Indian IT firms in US face talent crunch, poach employees from each other to work on projects

Indian IT companies in the United States are facing an increasing talent crunch and are forced to poach employees from each other to work on client projects onsite, a media report said. According to The Economic Times, Indian IT firms are facing a scarcity of local talent. “The local American workforce is not so engaged in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), so you do have to look for H-1B holders who would switch jobs. We are increasing lateral hiring and will hire from IT companies, startups, Fortune 500 firms, and academia," Tech Mahindra chief executive CP Gurnani was quoted as saying by the newspaper. The Trump administration has introduced a new set of stringent provisions to the H-1B labour application process under which the US employers must disclose the total number of foreigners already employed by them, making it tougher to sponsor fresh foreign workers. The H-1B visa, popular among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The new information required by the Department of Labour is significant because before sponsoring a foreign worker for the H-1B visa, the company needs to get its labour application approved by it. [caption id=“attachment_2313808” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Thinkstock[/caption] The department certifies that there is no domestic worker for that particular position and as such the company can hire a foreign guest worker under the H-1B visa category. The Labour Condition Application form updates will now require employers to provide more detailed information about H-1B worker employment conditions, including disclosing all places of employment for H-1B workers, including periods of short duration and providing the estimated number of H-1B workers at each place of intended employment. Employers around the world are facing the most acute talent shortage in 12 years, and India is among the top 10 most-affected markets with 56 percent of employers are facing difficulty in filling vacant positions, said a survey. According to the latest Talent Shortage Survey released in June by ManpowerGroup, of almost 40,000 employers surveyed globally, 45 percent are struggling to fill roles. As companies go digital and roles transform, finding candidates with the right blend of technical skills and human strengths, such as communication, collaboration and problem-solving, is more important than ever, the survey said, adding that top drivers of talent shortage are lack of applicants, experience and hard skills. --With inputs from PTI