A recent IEEE report scrutinizes the Labor Condition Application (or LCA for short is a form that needs to be filed by a company wanting to hire foreign workers) to come to the conclusion that the H1B visa worker program has been exploited by various Indian companies.
The study cites an interview given by Vice President of Tata Consultancy Services Phiroz Vandrevala to Business World magazine in which he had said his company enjoys a competitive advantage because of its extensive use of foreign workers in the United States on H-1B and L-1 visas.
“Our wage per employee is 20-25 per cent lesser than US wage for a similar employee,” Vandrevala said. “Typically, for a TCS employee with five years experience, the annual cost to the company is $60,000-70,000, while a local American employee might cost $80,000-100,000.
While this acknowledgment by one of the big three in itself is shocking, many of us who have been working in the IT field for many years, both in India and in the US know that there are much bigger elephants in the room that no one is willing to acknowledge. The following points, in my view, make for a much bigger case of banning all Indian companies from the H1B and L1 visa program:
Resume embellishment: Embellishment might be a much milder term for what goes in many of these consultancy shops that get Indian IT workers on H1B visas. Resumes are bloated, many job experiences cited on the resume are more fictional than Sydney Sheldon’s novels and “a deep knowledge” of X technology often means flipping through “Teach yourself in 24 hours” books. There is also anecdotal evidence that many of these “consultants” have subject experts who answer client technical interviews over the phone, while the actual candidate is sitting thousand of miles away in India.
Hurting deserving candidates: Every year, the quotas for H1B visas fill up much ahead of time. I have personally seen many deserving candidates, who went to grad school in the US, ending up continuing to go to school, taking up yet another major or wasting their time at low level jobs at the universities, because the H1B visa quota ran out. This year, even the quota specially reserved for candidates with an advanced US degree was exhausted in a flash. One saving grace has been that the US Department of Labor has not budged from its requirement of getting an education from an accredited US university as a pre-condition to apply under this quota, despite all the pleas in various immigration forums that go something like “will an MCA + 5 years IT experience count as a US advanced degree?”
Creating an immigration backlog: During the Y2K years, everyone and his uncle who had the money to get a certificate from NIIT or Aptech managed to come to the US on an H1B visa. The lax rules of those days are coming home to roost for a lot of people who simply cannot understand as to why there is a big backlog of immigration visas. I don’t mind waiting in the line behind a guy who went to IIT Delhi and then wrote two IEEE published papers while finishing his MS in a year at Illinois. What I do mind is a person with a GNIIT degree, who came to the US in the Y2K rush eating up 5 immigration visas for his wife and 3 kids. While there is no doubt that the US immigration policy is deeply flawed, it is made worse by these cases.
Creating an H1B backlash: There were days when there were close to 200,000 H1B visas available each year. However, blatant exploitation of the program by Indian companies followed by a technical downturn led to the cap returning back to 65,000 per year. Now, with the Democrats and Republicans both posturing to claim the higher ground on immigration, there is a serious possibility of an even bigger backlash. As long as Indian companies continue to exploit the program, there will be studies like the one by IEEE, exposing those violations. In the long run, this will just give the H1B program a bad reputation and might lead to its revocation entirely.
In my opinion, the H1B visa program should only be open to students graduating from accredited US universities. There are plenty of students who have put in a few years of hard work and have bona fide academic credentials and don’t deserve to be left hanging in limbo because the H1B visa quotas are over. I don’t hold this view because I think that only students graduating from the US universities are smart or that they have a right to work in the US, but because this is the only way in which this blatant abuse of H1B visas by Indian off shoring companies can be stopped and deserving people can stop feeling like suckers.
As for the Indian companies, if they are willing to prove their mettle and willing to prove that they can compete on much more than cost alone, then they should not shy away from hiring people at prevailing wages graduating from the US universities.
Looks like u r complaining sucker. Let all those NIIT ians work in US while gr8 people like you can work in India and make it a better place for a billion people. Come’on u can do it. You are a gr8 guy.
Milind, It is Illegal for Americans to work in India. So no displaced american workers can not go take jobs in India as you suggest.
Artificially inflated competition focused at one job market has caused real and serious problems here. The abuse of the H1B program has made it so that entry-level jobs require 2-3 years of experience that is a carbon copy of the position to be filled (no transferability between nearly identical technologies). Basically this means, American college graduates need not apply. Americans with slightly dated experience (not in the latest and greatest) are given the cold shoulder and older workers are simpily forced into retirment.
