Trump tables H1B Bill, Indian IT companies' stocks crash

[vgane]

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Trump is a raging bull...Now what will happen to our dreams??...Let our IT start focusing on the domestic economy rather be dependent on US

[h=1]Trump tables H1B Bill, Indian IT companies' stocks crash[/h]January 31, 2017 12:54

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Just in: Trump tables H1B Bill. The bill proposes to double pay to discourage hiring foreign staff. Stocks of Indian IT companies crash by between 5 and 10 per cent. Details awaited.


After the new US president banned refugees and travellers from seven predominantly Muslim countries, Trump's next step -- the H1B visa bill -- strikes closer to home.


A legislation has been introduced in the US House of Representatives which among other things calls for more than doubling the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders to $130,000, making it difficult for firms to use the programme to replace American employees with foreign workers, including from India.


The High-Skilled Integrity and Fairness Act of 2017 introduced by California Congressman Zoe Lofgren prioritises market based allocation of visas to those companies willing to pay 200 per cent of a wage calculated by survey, eliminates the category of lowest pay, and raises the salary level at which H-1B dependent employer are exempt from non displacement and recruitment attestation requirements to greater than $130,000.


This is more than double of the current H-1B minimum wage of $60,000 which was established in 1989 and since then has remained unchanged.

http://news.rediff.com/commentary/2...stocks-crash/2dd2980ff1b8ede0efbc5ff5bb59337d

 

[krish44]

I like this step.

It will stop exploitation of indian IT professionals by indian IT majors.

They were grossly underpaid by international standards.

Even in india, we need to double their salaries

 

[Brahmanyan]

This article covers most of the points in respect of changes in H1b visa regulations by President Trump.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...e-of-representatives/articleshow/56888616.cms

 

[tbs]

hi

see the report....its sad....we are expert in exploiting our own people...


In a related development, Senator Sherrod Brown announced the introduction of an H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act in the Senate. The Act, he said, would close loopholes in the H-1B and L-1 visa programs and provide increased protections for both US workers and visa holders.

"We need to crack down on the fraud and abuse that allows corporations to avoid paying Americans fair wages and exploit foreign workers," said Brown.

 

[prasad1]

I like this step.

It will stop exploitation of indian IT professionals by indian IT majors.

They were grossly underpaid by international standards.

Even in india, we need to double their salaries

I do not agree with this view. If India techies were paid so poorly, why did they line up for these jobs?
What you say may have been true say 25-30 years ago. In today's world the Infosys, TCS extra are much better employer. There is no exploitation of employees.

Average salary for Indian software engineer is roughly 4lacks, TCS salary for the same job is 7lacks.

The same person is paid $70,000-90,000 in usa, which is Rs 4-6 crore. I would not call that an exploitation. And that is the attraction for these professionals.

So please explain your contention of exploitation.


Salary should be market driven and talent based. I agree that there should not be any exploitation.

According to Indeed.com the average US salary for this job to a US citizen is $100,000.00.


So the consulting company makes $10-30K per Indian consultants. That is business and they take risks.

[FONT=&quot]The biggest beneficiaries of H-1B visas are Indians, followed by the Chinese. In 2014, 70% of total H-1B petitions approved were from Indians[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nearly 86% of the H-1B visas issued for workers in computer occupations go to Indian workers, according to a Computerworld analysis of government data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Indian outsourcing firms such as Infosys, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services will be badly hit. In reaction to the news, stock prices of information technology companies fell by 9%.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]TCS and Infosys are already battling lawsuits in federal courts that allege that they discriminate against American workers while hiring and favour South Asians.[/FONT]

http://www.saching.com/Article/Life-in-America---Indian-Software-Engineer-Visits-USA/327

 

[krish44]

Prasadji

Due to large scale unemployment and over production of engineers in india, they are forced to take up jobs i IT sector in india instead of engg jobs[which are not easily

available].

These after some training in IT skills are sent abroad after one or two years of experience on the job.

60 or 70 thousand dollars per year is still big money for them .Plus attraction of living in a more liberal society.

By putting restrictions on both qualifications[minimum post graduate etc] and raising the income requirement to 1,20 ,1,30 thousand dollars, effectively, there would be

quality improvement of these professionals.

It will improve the indian IT industry as some standards have been set by US.Now many would go for MTech,and develop latest higher level skills to get foreign jobs.

