proposal turning into an Act: NASSCOM

US lawmakers have introduced a new bill with additional restrictions on H1 B visas. Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), said if this proposal passes in the current format then it will have a fairly disastrous impact on the IT sector.

“But I am hopeful that over the next three-months we will not see this really becoming an Act.” Meanwhile, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said he is concerned by the contents of H1B visa bill by Senator Durbin and Senator Grassley. "The bill will restrict the ability of Indian IT companies to compete in the US market place. The bill is not in line with US President Barack Obama's stand against protectionism at the G20 meet and not in line with our desire to mainstream development in the Doha negotiations."

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

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Just 44,000 H1B petitions received so far: USCIS

As against the Congressional mandated per annum quota of 65,000, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has received just 44,000 H-1B petitions in the first three weeks after the American agency started accepting applications for the most sought work visas for highly skilled professionals.

Professionals from India, specially those from the IT sector, have been benefitted the most.

But because of the certain provisions in the stimulus package which prevents American companies, having received federal grant money, from hiring overseas highly skilled workers, not many companies are willing to apply for the H-1B visa petitions this year.

"USCIS has received approximately 44,000 H-1B petitions counting toward the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap. The agency continues to accept petitions subject to the general cap," USCIS said in a statement Monday.

Although it has received 20,000 petitions in the advanced degrees categories, the USCIS said it would continue to accept advanced degree petitions since experience has shown that not all petitions received are approvable.

"Congress mandated that the first 20,000 of these types of petitions are exempt from any fiscal year cap on available H-1B visas," the USCIS said. "For cases filed for premium processing during the initial five-day filing window, the 15-day premium processing period began April 7.

"For cases filed for premium processing after the filing window, the premium processing period begins on the date USCIS takes physical possession of the petition," it said.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

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Silicon Valley pushes for H1B visas

Reflecting the mood of the Silicon Valley, prominent media outlets from California have come out openly in support of the H-1B work visas and opposed increasing the "hire Americans" call in the United States.

"The H-1B program is good for California and good for the country," wrote San Francisco Chronicle in an editorial today.

Speaking out against the provision of the stimulus bill that blocks H-1B hiring by companies, which have received federal money, the newspaper asked the two Californian Senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, to work towards reversing this provision.

"This is more than just a political debate," it argued. "The H-1B program, though small in relative numbers (new H-1B visa holders represent just 7 out of every 10,000 workers in the United States, according to the National Foundation for American Policy), has real impacts on our economy and our society," the newspaper said.

"Foreign students and workers who might prefer to stay in the US can, and increasingly will, return to their home countries to launch businesses. They can then compete with American companies instead of adding value to them. And when they return home, they can honestly say that America is not the land of opportunity for people like them," it said.

In another column, CEO and president of Sybase Inc John Chen wrote in Mercury News that "Hire American" is a slogan which does not help America.

The situation in the country would only worsen, Chen said, as the stimulus package discourages bailed-out financial services firms from hiring H-1B visa holders.

"We simply won't have enough labour down the road. The US Labour Department predicts a net drop of 3.1 million in labour supply comparing the period of 2006-2016 to the prior decade. What all this means is that hire American will only harm America," he wrote.

Friday, April 10, 2009

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Only 42,000 H1B petitions received in first week

For the first time in several years, the US has received only 42,000 petitions against the mandated cap of 65,000 for H-1B work visas, much sought after by highly-skilled professionals including Indians, a week after it started accepting the applications.

This is a far climb down from previous years when the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had received several times the Congress-mandated quota and it had to resort to a lottery system to decide fate of successful applicants.

"USCIS has received approximately 42,000 H-1B petitions counting toward the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap. The agency continues to accept petitions subject to the general cap," USCIS said in a statement issued yesterday.

However, USCIS said it has received approximately 20,000 petitions, full quota, in the advanced degrees category. "We continue to accept advanced degree petitions since experience has shown that not all petitions received are approvable." Congress mandated that the first 20,000 of these types of petitions are exempt from any fiscal year cap on available H-1B visas.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

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Domestic IT cos may seek fewer H1Bs this year

Source: The Hindu Business Line
An uncertain business outlook coupled with pressure to trim onsite workforce as clients ask for price cuts could prompt Indian outsourcers to apply for lesser number of HI-B visas for 2009.

The H1-B programme allows US companies to bring in foreign skilled workers when such skills are in short supply. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will take H1-B applications for the next fiscal from April 1-7.

