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The disconnect between corporations and their workforce stems from fundamentally different priorities: operational survival versus individual livelihood
News18
Indian IT corporations like TCS and Infosys said the U.S. Department of Labor’s PERM program suspension will have a “minimal operational impact”. However, individual foreign workers say they face severe immigration risks, as the freeze halts permanent residency paths and threatens legal status for those nearing H-1B visa limits.
One issue, two different viewpoints, News18 explains.
The Corporate View: “No Material Impact”
The U.S. Department of Labour’s unexpected suspension of eight tech giants, including TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCLTech, Cognizant, Capgemini, Microsoft, and Adobe, from the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) program reveals a massive gap in how companies and workers measure immigration risk, say reports.
Major IT firms view the suspension as a minor operational hurdle due to structural shifts they have enacted over the last few years.
Indian IT firms have sharply curtailed their PERM applications, heavily mitigating corporate disruption. For example, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) filed just two PERM applications in the U.S. financial year 2026, down from 1,804 in 2024. Infosys similarly recorded only 87 filings in 2024. Collectively, Indian firms accounted for less than 2% of all U.S. PERM certifications last year, say reports.
Outfits like Nasscom point out that companies have aggressively built up localised workforces. TCS reaffirmed its plan to hire an additional 15,000 workers locally in the U.S. over the next five years.
At A Glance
Tata Consultancy Services filed just two PERM applications in the U.S. financial year 2026, down from 1,804 in 2024.
Infosys recorded only 87 filings in 2024, and Indian firms collectively accounted for less than 2% of all U.S. PERM certifications last year.
TCS reaffirmed its plan to hire an additional 15,000 workers locally in the U.S. over the next five years.
Brokerages like ICICI Securities report that because their existing pipelines do not heavily rely on transitioning H-1B holders to Green Cards anymore, the financial blow is strictly sentimental and poses no near-term revenue threat.
The Workers’ View: An “Immigration Freeze”
For individual foreign professionals locked within these corporations, the freeze transforms standard employment status into acute career vulnerability:
New PERM Filings: Completely blocked. Workers cannot lock in a “Priority Date,” which establishes their spot in the multi-decade Green Card backlog.
Pending Applications: Frozen indefinitely. Ongoing cases under investigation will not move forward, creating an immediate dead-end for active applications.
The 6-Year H-1B Limit: Critical threat. H-1B workers can only extend their visas past the 6-year maximum if a PERM or I-140 was filed at least 365 days prior. Workers approaching this limit face forced departure if their clock runs out.
Life & Career Planning: Complete stagnation. Prolonged ambiguity traps mid-level professionals, preventing them from buying homes, executing long-term family plans, or switching employers seamlessly.
While tech giants easily absorb the regulatory friction by modifying their macro-hiring models, their dependent professionals are left shouldering the entire existential burden of a frozen immigration timeline, say reports.
Quick Answers
Ask News18The U.S. Department of Labor suspended eight major tech and IT giants—including TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCLTech, Cognizant, Capgemini, Microsoft, and Adobe—from the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) program. The suspension stems from allegations that these companies misused visa programs and undercut American workers’ job opportunities and wages.
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At the news desk for 20 years, the story of her life has revolved around finding pun, facts while reporting, on radio, heading a daily newspaper desk, teaching mass media students to now editing speci…Read More
October 12, 2026, 6:17 PM IST
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