It is not that these IT majors cannot take up major works in india.They simply would like to exploit the arbitrage oppurtunity vis a vis dollar using these engineers.

Once these fellows end up in US , they are no better than bonded labour unless they find a better job there to escape from the clutches of these IT majors.

Many take their wives there who are often not highly qualified and they end up doing ordinary jobs.

We require the US to set up standards. Even in pharma, all look for certification from US and improve their quality standards as it is a requirement to enter US market

with their products.. In india they sell sub standard drugs.

This shake out is much called for.

Big thumbs up to Trump.

 

[vgane]

I feel the onshore portion of Indian IT Companies will reduce drastically...It may be shifted back to India...Cost will reduce...It will be a double whammy for US...Work requiring presence in US will be manned by Americans & overall cost will reduce

 

[tbs]

hi

its just wake up call for indian IT industry...

 

[vgane]

There will be reverse migration from US....Not sure if there are enough jobs for these people in India...They may have to take up a lowly paid job

 

[krish44]

I feel the onshore portion of Indian IT Companies will reduce drastically...It may be shifted back to India...Cost will reduce...It will be a double whammy for US...Work requiring presence in US will be manned by Americans & overall cost will reduce

Our IT companies are immoral.
They will employ white americans in US if it serves their business interests.

They will lay off indian ITs.if it suits them.

 

[krish44]

There will be reverse migration from US....Not sure if there are enough jobs for these people in India...They may have to take up a lowly paid job

I like the indian IT professionals.

They will wash dishes in a hotel to support themselves.

They will try to go to some other country.

Singapore is not bad for IT professionals.

Singapore dollar is stable , working conditions good.

 

[biswa]

One need not cry for Indian IT people. Many are driving BMWs and Benzs here in the US. Note that H-1B are a limited few. Thousands and thousand have already got green cards and are available.

 

[vgane]

One need not cry for Indian IT people. Many are driving BMWs and Benzs here in the US. Note that H-1B are a limited few. Thousands and thousand have already got green cards and are available.

In terms of wealth Indian IT folks are as rich as their US counterparts...May be not driving a BMW...But leading a good quality of life

 

[vgane]

The game has changed & we better recognize this quickly says Ravi Venkatesan! A thought provoking article

Wed, Feb 01 2017. 01 46 AM ISTThe message from H1B visa reforms

Donald Trump’s protectionist stand and H1B visa reform bill carry a message for India that the game has changed, and we better recognize this quickly

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Ravi Venkatesan



America has a protectionist new president who appears to be energetically following through on his election promise to put “America First” and move his country away from the global order based on free trade that has served both America and the world so incredibly well. His rhetoric and early actions are creating an enabling environment for other protectionist-minded CEOs and lawmakers to advance new legislation that aim to narrowly protect American jobs.
The new bill proposed by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren seeking to double the minimum wage payable to H1B visa holders is only the most recent instance of this. It certainly won’t be the last. This vitiated environment poses a huge threat to the global information technology (IT) services industry which depends for its existence on the free flow of ideas, technology and talent. It also poses a massive threat for India, which is at the epicentre of the global IT industry and is already struggling with the challenge of jobless growth. It is futile to wishfully hope that “this too shall pass”. The game has irrevocably changed and the government of India and Indian technology companies need to embrace this new reality and act accordingly.
Free trade is based on Adam Smith’s thesis of comparative advantage; trading leaves both partners better off. Certainly outsourcing has created a lot of jobs and prosperity in India. However it hasn’t done so at the expense of American jobs; rather, by enabling US companies to innovate and be more cost-efficient, India’s technology companies have helped US companies grow and create more jobs in their core businesses. For instance, at the heart of virtually every engineered product whether a Cisco Systems router, a General Electric engine or scanner, or Skype, is code written in India. By taking on uncompetitive IT operations and dying technology products, and “re-badging” employees, India’s tech companies have contributed directly to saving American jobs.
Indian tech companies have helped create over 400,000 jobs in the US, paid over $20 billion in taxes in the past five years, and made a difference to 120,000 young Americans through various STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education initiatives. Indian technology companies provide mission-critical support to well over 75% of Fortune 500 US companies including banks, retailers, and car manufacturers. Unfortunately companies, Indian and American, have neglected to effectively make this argument forcefully and persuasively to the American people and lawmakers using robust data. It’s time we did for there is much at stake here for everyone.
Second, Indian tech companies must apply every ounce of energy and creativity they have to de-risking their business model and act as though their very existence depends on this. Assuming the worst-case scenario, they must move even faster to localize and “near-shore” their business. Equally they must leverage new technologies—artificial intelligence, automation, telepresence and augmented reality—to develop a more extreme model of offshoring that relies less and less on engineers being on client premises. This is eminently possible but will have the unfortunate effect of reducing tech jobs in America.
Finally the government of India has to recognize that the game has changed; all bets are off and everything has to be renegotiated. Self-interest cuts both ways. Protectionist measures that aim at the heart of our most competitive industries must have and will have a bearing on how open India remains to US firms, from Amazon and Boeing to GE and Microsoft. It will have a bearing on India’s arms procurement from the US versus other eager countries. America has always respected pragmatism and frankness and this is a time for both.
Ravi Venkatesan is the chairman of Bank of Baroda and former chairman of Microsoft India.