“I would think so: the number of applications will be substantially lower,” said Mr Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman of Nasscom, the apex industry body of software services companies, stating that it would be difficult to put a figure. “The duration for receiving applications is expected to be longer,” he said.

The USCIS recently said that it would continue to accept applications beyond the five-day stipulated period if it does not receive adequate number of applications to meet the annual cap of 65,000. Generally, the quota gets exhausted within the first two days.

H1-B recipients
Though Indian firms have been among the top H1-B recipients, they do not disclose the number of applications filed. In 2008, four of the top five H1-B recipients were Indian IT firms – Infosys Technologies, Wipro, Satyam and TCS, while the fifth was Microsoft. Infosys topped the 2008 list with 4,559 visas followed by Wipro (2,678), Satyam (1,917) and TCS (1,539).

“We will apply for H1-B based on our business requirements. It will be lesser than last year,” an official of a large IT services firm said.

Shrinking volumes
Faced with shrinking volumes and with new business hard to come by, as US customers reel under the impact of the economic crisis, Indian IT companies have resorted to reducing their onsite workforce in recent months.

“I don’t see that rush to grab visas this year,” said Mr Avinash Vashistha, CEO of Tholons Inc, an offshore advisory firm that helps clients with their outsourcing strategy.

Explaining why there could be a drop, Mr Vashistha said the Indian vendors are increasingly looking at a business model that’s not dependent on visas and includes hiring local workforce and in near shore locations.

Lower costs
Also, these vendors are keen on moving work offshore while agreeing to client requests for price cuts. Further, companies have significantly reduced their staff augmentation because of the availability of skilled resources locally, Mr Vashistha said.

Applying for lesser number of visas would mean lower costs and that would have a positive impact on their first quarter margins, said Mr Harit Shah, analyst at Angel Broking Ltd.

“The chances of getting a visa could be higher this year as the number of applications would be less and the smaller companies could benefit,” Mr Natarajan said.

MindTree CFO, Mr Rostow Ravanan, said the company’s business model uses less US visas and that they would be applying for fewer H1-B permits this year.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

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New H1B visa norms likely to isolate Indian IT: Nasscom

The National Association of Software and Services Company (Nasscom) has expressed its concern over the proposed amendment to the H1B visa legislation and said the amendment is likely to isolate and unfairly target Indian IT companies, restricting the level-playing field.

A statement from Nasscom said on Tuesday that it is 'working closely with stakeholders and policy makers in the US Congress' and the administration to ensure that the Indian IT industry is not disadvantaged in any manner due to this.

A team of six officials of Nasscom recently visited the US to prevail upon them over the visa issue and also over the proposed 'Buy America' measure of the Obama administration.

The delegation met senator Charles Grassley, belonging to Iowa, who is spearheading the H1B legislation. Nasscom would be working with him to ensure that any fraudulent use of the H1B visas are apprehended and stopped and ensure legitimate business users are not affected.

The industry body said the only 11% of the total visas issued last year was to the Indian IT industry.

The delegation also met a large cross section of stakeholders from the US administration, elected representatives of the Congress, various associations, US headquartered companies and customer companies.

"Having met with various stakeholders and experts and discussed the protectionist measures with them, Nasscom does not see the "Buy America" clause or the discussion on removal of "tax breaks for US companies that create jobs offshore" provisions in their current forms having any impact on the Indian IT-BPO industry. We are confident that US will consider all factors as they have in the stimulus bill and other proposed initiatives for reviving the economy and employment," the statement said.

"The Indian IT-BPO industry has played a crucial role in helping US companies tap these benefits and remains committed to being a part of the solution to help tide over this crisis It is imperative that the US and all countries continue to be proponents of free trade. With more countries impacted with the slowdown, such protectionism would trigger similar protectionist measures. The world economy will find it difficult to reverse this trend quickly. Restricted trade affects businesses, incomes and employment in other countries thus resulting in lower spending and subsequently lower demand for US goods and services globally," it added.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

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Infy to hire 20k engg grads at over 8% higher salary

Source: TheEconomicTimes
India’s second-largest software company Infosys will be inducting almost 20,000 engineering graduates this year at over 8.3 % higher salary from what was offered last year, even as the company seeks to cope with a lower demand for software services in its top export markets such as the US and Europe.

At a time when other industry rivals such as TCS, Wipro and HCL Technologies are deferring the
joining dates for new hires, Infosys is holding on to its commitment and that too at better salary levels than last year.

“We have increased the pay package from Rs 3 lakh per annum to over Rs 3.25 lakh per annum for those joining in June this year,” Nandita Gurjar, senior vice-president and global human resources head, Infosys, told ET in an interview. “The idea is to get the best talent even during this slowdown, to provide better training and prepare them for the projects,” she added.

