Infosys today said that stricter visa curbs in certain developed markets will not act as an impediment for growth as it has a strong local hiring plan.
Addressing analysts at Morgan Stanley’s Annual India Summit, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh said: “I think, in general, what we see in many of our markets such as Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the US, independent from the current political situation, the overall sentiment is to enhance more local job activities.”
What we are building with this localisation approach is really gearing towards making sure that our business model evolves in the right way, without sacrificing the best elements of the business model for the future, he added. Recently, Parekh outlined that local hiring and training manpower in the US form a part of the company’s revamped four-pillar strategy to reignite growth. This is similar to the strategy it has pursued in India, wherein it hires engineers from colleges and trains them.
Infosys has already hired 4,000 in the US and last year, India’s No 2 software exporter had said that it will hire 10,000 graduates from colleges. This development also comes in the backdrop of the Donald Trump administration already tightening the screws around H-1B and now even planning to terminate a provision in H-4 visa, which allows a spouse of an H-1B holder to work in the US.
This is likely to impact 70,000 H-4 visa holders who work onsite for companies such as Cargill and Goldman Sachs. A decision on this will be taken any time between July and September.
“We think the environment is such that if we do the things the right way, this is going to further expand the business. So, we don’t see it as a constraint but the dynamic globally is different and the business model needs to evolve to adapt to it,” he said.