HCLTech intends to increase local hiring to reduce H-1B reliance: CEO C Vijayakumar

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HCLTech CEO C Vijayakumar, on October 13, said that the country’s third-largest IT services major will be focusing on increasing local hiring and training in the United States to reduce dependency on H-1B visas. This comes at a time when President Donald Trump’s administration has proposed several changes to the visa policy, including implementing a $100,000 application fee.

Earlier, HCLTech had said that it had the lowest dependency on H-1B visas within the industry, with 80 percent of its workforce in the US comprising local talent.

H-1B visas are non-immigrant visas that allow US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), and IT.

“Coming to recent H-1B visa fee revision and its potential impact on us…over the years we have constantly reduced our reliance on visas while strategically strengthening our global delivery model,” Vijayakumar said at the company’s earnings conference for the second quarter ended September 30.

He added, “In Q1FY25, Forbes recognised us one of America’s best employers for new graduates in 2025, underscoring the success of our approach towards fostering innovation, career growth opportunities and talent readiness initiatives. We intend to increase our local hiring and training to enhance localisation.”

Peers like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) too, had taken a similar stance to hire locally in the US, and had deployed only about 500 associates on new H-1B visas last year, the company had said.

The comments come a month after the US government raised the H-1B visa fee to $100,000 a year, triggering concerns over short-term disruptions in workforce deployment for IT companies in North America. Following the announcement on September 23, the Department of Homeland Security also unveiled a proposal to overhaul the lottery-based H-1B visa system by introducing a wage-based selection process prioritising higher-paid, higher-skilled applicants.

HCLTech reported its Q2 earnings on October 13. Net profit remained flat at Rs 4,235 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2025.

The firm's revenue rose 11 percent to Rs 31,942 crore in Q2FY26 as against Rs 28,862 crore in Q2FY25. Sequentially, revenue grew by 5.2 percent while net profit surged 10.17 percent.

Operating margin came in at 17.5 percent, expanding 120 bps sequentially.

HCLTech has retained its revenue growth guidance for FY26 at 3-5 percent YoY in constant currency, while Ebit margin or operating margin is expected to be in the 17-18 percent range for the full year.