TCS plans 15,000 US hires despite Trump's Green Card filing curbs

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has said it plans to recruit an additional 15,000 employees in the United States over the next five years, maintaining that the US government's suspension of certain Green Card filings will not affect its workforce strategy or customer engagements.

The company's statement on Friday came after the administration of US President Donald Trump suspended some firms from the Permanent Labour Certification Programme (PERM) as part of a broader crackdown on visa-related fraud and alleged losses of job opportunities for American workers.

TCS is among eight companies affected by the decision. Infosys is also on the list.

TCS says local hiring strategy remains unchanged

TCS said it had taken note of the US government's announcement concerning PERM and would comply with any directives issued by the Department of Labour.

The company said its recruitment strategy in the US prioritises local talent, backed by a campus recruitment programme. It added that it had established a substantial local workforce across 31 offices and delivery centres in the country.

“As we had announced earlier, we intend to hire an additional 15,000 people in the US over the next five years, to further augment our local workforce,” TCS said in a statement.

The IT services company also said its PERM applications had been in single digits over the past two years. On that basis, it expressed confidence that the suspension would not affect its hiring plans or engagements with US customers.

What the PERM suspension means for companies

The PERM process, administered by the US Department of Labour, is required for most employment-based Green Card applications. Employers must generally demonstrate that hiring a foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages, working conditions or employment opportunities of American workers.

Under the latest decision, the US government has suspended the affected companies from the programme. US Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling said the department would not accept new applications or process pending permanent labour certification applications involving the companies.

Besides TCS and Infosys, the other firms named are Cognizant, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Microsoft, Adobe and Capgemini.

The suspension forms part of the Trump administration's wider visa crackdown, which the government says is intended to tackle fraud and protect employment opportunities for US workers.