US-based technology firms have urged President Barrack Obama to attract and retain the world’s best talent in the country.
The call comes at a time when there has been a significant drop in the number of H1B visa applications by Indian firms.
Moreover, the US is considering regulations to curb issuance of such visas and increasing local hires.
Data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Service on H1B visas for fiscal year 2009 (ended September) showed that Indian IT firms have reduced H1B applications by as much as 10 times in some cases.
Infosys Technologies, for instance, applied for just 440 H1B visas in fiscal 2009, which is a tenth of the 4559 H1B visas the firm had applied for in fiscal 2008. Wipro Technologies, with 1964 visas, topped the list for fiscal 2009 - it had applied for fourth times that number (at 2678 visas) in fiscal 2008.
The H1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows US employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations.
A senior Infosys official said the industry needs flexibility in H1B issuance. “The demand for H1B is always based on the need for it. See, we may need to deploy more people onsite sometimes due to increase in business volume. We should then be able to move more people. That is what we want,” Mohandas Pai, director global HR and executive council member of Infosys, said.
A letter dated December 2, signed by more than 80 chief executive officers of top technology firms including Microsoft, Intel, HP, Dell, Oracle and others, urged Obama “to increase America’s domestic pipeline of highly skilled workers, while also attracting and retaining the world’s best and brightest workers”.
The US can issue up to 85,000 visas in the current 2010 fiscal year which began October 1.
Analysts say western tech majors are seeking foreign talent because it helps reduce costs, especially when the global economy is just recovering from the downturn.
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