Go Global, Hire Local

India’s tech services giants have been ramping up local presence in the Us, their biggest market, and experts say the recent H-1b ban will be more of an irritant than a challenge in the long run

- HARICHANDAN ARAKALI

They are two sides to a coin: The June 22 order by US President Donald Trump to suspend the H-1B and a few other nonimmigrant visas could see companies sending more IT services work to centres outside the US, both India and elsewhere; at the same time, India’s biggest IT companies are likely to see minimal impact from the ban, according to experts, because they have been ramping up their local presence in the US.

“On the H-1B visa [ban], obviously, it does not really make any logical sense. Various independent studies have clearly demonstrated the value that Indian IT service providers are adding to the US economy and how they make American companies competitive,” said UB Pravin Rao, COO of Infosys, on July 15 while discussing the company’s quarterly results. “Having said that, in the short term, we do not see any impact because anyway there has been zero travel due to the travel restrictions, and even the consulates are shut down. So, in the short-term till December it does not make any difference.”

“In the short term, and by that I mean the next six months, the real impact of this will be minimal,” says Peter Bendor-Samuel, founder of Everest Group that advices large corporations on technology and strategy. Agreeing with Rao, he says that while it will interrupt companies’ ability to bring in talent, most companies have been stepping up US-based recruiting to strengthen their teams in the country for some time now.

Furthermore, the talent they already have in-country will not be affected by these regulations. “When we add the Covid-19-induced reduction of demand, it seems highly likely that they will be able to make do,” says Bendor-Samuel.