`Hire American` is a bigger issue for IT companies |
Indian technology services companies responding in earnest to President Donald Trump`s "Hire American" rhetoric are facing a problem they can`t fix on their own: A dearth of local tech talent on US campuses. Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro and others are already at work to hire more Americans, as the Trump administration is moving to tighten a work-visa programme they depend heavily on to send Indian engineers to work on projects at client locations in the US. The potential H-1B visa curb has emerged as the gravest threat in recent times to Indian technology companies, which get as much as 60% of their revenue from the US.In India, these companies hire fresh engineering and science graduates in hordes and train them in writing software codes. It isn`t easy to replicate the strategy in the US. Besides the higher cost involved, a majority of students for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) courses in US universities is foreigners — primarily Chinese or Indians — and not Americans, according to Nasscom and HR heads of IT companies. The problem is on the supply side, a constraint faced by all companies, according to Shivendra Singh, vice-president of global trade development at Nasscom.
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