http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/9FL1ulBBMj2o3GvVoMlBlI/The-message-from-H1B-visa-reforms.html

 

[vgane]

Looking from an optimistic prism, this projects BAU after a minor hiccup!! Not sure whether this would get real!!

Tue, Jan 31 2017

H1B visas: Business as usual after short-term flap

While profit margins of Indian IT firms may be impacted in the short term, it will be business as usual even after the ink dries on Donald Trump’s putative order on H1B visas

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Siddharth Pai

The new legislation intends to place a salary floor of $130,000 a year for those workers who are issued an H1B visa. Photo: AFPThose of us watching Indian tech firms are glued to our news sources with bated breath, waiting for the axe to fall—or rather the fat pen to yet again be committed to paper—on an executive order to come out of the White House, this time on the H1B work visa programme that the US runs for special workers to be brought in on a temporary basis in sectors where the country has a shortage of skilled workers.
In recent years, this visa programme has become synonymous with outsourcing firms which have large Indian workforces and which use the programme to move Indian workers to the US to work on technology projects for their clients. Some estimates say that firms with Indian operations (including US-based companies such as International Business Machines Corp. and Accenture Plc.) currently have over 300,000 employees in the US on H1 visas.
In actual fact, the visa programme has been used extensively in the past to bring in varied types of workers—for instance, it was heavily used by US healthcare firms just a few years ago to recruit and move Indian nurses to the US at a time when that country was facing a shortage of skilled nursing staff. Many nursing institutes mushroomed in response in the rural areas of states such as Kerala which supply a disproportionate number of nurses to the medical profession.
The alternate tightening and loosening of restrictions on the H1B programme are not new. Previous administrations—including President Barack Obama’s—have used curbs to balance the number of skilled workers admitted each year to the US, either by capping the number of visas issued each year—or by ordering consular staff in India and other offshore countries to go slow on the actual processing of these visas by consigning applications to an extended—and delayed—administrative review. Visas delayed are visas denied—since the projects that these professionals were to have worked on would have had to limp on without their expertise.
The primary difference this time around is that a legislation has been introduced in the US House of Representatives which calls for more than doubling the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders to $130,000.
Estimates vary, but the consensus opinion is that Indian technology workers on H1B visas in the US currently make around $70,000 per year. Complying with the new floor will increase on-site costs per worker by the difference of $60,000.
The Indian majors have already signalled that they can continue operations without much of a hiccup using a combination of local hiring and more expensive H1B visa workers. Their estimates range from 200-to-300 basis points of impact to their margins, and much of this should have been priced into the equity markets already. (One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.)
Interestingly enough, automation will also come to the outsourcers’ aid. Many of the deals I have been recently associated with are seeing the on-site to offshore ratios change from the prevailing standard of 20% on-site with 80% offshore to a ratio of about 10 on-site. The remaining 10% are middle managers whose main job is to assign their offshore underlings to work on specific pieces of a project’s effort. This is the component that is most susceptible to automation since the routing of work can now be done by an automated process—and this kind of automation is now routinely being pitched in the renewal of outsourcing transactions, effectively halving the on-site resource requirements.
This, in turn, will mean that the number of Indian H1B workers that these companies need to have in the US at any given time will actually go down in the medium to long term, thus reducing the impact over time on the outsourcers’ profit margins.
The Indian IT industry has dealt with such restrictions before, and while there has been immediate impact to projects in many cases, the industry has still managed to deliver. While profit margins may be impacted in the short term, it will be business as usual even after the ink dries on Trump’s putative order.
Siddharth Pai is a world-renowned technology consultant who has led over $20 billion in complex, first-of-a-kind outsourcing transactions.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/Vxj...s-Business-as-usual-after-shortterm-flap.html

 

[prasad1]

Our IT companies are immoral.
They will employ white americans in US if it serves their business interests.


