Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has responded to the US government’s move to suspend it and other major IT firms from the employment-based green card programme, saying it does not expect any impact on its workforce strategy or client engagements coming from the ban.
What TCS said?
In a statement on Friday, TCS said, “We have noted the announcement by the US Government on the Permanent Labour Certification Program (PERM) and TCS will comply with any directive from the Department of Labour. Our workforce strategy in the US is anchored in hiring local talent, supported by a robust campus recruitment model. We have built a significant local workforce across 31 offices and delivery centres throughout the country.”
“As we had announced earlier, we intend to hire an additional 15,000 people in the US over the next five years, to further augment our local workforce. Our PERM applications were in single digits in the last two years and hence we do not expect the suspension of the program to impact our workforce strategy and customer engagements,” the statement added.
The latest action comes amid mounting challenges for Indian IT companies in the US, including tighter scrutiny of work visas and higher costs for H-1B applicants. The latest development in the US – the biggest market for the USD 300-billion Indian IT industry – adds to uncertainty for tech outsourcers that rely on the cross-border movement of skilled professionals.
TCS shares were up 3.5% at 2,149.10 rupees in early trade.
AI-related revenue jumped nearly 20% quarter-on-quarter to $3.1 billion from $2.6 billion in the July-September quarter.
Microsoft, Abode and others banned from PERM
The Trump administration on Thursday indefinitely suspended Microsoft Corp., Adobe Inc. and a half-dozen other companies from PERM, accusing them of abusing a US worker visa program
The suspensions, announced Thursday by Vice President JD Vance and Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, also targeted information technology services giants Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., Infosys Ltd., Tata, Wipro Ltd., HCL Technologies Ltd. and Capgemini SE. Those firms, either based in India or with large operations there, are often called outsourcers for their role in offering contract IT work to other businesses.
At a briefing in Washington, Sonderling said there were multiple federal investigations underway into the use of a system that allows US employers to sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency. Vance singled out Microsoft, the world’s third most valuable company, for what he characterised as exploitation of the program.
“There has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has abused this system more than Microsoft,” Vance said.