Indians to be hit as bill bars bailed-out firms from hiring foreigners

The prospects of thousands of skilled Indian workers wanting to work in the US may get soured with the Congress...

The prospects of thousands of skilled Indian workers wanting to work in the US may get soured with the Congress barring firms that received bailout money from hiring foreigners through the H1-B visa programme if they replace US citizens. Estimates suggest that there are 100,000 Indian nationals among the 163,000 from across the world who have applied for the skilled worker visa in FY 2009.

The US has capped the H1-B visa limit at 65,000 a year,out of which 40,000-45,000 visas generally go to Indian professionals,mostly from the IT industry. Restricting hiring of H1-B visa holders forms part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,widely known as the stimulus bill,that was passed by the Congress on Friday. With thousands of jobs being cut by US companies almost daily over the past few months,there have been widespread apprehensions that these positions could go to low-cost foreign workers or might be outsourced to places like India.

The government data for 2008 shows that about 5.7 lakh Indians were issued H1-B and other non-immigrant visas. The bar comes even as IT firms in the US and India are demanding an increase in the H1-B visa cap,which was cut from 195,000 to the present level two years ago. Indians then accounted for over 100,000 H1-B visas.

Experts believe the Congress move would certainly impact hiring of H1-B visa holders,thus affecting in a big way the engagement of Indian techies in the US,but might not affect outsourcing of jobs to places like India.

Senator Bernie Sanders,who along with another Senator Charles Grassley had moved the proposal for such restrictions,said that about a dozen banks which are getting over 150 billion as the bailout money have sought visas for over 21,800 foreign workers in the past six years to replace sacked Americans.

These banks have announced at least one lakh job cuts in the recent months,Sanders noted. Earlier this month,India-born international economist Jagdish Bhagwati also argued that the provision to restrict hiring of H1-B visa holders would deprive the US of the best talent. The American Immigration Lawyers Association,which also has been opposing the measure,described the Congress approval as disappointing and argued that this would prove to be counterproductive as it prevents US companies from hiring the best global talent.