Revisions are being considered to the H-1B visa programme by the US government. These changes may include raising of the minimum wage requirement. It may also include payment of additional fee. That means, Indian employers, especially those from the information technology space, will have to rework on their cost structures and hiring plans.
These employers have been taking advantage of the reduced labour costs all this while. If the visa programme is revised, they will have to raise the salaries of the employees in compliance with the minimum wage requirement. That means, the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders may go up from about $60,000 to about $1,20,000.
When the expenditure on wages increases, the companies’ profit margins from projects in the US will reduce.
It is not just the salaries that will need to be raised, the IT firms will also have to shell out more money on filing and renewing costs. In complying with the new rules, employers will definitely increase their expenses. They may have to resort to hiring locally. That will mean spending on training and inducting the local hires. Given the fact that the demand for experts and skilled professionals is growing, the process of hiring locally could be time consuming and expensive. To address these issues, companies may consider remote work or automation of processes. Some may even contemplate opening offshore sites with more liberal immigration rules and policies.
