look news india
The administration of US President Donald Trump has taken a drastic step, giving a big blow to Indian IT professionals and tech companies. The US Labor Department has completely suspended major global IT companies like Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, HCL and Capgemini from the ‘Permanent Labor Certification’ (PERM) program. Along with this, on the basis of federal investigations, the same ban has also been imposed on leading American tech companies like Microsoft and Adobe. This program allowed American companies or foreign firms working there to pursue the process of permanent residence i.e. Green Card for employees working on H-1B visa, over which clouds of uncertainty are now looming.
Ban on new applications and pending cases, increased problems for thousands of H-1B employees
During an important press conference at the White House, Vice President JD Vance and Labor Secretary Keith Sunderling made it clear that these companies are affecting the employment opportunities of American citizens through H-1B visas and green cards. However, this current step of the administration is limited to stopping the acceptance of new Perm applications and putting brakes on the processing of already pending cases. This simply means that at present there is no immediate threat to the jobs of thousands of IT engineers working in these companies on H-1B visas, but due to the complete stoppage of their permanent residence i.e. green card pipeline, their future is under threat.
Impact on American jobs and challenges in the corporate world
The Trump administration claims that since 2009, these major companies have applied for approximately 3 million foreign workers, securing more than 2.3 lakh H-1B visa approvals and more than one lakh permanent labor certifications. The administration argues that this has resulted in hundreds of thousands of jobs being lost to American workers. Vice President JD Vance specifically gave the example of Microsoft and said that while the company laid off American employees on a large scale last year, it also promoted a large number of H-1B and Green Card holders. The PERM process is the first and mandatory step for an employment-based green card, in which the employer must certify that there are no qualified U.S. citizens available for the position.
Investigation of universities and impact on India-US relations
Under this major policy change, not only IT companies but also nine prestigious American universities like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, MIT and Princeton have come under scrutiny. The administration alleges that these institutions are promoting international students to undercut American salary standards. This latest action is expected to further sour bilateral trade relations between India and the US, as on one hand trade negotiations are already at a standstill, on the other hand making a long-term strategic plan for Indian IT services exports has become even more challenging.