Indian mindset is always to take the soft option: Murthy
Sharing views on the anxieties surrounding H-1B norms, N R Narayana Murthy said that US-based software companies should not depend on foreign workers, PTI reported on Thursday. The Infosys founder said that the technology companies should focus on hiring local workers, instead.
The statement comes against the backdrop of President Trump signaling massive changes to the existing H-1B visa programs; if approved, the changes would restrict the inflow of foreign, skilled-workers who replace US workers.
Murthy said that Indian mindset needs to change.
“They [Indian software companies] must recruit American residents in the US, Canadians in Canada, British people in Britain etc. That’s the only way, we can become a true multi-national company and in order to do that, we should stop using H1-B visas and sending a large number of Indians to those countries to deliver services,” said Murthy.
He said that companies should hire students from US colleges and train local talents to add value to Indian companies.
The Indian IT sector was hit with uncertainties after Donald Trump, who had vehemently opposed the work-visa program during his election campaign, became the 45th president of the United States. Tensions escalated after Bloomberg reported the existence of an executive order draft that could overhaul the H-1B visa norms.
Last week, Democratic Congresswoman, Lofgren introduced a new bill in the Congress that proposes a two-fold rise in the minimum wage of H-1B workers. The current minimum wage is set at $60,000, a rate that has remained untouched from the last two decades.
The Indian outsourcing industry is a whopping $110 billion industry and any changes to the visa regime could result in higher operational cost and scarcity of talents.
“I think even if the executive order comes, we should look at it more as opportunity for Indian companies to become more multi-cultural than we have been, rather than looking at it as a lacuna,” Murthy added.
According to experts, immigration reform is on the cards and this could adversely affect the Indian IT companies. Technology companies may witness a 60-70% hike in the salaries of H-1B employees, which means at least 5-10% drop in their margins, depending on the total base of employees currently on H1-B visas.
Murthy said that the Indian IT companies have a long history of favoring Indians but now they will have to become more multi-cultural so that the effect of the reform can be minimized. “I think, by and large, the Indian mindset is always to take the soft option. Becoming multi-cultural is a very, very hard option, it’s not easy. Our managers will have to learn with non-Indian professionals, how to get the best out of them, how to work in teams that are multi-cultural, how to make sure that we understand the rules of crossing cultures.”