Nasscom Refutes ‘Charges of Poor Skillset’ of Indian H-1B Visa Holders

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) today termed Jack B Palmer’s statement on H-1B visa workers having ‘minimal skills and little business knowledge’ as untrue and highlighted that highly trained employees of the Indian companies were working in the US. Referring to Jack Palmer’s statement, NASSCOM stated that H-1B workers are highly qualified, skilled workers and over the years have been providing vital services. The US government has also recognized the innovation and competitiveness the H1-B workers have spurred in thousands of U.S. businesses and the investments these global IT services companies make in their economy.

On these allegations, Mr. R Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM, said “Indian companies and their employees working in the US are deeply committed to the US marketplace and are important contributors in their local communities as well as the country as a whole. Apart from the cutting-edge work, Indian corporate and individual citizens are deeply ingrained in the country’s everyday activities. We feel that the allegations made are completely misplaced and rhetorical. Indian IT-ITeS employees going onsite are both educated and skilled and are subjected to laws that govern that particular visa category. NASSCOM will continue to work with different stakeholders in India and the US to address this issue and ensure that Indian companies and their employees continue to deliver the best of the technologies and technological advancements to the US”. 

The recently released US labour statistics highlighted that there was a need for the skills that Indian professionals possess and that the unemployment rate in this sector is around 3 percent. In today’s labor market, Indian employees fill a critical need — particularly in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. The strengthening India and US bilateral ties recently resulted in the US government’s agreement to discuss elements required in both countries to pursue an India-US Totalisation agreement.

US is world’s largest IT market and has been a role model in leveraging diversity, interdependent trade and innovation across the world. The level of co-operation and exchange of technology service, products and ideas between the two countries continues to grow both in terms for size and importance. The US influences the Indian IT industry in a large way as it is the largest geographic market for India, accounting 62% of the total industry exports.  Over the years, foreign workers have been brought in to the US to meet the shortage of skilled workers in the sector. By leveraging Indian talent – American companies and American economy would be positively impacted by filling shortages and keep their competitive edge in global marketplace.

About NASSCOM:

NASSCOM® is the premier trade body and the chamber of commerce of the IT-BPM industry in India. NASSCOM is a global trade body with more than 1800 members, which include both Indian and multinational companies that have a presence in India. NASSCOM's member and associate member companies are broadly in the business of software development, software services, software products, consulting services, BPM, e-commerce and web services, engineering services and animation and gaming. NASSCOM’s membership base constitutes over 95% of the industry revenues in India and employs about 3.5 million professionals.