Why HCL, TCS, Infosys are creating more jobs in the US

Up to 40 percent of H-1B visas, used by software professionals, are being rejected by the US consulate, according to a report in DNA.

Yes, that’s right. That should concern all you tech geeks out there who hope to be part of a US onsite project one day.

Given that employment conditions are tough in the US (the jobless rate is hovering around nine percent), there are increasing noises from lawmakers about limiting jobs given to foreigners, hiking visa fees and cutting the number of job visas.

[caption id=“attachment_110391” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“IT firms are offering locals and green-card holders jobs as H1-B rejection rates soar. Reuters”]  [/caption]

Delays in getting the appropriate visas and the growing backlash against job losses are prompting companies like Infosys to seek more amicable hiring solutions, especially given the company’s own widely-reported visa problems.

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An NDTV report noted that the software service exporter is now considering hiring either locals or green card holders for its onsite operations in the US.In fact, about 86 percent of recruits of the past six months were non-visa dependent employees.

The company also plans to hire 1,500 people in the US in the year ending March 2012 and hopes to have 50 percent locals in onsite locations over the next few years.

A similar strategy is being followed by HCL Technologies, which recently said it would create 10,000 jobs in the US and the European Union in the next five years. It said it would also make campus recruitments from these regions starting this season.

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Tata Consultancy Services,India’s largest software exporter, is also moving in the same direction.It plans to hire 60,000 people this year but not all of them will be from India.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialised occupations.

Typically, more than 60 percent of the annual quota of 65,000 H-1B visas is used by India.However, currently fewer than half of the H-1B visas available from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for the upcoming federal financial year, which starts October 1, have been applied for, even though the application window opened April 1. That’s down 30 percent from the application rate in the same period last year.

In terms of companies, Microsoft is one of the biggest corporate spenders on H-1B visas: it spends nearly $227,000 every month on H-1B visas. Oracle Corporation, another IT giant, spends about $61,000 every month, while TCS spends about $31,000.

Given the continuing turbulence in the economies of the Increasingly, hiring more locals and less Indians for onsite projects may end becoming the eventual mode of operating for the Indian IT industry.