BBC Online :
President Donald Trump is to sign an executive order to review a temporary visa programme used to place foreign workers in high-skilled US jobs.
The order will also direct agencies to enforce government rules on excluding foreign contractors from bids for government projects.
He will sign the so-called Buy America, Hire America order on a visit to a tool factory in the US state of Wisconsin.
The order is aimed at fulfilling his “America First” campaign promises.
But it falls way short of Mr Trump’s campaign pledge to end the H-1B visa programme.
Australia to introduce stricter rules on working visas
Mr Trump will direct the State, Justice, Homeland Security and Labour departments to propose reforms to the scheme, which allows American employers to bring foreign workers to fill US jobs.
For now – Indian IT firms are trying to put on a brave face publicly. The boss of India’s largest IT company – Tata Consultancy Services – has said that the current discourse on the issue in the US is driven by “emotions”.
But they are confident that greater “engagement” with the Trump administration will help soften their stance towards H-1B visas. But privately executives at most Indian IT firms will admit they are worried.
They believe that President Trump is serious about bringing back jobs to the country. And any changes to the work visa process in the US is bad news for India’s $150bn IT service industry.
Last year, it generated 60%, which translates to $64.8bn of revenue. And if they are forced to recruit employees from the US – which would lead to higher costs – then that would affect their profitability in the long term.
The administration’s goal is to ensure such visas are given to the most qualified or highest-paid applicant, according to two senior officials.
The four departments will then submit their findings to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and release a report in 220 days.
Last year, Disney was accused of taking advantage of the H-1B visa scheme to lay off American technology workers, who were forced to train their foreign replacements.
The government allows 85,000 immigrants each year through the H-1B visa programme, which is reserved for foreign nationals in “specialty occupations” and is largely used by the technology industry.
The government uses a lottery system to grant 65,000 visas every year and randomly distributes an additional 20,000 to graduate students.
In recent years, the US has been overwhelmed by applications for the programme.
But the number of applicants for the H-1B visa fell to 199,000 this year, down from 236,000 in 2016, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
A senior Trump administration official argued on Monday that the H-1B visas are supposed to be awarded to highly qualified workers, but often bring in less skilled employees who earn lower wages than those they are meant to replace.
technology workers – to work in the US
Under the new order, the H-1B visa would no longer serve as a cheap way for companies to replace US workers, the official added.
Tech companies contend the programme is used to recruit top talent, but some of the H-1B visas are also used for outsourcing firms, which critics say undercut unemployed Americans and fill lower-level information technology jobs.
President Donald Trump is to sign an executive order to review a temporary visa programme used to place foreign workers in high-skilled US jobs.
The order will also direct agencies to enforce government rules on excluding foreign contractors from bids for government projects.
He will sign the so-called Buy America, Hire America order on a visit to a tool factory in the US state of Wisconsin.
The order is aimed at fulfilling his “America First” campaign promises.
But it falls way short of Mr Trump’s campaign pledge to end the H-1B visa programme.
Australia to introduce stricter rules on working visas
Mr Trump will direct the State, Justice, Homeland Security and Labour departments to propose reforms to the scheme, which allows American employers to bring foreign workers to fill US jobs.
For now – Indian IT firms are trying to put on a brave face publicly. The boss of India’s largest IT company – Tata Consultancy Services – has said that the current discourse on the issue in the US is driven by “emotions”.
But they are confident that greater “engagement” with the Trump administration will help soften their stance towards H-1B visas. But privately executives at most Indian IT firms will admit they are worried.
They believe that President Trump is serious about bringing back jobs to the country. And any changes to the work visa process in the US is bad news for India’s $150bn IT service industry.
Last year, it generated 60%, which translates to $64.8bn of revenue. And if they are forced to recruit employees from the US – which would lead to higher costs – then that would affect their profitability in the long term.
The administration’s goal is to ensure such visas are given to the most qualified or highest-paid applicant, according to two senior officials.
The four departments will then submit their findings to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and release a report in 220 days.
Last year, Disney was accused of taking advantage of the H-1B visa scheme to lay off American technology workers, who were forced to train their foreign replacements.
The government allows 85,000 immigrants each year through the H-1B visa programme, which is reserved for foreign nationals in “specialty occupations” and is largely used by the technology industry.
The government uses a lottery system to grant 65,000 visas every year and randomly distributes an additional 20,000 to graduate students.
In recent years, the US has been overwhelmed by applications for the programme.
But the number of applicants for the H-1B visa fell to 199,000 this year, down from 236,000 in 2016, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
A senior Trump administration official argued on Monday that the H-1B visas are supposed to be awarded to highly qualified workers, but often bring in less skilled employees who earn lower wages than those they are meant to replace.
technology workers – to work in the US
Under the new order, the H-1B visa would no longer serve as a cheap way for companies to replace US workers, the official added.
Tech companies contend the programme is used to recruit top talent, but some of the H-1B visas are also used for outsourcing firms, which critics say undercut unemployed Americans and fill lower-level information technology jobs.
