Top 25 H1B Consumers in 2007 To Speak Up

Top 25 Consumers of H1B in 2007 (that account to almost 20,000 Visas) now have to speak up about how they use H1B applicants.  Senators Dick Durbin and Chuck Grassley have sent letters to these companies seeking answers to an array of questions that will reveal how these companies use H1B petitions. Click here to view a copy of the letter.

I guess, this is particularly relevant in the wake of two new bills submitted to increase the numerical limitation on H1Bs.

Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) sent a letter  today to the top 25 recipients of approved H-1B visa petitions in 2007, seeking detailed information on how each firm uses the visa program. These firms were responsible for nearly 20,000 of the available H-1B visas last year.

  1. Infosys Technologies Ltd.,
  2. Wipro Limited,
  3. Satyam Computer Services Ltd.,
  4. Cognizant Tech Solutions,
  5. Microsoft Corporation,
  6. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.,
  7. Patni Computer Systems Inc.,
  8. US Technology Resources LLC,
  9. I-Flex Solutions Inc.,
  10. Intel Corporation,
  11. Accenture LLP,
  12. Cisco Systems Inc.,
  13. Ernst & Young LLP,
  14. Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd.,
  15. Deloitte & Touche LLP,
  16. Google Inc.,
  17. Mphasis Corporation,
  18. University of Illinois at Chicago,
  19. American Unit Inc.,
  20. Jsmn International Inc.,
  21. Objectwin Technology Inc.,
  22. Deloitte Consulting,
  23. Prince Georges County Public Schools,
  24. JPMorgan Chase and Co., and
  25. Motorola Inc.

Source: United States Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa

Numbers don't lie

It is quite evident from the numbers that, a very significant number of those companies are from India and as I understand the nature and intent of their H1B applicants is to come and work for US clients and coordinate out sourcing efforts and in most cases moving more jobs to India.

Another interesting issue is, as Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said in his testimony that companies like Microsoft may loose edge as they fail to garner global talent. In short, they are not getting enough H1Bs as other Indian counter parts are consuming a lot more and becoming a direct competitor for H1Bs.

So, what will happen now?

So how this problem is solved? Will Increase in H1B  solve this issue? Or restricting Indian counter parts will reduce the impact?

If USCIS just increase the numbers, what is the guarantee that non-US companies won't consume a higher number again and leading to the same situation as today?

Can Indian companies offer a justification that stand a chance?

It is quite interesting to see how Indian companies defend their high numbers with reference to Competition and innovation argument in USA. Lack of such a justifiable explanation could definitely lead to restrictions imposed on these companies that may restrict if not prevent these companies getting such a high number  of H1Bs.

Update: Full List of H1B Consumers of 2007 can be accessed here in an excel sheet at Information Week :  Excel File

Comments

Aj said…
Ironically, most of the abuse is performed by the bodyshops that employ5-50 people. There's just way too many of them around. yet the senators are looking at mostly companies that are more-often than not, sticking true to the H-1B intent...
Aldo said…
It's true, Aj. So many H-1B violations happen because of small companies. They agree to fake salary number and job title since there's small chance they will get audited.
Murali said…
I don't see any difference between 1-50 employee body shoppers and outsourcing giants like Infosys, Wipro,TCS and likes. They all are doing exactly same, irrespective of their size.

