Infosys to ramp up local hiring in US amid visa concerns, says COO

Information technology major Infosys plans to focus more on local hiring in the US and is also looking at setting up development and training centres in the country, as part of its efforts to tide over visa-related issues.

Infosys has been in favour of a healthy mix of local and global personnel, though hiring locals in foreign markets often pushes up operational costs for IT outsourcing companies.

With the US government mulling measures to make visa norms stricter under the Donald Trump administration, Indian IT firms have been contemplating tweaking their business models and accommodating more locals.

“We are closely monitoring the overall situation with respect to visa... in the past 24 months, we have focused on increasing our presence in the US with a lot more local hiring,” Infosys Chief Operating Officer U B Pravin Rao told investors on a recent conference call.

He added at this stage, Infosys had not seen any “undue things” that would impact the way it does business. “In this year, we will continue that focus. We will accelerate it. We will also start looking at developments and training centres in the US as well,” he said.

Rao, however, did not talk about the investments Infosys would make on the expansion.

The North American market accounted for about 60 per cent of Infosys’ $10.2-billion revenue in the financial year 2016-17.

During his election campaign, US President Trump had promised stricter immigration laws and protection of local jobs.

Besides, a legislation (Lofgren Bill) has been introduced that proposes doubling of the minimum wages of H1B visa holders to $130,000.

Recently, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services had come out with a policy memorandum that potentially makes it difficult for IT professionals to work in the US at entry positions.

Any change in visa norms can affect the movement of labour as well as spike operational costs for the IT players.

Indian firms like TCS, Infosys and Wipro that are dependent on visas are now focusing on bringing on board more locals to comply with the norms.