Washington: The US Department of Labour has proposed an increase of the minimum wages of H-1B visa holders and those holding other work permits like employment-based Green Cards.
The proposal, which was submitted to the Office of Management and Budget in the White House, is expected to impact Indian IT firms like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and HCL Tech, and the H-1B visa programme. Indians are some of the largest recipients of this immigrant work visa offered by the US Government.
Wage level reconstruction has been proposed for H-1B, H-1B1, E-3, and PERM (Employer Sponsored Green Cards) visa holders.
An increase in wage levels will increase costs for companies hiring H-1B workers, potentially serving as a deterrent to hire such visa holders. It will also make it harder for medium sized companies and startups to hire immigrant workers.
As reported by Moneycontrol, “An HDFC report shows that the average H-1B wages increased sharply over the last two years for IT services companies. From a median salary of $78,120 in FY17, it had increased to $90,730 in FY19.”
Over the past year, IT firms have been increasing local hiring owing to the tightening of immigration laws and increasing costs.
Al Jazeera reports that the new proposal is looking to toughen the process of hiring ‘skilled workers’ further, in order to improve local hiring. Reportedly, it is a fast-track regulation to narrow down the definition of ‘specialty occupation’ eligibility for skilled workers that wish to apply for H-1B visas.
The details of the proposal haven’t yet been made public, however, it is suggested that the proposal might get cleared by the Trump administration before the November 3 Presidential elections. An ET report states that if the proposal gets the nod, “it will be implemented immediately without public comment”.