However there is a huge difference between companies like Microsoft, Cisco and the body shoppers. The difference is that only a fraction of Microsoft employees are on H1B while almost all employees that work in Infosys, TCS and likes in its US offices are on H1B (or on L/B visas). If a company has 90% of its employees on H1B(or L/B), I tend to think that they have no will or intent to recruit local talent for whatever reasons. That is where the the difference becomes quite evident and the contention of H1B's real intent as being discussed.
Radhe said…
Guys,
Probably, the h1 is one of the most misused categories of visa. America is still a benchmark when it comes to technology or education. We have enough talent in our own country who can be trained and placed. I really fail to understand as why Giants like Microsoft, Delloit etc are not considering our own children to train for. Bill Gates talks about the charity in African countries, which is very well appreciated. However, a million dollar question is - does he realize that by asking for more h1 and overlooking our own talents harm his own motherland - probably the worst affected by now due to sub-prime crisis and lack of jobs to Americans is to some extent is also responsible for this.
Tell me who has benefited from so called "competition" - Foreigners? Companies like Infosys, Satyam, WIPRO, who could do very little with out US base?
H1 is also abused big time as in some countries, US consulates even do not go into the details of their skill set and many corporations(who are into this IT Consulting business) also do human smugglings (head hunting is for those who have some IT background so it is an understatement)
The fact is H1 is used not because we Americans are less talented so do not fit into the job but for the companies who can increase their profits. Corporations do not want to pay decent money to their own fellow citizens. They want to do charity at the cost of their own brothers and sisters. Has any of the CEO/CTO or senators who are influenced to submit the bill even worked with them and feel that they have messed up with our culture? It its true that change is inevitable but we want a change for better. We want to retain our value system. We want to have jobs for us and for our next generations. Probably, we need some Statesman not politicians as out senators.
BJ said…
The lecture on US generations is very nice to read and genuine. My question is who is this Radhe? If he/she is from some other country than USA, then why didn't you think all of this when you came here for the job. Now the whole world is a global village, it should be a win-win relation.
Andrew said…
Radhe says,
"The fact is H1 is used not because we Americans are less talented so do not fit into the job but for the companies who can increase their profits".
This is very true. With due respect to foreign skill workers my personal experience agrees with Radhe.
Currently, we have been witnessing job cuts; don't the Senators and all those who advocate for increasing the quota realize anything? If no then they live in some fantasy world or there is something else?
For all those who are into IT profession that the market condition is going from bad to worse. My personal view is to put this year H1 on Hold and make sure as Companies can always select local candidates whether they are Americans or temporary workers, meaning H1 holders.
I agree with Radhe and hope some leaders would read this, think and take up the matter in Congress.
Joane said…
Correct Andrew,
Since there has been so many layoff news, why not to hire local people and call for more from overseas. The entire H1 seems to be a thoughless process at least at this point of our economy.
This would only result into more jobless people. So, what does world being a global village and "win-win" mean? Let us be realistic.
DL said…
H1 is indeed a hopeless situation. People who are into IT definitely agree with the views. Something should be done to protect Americans and America.
D said…
Hi H1B2009 ..Full List of H1B Consumers of 2007 has a total of 1,26,000 H1b aproval..how can this be possible when the official cap is only 65,00 ? what does thsi list actually suggest.. for example, against infosys there are some 4,200 aprovals written, does that mean infosys got 4200 h1b stampped?

kindly throw some light on this.. i am a lil confused..
thanks
Infosys said…
Part of the solution for this problem is using merit based H-1 B. Right now there is only one category with its own quota for people who have done master's in US. Similar quotas should be created for companies depending on their support to local labor versus foreign labor or depending on whether they are US based or foreign. The general category should be removed completely and a categorized H1 B should be issued with lesser benefits to the less desirable H1 Bs i.e. restricting the amount of least payable salary on the lower end and putting stricter regulations for them while keeping the regulations on more local based visas relaxed. Also the fees for the visa issued to less desirable categories should be hiked. This would discourage foreign based companies from applying excessively and would also ensure that only precious talent is being hired using this process.
Kylie said…
The questions is do we really need foreign IT workers? I do no think so as we have enough in numbers as well as talent. US is considered as the hottest place for education, so where is the question of not having enough people here and even if we dnot we can always set up system to train them. In my view, this is absolutely boghus in current social and economic context. I agree with the spoiled culture and we feel that we are not in US but in some other country while we work with IT professionals at work place.
There is nothing wrong in changing with the time but I feel that we are compromising with our basic value system like lying on every stage of an Interview. Five years of chatting experienced beats 10 years experienced Orcale DBA for Orcale DBA only.
It is all right that people who come here as student has right to stay if they have matching merits.
Probably, we also need to have point based immigration system like Canada and Australia and create strong filteration process.
This is my personal view and aim is not to hurt anyone feeling.
USPhD said…
The NIH employed more than 300 H-1B workers during the federal government's 2006 fiscal year, prompting Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to ask in a letter to NIH officials why a federal agency is hiring foreign workers with temporary visas.

Grassley, a member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and a leading critic of the H-1B visa program, today also fired off a letter with a similar set of questions to the Federal National Mortgage Association, also known as Fannie Mae. The Washington-based lender began as a government agency before becoming a private business that operates under a congressional charter.

During fiscal 2006, which ended in September of last year, the NIH "hired or otherwise employed" 322 people through the H-1B visa program, according to Grassley. Fannie Mae had 141 H-1B workers during the same period, he wrote. Grassley said in a statement that the NIH and Fannie Mae were the only federal or government-chartered entities among the top 200 users of H-1B visas in fiscal 2006, with the NIH making the top 100.

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