They will lay off indian ITs.if it suits them.

Why is it immoral to run a business, by business needs?
If Indian IT companies are successful, It is a positive for India.

If they employ American Citizen or green card holders in the USA, and back office work in India that is net-net gain for India.

If they have to lay off some employees it is incidental to doing business.
50 years ago it was common to have a paternalistic organization, say like Tata's. That relationship died when MNC came, and younger people did not have loyalty for the employer, and vice-a-versa.
It is a high stakes game, and there are collateral damages.

 

[krish44]

Why is it immoral to run a business, by business needs?
If Indian IT companies are successful, It is a positive for India.

If they employ American Citizen or green card holders in the USA, and back office work in India that is net-net gain for India.

If they have to lay off some employees it is incidental to doing business.
50 years ago it was common to have a paternalistic organization, say like Tata's. That relationship died when MNC came, and younger people did not have loyalty for the employer, and vice-a-versa.
It is a high stakes game, and there are collateral damages.

Infosys had claimed that they were different from other companies.They separated from patny claiming that it was a

company that was not having good employee handling practices.

TCS is a TATa company. In IT area they behave like other IT company as far as hire and fire are concerned.

Then this blame game. Running down employees talents and under paying them and over working them without compensation as the job situation is not good in india

is their normal behaviour.

They have even tried monopolistic methods to see that their employees do not jump to each others company for better compensation.

Once they are sent abroad, their compensation though higher becomes stagnant as they are captive there.

Many of their employees after initial experience jump to freedom.

These Companies justify it calling it as normal attrition.-This figure is about 8 to 10%

 

[biswa]

That is why TCS does not have a positive reputation. They scrape the bottom of the barrel. Anybody who gets a job in a multi-national will not stay in TCS. That is the free-market economy at work.

 

[tbs]

hi

i heard that CTS is doing well in USA...even though chennai is the main hub for CTS....many tabrams are on the top ..

the advantage is corporate HQ in NJ USA...many infosys employees are also prefer CTS in USA...i know ....

more than two hundred employees are working fron infosys/CTS in our area...very close to my home in USA....there

are more than four apartments occupied by the infosys/CTS...so it affects the housing market also...

 

[krish44]

Latest horror story.

An infosys employee in pune working on sunday got murdered at workplace during the day.

She had been strangled with computer cables.

The suspect is their watchman.

She was in office online with employees at bangalore and alone in the office

It is not clear how she alone could go work on a holiday at their office with no one else there and who authorised it?

They were callous about safety of women employee at work place .

 

[krish44]

hi

i heard that CTS is doing well in USA...even though chennai is the main hub for CTS....many tabrams are on the top ..

the advantage is corporate HQ in NJ USA...many infosys employees are also prefer CTS in USA...i know ....

more than two hundred employees are working fron infosys/CTS in our area...very close to my home in USA....there

are more than four apartments occupied by the infosys/CTS...so it affects the housing market also...

You know even in IT companies some are considered brahmin friendly?

One such company in bangalore takes sastra graduates [mostly brahmins] in preferance to others.

Even TCS and other Tata companies have TBs in managerial positions.

 

[nkripashankar]

 

[[email protected]]

Its a great opportunity provided by Trump for Indian IT workers. Infosys/ HCL/ TCS are all just "BODY SHOPPERS" or at beast commission agents. Majority of them get placed on premises to do maintenance/ troubleshooting and were only in to per diem income. For our IT workers, somehow do some IT studies, try & get into a company for an offshore assignment.. Its 25 plus years these companies r in operation, till date, i never heard of a any of these companies developing a worldclass product which is "software" or "hardware". Even for running a radio cab, Indians will have to look for a platform from outside !!! Now Trump's this move should be taken positively by us and re-align ourselves to get into a commanding position with our "strength". Modi or Parrikar all along screaming - lets get our own stuff, come forward... See the fate of MCA or Passport service, TCS & Infosys yet to come to terms with a platform. Infosys given GSTN but they in turn engage consultants/ specialists from abroad to provide the service !!!