IT cos not dependent on H-1B visa, says Sikka IT SECTOR TO HIRE 1.5 LAKH PEOPLE IN FY18

Washington, June 22: Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka has refuted the general impression that the IT industry is overly dependent on H-1B visas for its business mode, amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on firms abusing the visa system to hire foreign workers on a low wage.

Mr Sikka also believes that the IT firms need to grab the opportunities provided by new technologies like AI in a big way to retain its global leadership edge in this fast changing infotech environment.

“It is wrong to say and to think that we are dependent on H-1Bs. For example, if you look over the last 10 years, there are about 65,000, something like that, H1B visas granted every year. That means over 10 years it is 650,000. And we collectively employ millions of people. Infosys alone has 200,000 employees. TCS close to double that number and so on,” Mr Sikka said.

So, the assumption that IT firms are dependent on H-1B visas is not correct, he said in response to a question on the charges that the business model of Indian IT firms is based on H-1B visas and major Indian IT firms are expected to be hit by the Trump administration’s crackdown on firms abusing the visa system. —PTI IT industry body Nasscom on Thursday forecasted that the IT industry would add upto 1.5 lakh new jobs in the current financial year, despite concerns expressed by experts over slowing job growth in the sector due to automation. “The IT-BPM industry is expected to add 1.3-1.5 lakh new jobs during 2017-18,” said Nasscom president R. Chandrashekhar. This is lower than the number of jobs — 1.7 lakh — added last fiscal.

While admitting that the IT industry, academia and students need to revamp their approach for staying relevant, Nasscom ruled out the need for panic.

Analysts have been red flagging the issues like automation, AI and protectionism, which could harm the growth story of the IT sector.

Taking about the slow job creation due to automation, he said “change in job requirements and profile is nothing new to the IT industry. This phenomenon is happening in all sectors. However, it is more pronounced in the IT industry and how we respond to this holds lesson for other sectors”.

Mr Chandrashekhar insists that “India’s share in the global IT sector is not only steady, but also growing” as the industry body projected a growth of 7-8 per cent for the IT industry in 2017-18.

In an attempt to reduce its dependency on US, Nasscom said it would encourage its members to explore other non-English markets also.