Cool guestbook!!!—-pharma
I agree with the article, and there does need to be a crack down on companies that are exploiting the program. However, I do not agree with the suggestion that only graduates from US universities should get an H1 visa. We need more workers than the US universities can crank out. There should instead be a separate prividleged fast track ‘line’ for graduates from the US, which will not subject them to a backlog, and get them a green card faster. The ‘other’ line can then be carefully weeded with strict measures.
I know how it is to be on H1 for 8 years and counting, and I am from a good US university, with a masters degree. Others from India with botched resumes have already got their green cards, and some can’t even construct proper English sentences.
it’s rediculous.
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article Ban Indian Companies from the H1B program, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.
I couldn’t refute the fact captain solo said…Indians have a reputation of being like ducks.
One follows anothers one’s moves (copycats). They have so many movies that are rip offs.
Even the name of the movie industry is Bollywood.
Others from India with botched resumes have already got their green cards, and some can’t even construct proper English sentences.
Even Dubai has become home to these volumimous Indian MISFITS with botched resume, counting on Filipino expats to do their jobs and claim credit for it.
Yuck smelly like their MASALA.
I couldn’t refute the fact captain solo said…Indians have a reputation of being like ducks.
One follows anothers one’s moves (copycats). They have so many movies that are rip offs.
Even the name of the movie industry is Bollywood.
Others from India with botched resumes have already got their green cards, and some can’t even construct proper English sentences.
Even Dubai has become home to these volumimous Indian MISFITS with botched resume, counting on Filipino expats to do their jobs and claim credit for it.
Yuck smelly like their MASALA.
I am surprised how relevant this article is even in 2009. What are your thoughts about L1 visa – that is the mother of all frauds where even the spouse can work? It needs no qualifications, experience, salary check or quota limits. All the Indian bodyshops are using it instead of H1B.
Your article just shows the pessimism & unwillingness to compete with the best in the IT….leave aside the cost factor….As on date US is definately feeling the heat of the crunch situation which is leading the people to write things like protectionlism which India was had been accused of for so many years.
So just come out with some real solution to bring out the US from the crisis it is going through at the moment
Indians from Delhi lie on their h1b visa application, education, and work experience. Once they come here to work for the u.s. company, they ask their american coworkers for training and how to do their job. and that’s the truth ladies and gentlemen.
Hummm… We had a transport business in india.. In a company producing idustrial gases… We were well off until a big American company setup its plant producing the same gases very cheaply because they had better and bigger plant..
Where were you guys when that big company made 5 of the small company close its business… One company getting close means people associated with it also looses there job… Because big plants like that are more automated and don’t need so much labor to operate them…
Then why people in Amrica are complaning about there jobs… Its globilasation,… Eveny one has to suffer… In one or other way.. Only people who cry in front of media are considered as genuine
I have faced both sides of the fence, while i understand that America needs specialized skills from overseas to meet temporay worker shortages – as happened during the Y2K times, The exalted US universities have been ignoring the IT Boom in corporate world – preferreing instead to dwell on Theoretical Computer Science- typical of narrow minded academics. I can confidently state to you guys that 90% of what hard skills you learnt on your overrated US Masters Degree are NOT being used on the desk jockey job, while most people and organizatiosn couldnt care less about the soft skills you have to offer. In the meanwhile, Bachelors degree holders and MCA’s from Indian Universities are getting quickly placed in offshore IT jobs , gaining a wealth of On the Job Experience ( Hard & Soft skills) and they ARE as good as you MS Degree folks on teh jobs an dsoemtimes even better and are willing to work in US in situations advantageous both for the end employer and clients, whereas you folks coming in from relatively well to do snobbish upper crust of Indian society feel entitled at large to all the good things life has to offer, but want to deny the same good things to your fellow country men , but now left wondering where the good jobs are – swallowed up by your poorer cousins back home or here on the lowly H1- Visas. Good Luck..
On the other hand I hate those employers who make a quick buck on H1 Consulting with all the lies, exploiting gullible folks from India based on false asusrances and denying jobs to equally qualified local Americas in the name of performance(read workplace abuse) , hard work (Read explotation) and thrift ( read underpaid)..
As far as geniuine MS degree folks who are STILL working on their field of specialization – YOU ARE THE BEST, I hope that the Green Card System would consider you on EB2 basis and put you on the fast track for US Perm residency…
As far as im concerned, I have a permanent residency in India and the ‘doors’ are always open just in case you suckers make life difficult for me – coz I CAN accept India the way it really is.. Not like you Neo-Colonials who suddenly want to behave like redneck Republican once you are in US.