TCS says US PERM suspension unlikely to affect hiring strategy

Tata Consultancy Services says the US suspension of its PERM programme participation is unlikely to affect its workforce strategy or customer engagements. The company cites limited recent PERM applications and plans to hire 15,000 additional US employees over five years

New Delhi: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) — India’s largest IT firm — said Friday that it noted the announcement by the US Government on the Permanent Labor Certification Program (PERM) and will comply with any directive from the Department of Labor.

In an exchange filing, TCS said its workforce strategy in the US is anchored in hiring local talent because of a robust campus recruitment model.

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“We have built a significant local workforce across 31 offices and delivery centers throughout the country. As we had announced earlier, we intend to hire an additional 15,000 people in the US over the next five years, to further augment our local workforce,” the company said.

“Our PERM applications were in single digits in the last two years and hence we do not expect the suspension of the program to impact our workforce strategy and customer engagements,” it said.

The statement comes after US Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling announced suspension of six outsourcing companies, including India’s Infosys, Tata, Wipro and HCL, along with Cognizant and Capgemini, from the PERM programme following investigations by the Department of Labor’s Inspector General.

The action stops acceptance of new PERM applications involving the companies and processing of pending applications.

Earlier, IT industry body Nasscom said the number of employees transitioning from H-1B visas to permanent residency through PERM process is relatively limited.

“The H-1B visa programme has historically played an important role in addressing short-term skill gaps in the US… However, over the past few years, Indian technology companies have significantly reduced their dependence on H-1B visas, while steadily expanding local hiring,” Nasscom said.

Separately, Microsoft said the vast majority of its US employees are Americans. Of about 6,000 H-1B applications submitted last fiscal, 80 per cent were to extend or change status of existing employees and not to hire new people, the company said.

Remaining filings for new employees were for individuals already legally in the US and equal only 1 per cent of its US workforce, the tech giant said.