R Chandrasekhar, President, Nasscom said H1- Visa issue is a very small one in the whole immigration debate in the US and it is not the only issue that drives the Indian IT industry. “There are are other factors like business fundamentals, American companies need the services in order to go digital, adopt technology to remain competitive,” he said.
US President Donald Trump Tuesday signed an executive order that calls for a review of the H-1B visa programme, saying they should never be used to replace American workers and must be given to the most skilled and highest paid applicants.
Chandrasekhar said the executive order has two parts to it – first part of the order talks of compliance provisions, and a change in this could make it tough for companies to operate but not a cause of concern for Indian IT companies because they comply with the rules.
Second part of the order, where H1-B visas will be given to the most highly skilled etc - this could have greater impact and implications for the IT industry which is review and recommendations.
However, one fact remains that none of these measures will actually protect the American workers unless they are applicable to all companies because Indian companies are the only ones covered by many of the legislation – contemplated as well as existing, and account for only 20 percent of the visas.
The around 8 percent constant currency growth reported by the two top IT companies (Infosys and TCS) for FY17 shows that the India story is very much alive and well, contrary to dire predictions, he said.
“The fundamentals have not changed, demand is healthy and basic drivers of availability of skills here, shortage of skills there, more higher-end work being done here – all of this makes us confident that India IT story is quite sound,” said Chandrasekhar.
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