Experts such as Prashant Srivastava, managing partner of Gallup Consulting, said that top tech firms want to retain their edge as preferred employers in the industry. “Proactive companies are preparing and hiring high performers for the future, as they don’t want to run after talent once economy revives in few years,” he said.

The offer letters and dates of joining have been sent to 20,000 freshers (2008-09), and the process of joining will start from June this year. Last year, Infosys recruited almost 18,000 (2007-08) engineering graduates.

The company has also increased the training period for new recruits from the current four months to almost eight months. “It gives them better understanding of a project because the predictability of what kind of work you will get is much lower than what it was last year,” said Ms Gurjar. Infosys visits some 1,100 engineering colleges every year.

At a time when the US government is mulling stricter work permit regulations, Indian tech firms such as Infosys will need to deliver more projects from India. “We have been preparing from past three years to reduce our dependency on H1B visa, which is hiring more and more locals in all the countries, where we work,” said Ms Gurjar.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

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Indian IT cos face stiff challenges with project cancellations

Source: TheEconomicTimes
Indian IT firms are staring at significant challenges with price cuts (from clients’ end), project cancellations and ramp-downs, according to a recent India Infoline report.

While in the near term, the depreciation of the rupee is a tailwind, worsening macro indicators are yet to show any signs of bottoming out. "Unemployment in the US is at alarming levels and is still growing. Earnings downgrades at major clients have been substantial in the recent past. Current year earnings estimates were cut by 20%. Since then, they have been cut by a further 40%," the report added.

Infosys (down 1.9% at Rs 1207.65), TCS (down 3.7% at Rs 462.80), Wipro (down 2.4% at Rs 202.20), HCL Tech (down 4.8% at Rs 95.10) and Patni Computers (down 2.8% at Rs 94.95) were being sold heavily by investors. Tech Mahindra was trading 1% higher at Rs 251.15.

After proposing to restrict H1B recruitments at firms receiving TARP funding, President Obama had proposed to limit tax breaks to firms engaged in outsourcing.

"This, in our view, will have minimal impact on IT services vendors, as current tax-breaks are anyway minimal. Further, lack of clarity and practical limitations on this measure’s implementation limit its effectiveness in creating more domestic jobs at the expense of offshored jobs," the India Infoline report said.

Furthermore, the brokerage is not expecting growth in offshoring in FY09. Given the likely short-term nature of the tax-breaks (the previous AJCA-2004 repatriation tax break was for a period of one year), linking the benefits to incremental offshoring could even prove completely ineffective, notwithstanding its popular appeal, the report added.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

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Infosys says no layoffs, to recruit more

IT major Infosys has no plans to lay off its employees and is going ahead with placement of all the 18,000 candidates who were extended offer letters.

"No, we do not have any plans," Infosys Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Kris S Gopalakrishnan said in Chennai when asked whether the company had any plans to lay off as a result of the economic meltdown.


Gopalakrishnan said the company would continue to honour the job offers it had made in the past. "We have made 18,000 job offers in the past (year) and by July this year, the new candidates would start joining," he said.

He said the company had decided to extend the training period from the current 3.5 months to 4.5 months.

"We have extended it by adding another four weeks to it as there is adequate time available and utilisation level is also low," he said.

He said they were implementing the new time duration for the existing new recruits as well.

Asked about the US Government's decision on restriction of H1B visas and the stimulus packages, he said, "Right now, I see there is no impact. One has to wait and see before coming into any conclusion," he said.

Monday, February 9, 2009

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Move on H1B curbs may hit Indian IT firms

Source: Business Standard
Senate votes to prohibit bailed-out banks from replacing laid-off workers with foreign guest workers. The Indian IT industry, which recently lowered its growth projections on the back of a slowing economy, sees no immediate impact of the recent US Senate vote to prohibit banks which are bailed out by the government from replacing laid-off workers with foreign guest workers (read H1B workers).

The situation, however, would hurt the fortunes of Indian IT firms if the amendment becomes policy. The top 10 H1B visa list is made up largely of India-based firms, including Infosys Technologies, Wipro and Satyam Computer Services. And the deadline for companies to request petitions for new H-1B visas is April 1. Both US (read Silicon Valley) and Indian companies have repeatedly stressed the need to raise the cap, which was reduced from 195,000 to 65,000 two years ago.

However, Senators Sanders and Charles Grassley (a well-known H1B opponent) recently introduced an amendment that would require bailed-out banks to hire only Americans for two years. This was accepted by the US Senate a day after it was revealed that Americans lost almost 600,000 jobs in January. However, the amendment has to go for 'reconciliation' (a legislative process) before going to Congress and finally the President before it becomes policy.

It is feared that these banks (bailed-out with taxpayers’ money), in a bid to contain or cut costs, would outsource and offshore more work to low-cost countries like India, reducing the chances of American workers of getting jobs. The senate amendment seeks to prevent this, and it could affect the fortunes of the Indian IT industry since outsourcing from the Banking, financial services and insurance sector accounts for almost 40 per cent of its revenue.

“Wall Street caused the crisis, millions of people lost jobs, including 100,000 in financial institutions. Now they want to bring in foreign workers,” Senator Bernie Sanders said in a release. It is feared that the bailed-out automakers too would face a similar diktat. This is another lucrative revenue segment for local IT firms.

Software body Nasscom said that it's up to American banks to choose whether they need to outsource more work to cut costs. “The wording is very confusing. Besides, one may also remember that it is applicable only to H1B dependent companies (an H-1B dependent employer is one whose workers brought in with that visa comprise 15 per cent or more of the employer's total workforce). We hardly have any such IT firms in India,” said Nasscom President Som Mittal.

“There won't be any immediate impact but if the issue persists and becomes policy, then the concern could become grave,” cautions Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman Nasscom and Deputy Chairman and MD of Zensar Technologies. Observers also said that the amendment isn’t as tough as the one Senator Grassley proposed on February 5, which would have prohibited firms from hiring H-1Bs altogether.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

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US Senator asks Microsoft to layoff H1-B employees

Microsoft H-1B workers may be first to lose jobs??

With plans to lay off 5,000 employees in the face of the global credit crisis, there have been calls to Microsoft asking workers on the H1B visa to be the first to go. In a letter to Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, Republican Senator, Chuck Grassley personally requested H1B employees be the first up for redundancy.

"During a layoff, companies should not be retaining H-1B or other work visa programme employees over qualified American workers," Grassley said.

A majority of the 60,000 H-1B visas issued every year go to India skilled professionals, with Microsoft being one of the major recipients.

"We care about all our employees, so we are providing services and support to try to help every affected worker, whether they are US workers or foreign nationals working in this country on a visa," said a Microsoft spokesperson.

The company has been a major supporter of the US visa service which allows overseas employees in specialty occupations to work in the US for up to six years.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

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Satyam-State Farm insurance project: What will be the next step of Satyam on-site employees?

Related: State Farm Insurance terminates Satyam contract: affects 400 on-site employees

Among the 400 onsite employees working on client’s location at Bloomington, Illinois, U.S., 180 have H1-B Visas, sponsored by the company. The rest have L1 Visas.

Those with H1-B Visas have an option to resign from Satyam and take up another job, but the sponsor company will have to give an approval.

Those with L1 Visas have no option but to return to India for joining other projects.

Will Satyam grant approval to the H1B Visa-holders? Maybe yes. If State Farm Insurance chooses some of them to work with itself and “negotiates” with other vendors (software companies) to rebadge a few more (employing the associates on the project at their current levels of operation by the new vendor), while transitioning the project, there may not be a big problem.

But if Satyam wants to retain them even though some of them wish to join the new arrangement, the employees will have to get back to India and restart the process of securing Visas.

Friday, December 26, 2008

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50,000 techies may lose jobs in next six months in India


Source:UNITES
Bangalore: It is really tough time for employees in IT and BPO sectors in India as worsening economy may cause to lose over 50,000 jobs in these sectors over the next six months. Employees in Big and small firms are likely to be the most impacted section of the downturn in next six months, while it was employees in medium-sized companies met job losses largely during September-December period.

Karthik Shekhar, General Secretary, Union of IT Enabled Services (UNITES) India finds that there was a loss of 10,000 jobs in IT and BPO sectors during the September-December period. According to the UNITES India, companies in trouble could resort to salary and incentive cuts without trying to squeeze the staff, rather than adopting the layoff path.

Karthik further added that employees are willing to agree with cuts in their salary and other incentives for 12-16 months and when the demand picks up again such benefits should be restored to them. He said senior officials of the industry had concurred with the figure of 10,000 job losses in September-December, stating that it accounted for bottom 5 percent of the performers.

"Continued slowdown, likely tax application to companies outsourcing jobs under the new U.S. regime and tightening procedures with regard to H1B visas are among key reasons cited for acceleration in issue of pink slips," he opined.