TCS Says US Green Card Curbs Won’t Impact Operations, To Hire 15,000 Employees In 5 Years

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Friday said the US government’s suspension of certain Green Card filings involving the company would not affect its workforce strategy or customer engagements in the country. The IT major also reaffirmed its plan to hire an additional 15,000 employees in the United States over the next five years.

TCS is among eight companies affected by the Trump administration’s decision to suspend certain applications under the Permanent Labour Certification Program (PERM), as part of its broader crackdown on visa-related fraud and alleged job losses for American workers. Infosys is also among the companies facing the restrictions.

The company said it would comply with directives issued by the US Department of Labor and expressed confidence that the suspension would have no significant impact on its operations in the country.

TCS To Hire 15,000 Employees In US Over Five Years

In a statement, TCS said its US workforce strategy was primarily focused on recruiting local talent, supported by a strong campus hiring programme.

“Our workforce strategy in the US is anchored in hiring local talent, supported by a robust campus recruitment model. We have built a significant local workforce across 31 offices and delivery centers throughout the country,” the company said.

“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,” it added.

TCS also said its PERM applications had remained in single digits over the past two years, limiting the expected impact of the suspension on its hiring plans and customer engagements.

What Is The US PERM Programme?

The Permanent Labour Certification Program, administered by the US Department of Labor, is a key step in obtaining employment-based Green Cards for foreign workers.

Under the PERM process, employers must generally demonstrate that hiring a foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages, working conditions or employment opportunities of similarly employed US workers.

The Trump administration’s decision to suspend applications involving selected companies has raised concerns about the impact of tighter immigration rules on technology firms that employ skilled foreign professionals.

Eight Companies Face US Green Card Filing Restrictions

Apart from TCS and Infosys, the companies affected by the suspension include Cognizant, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Microsoft, Adobe and Capgemini.

Announcing the decision, US Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling said the department would stop accepting new applications and processing pending permanent labour certification applications involving the companies.

“We will not accept any new or process any pending permanent labour certification applications involving these companies,” Sonderling said.

The restrictions form part of the administration’s wider efforts to tighten immigration-related scrutiny and address alleged abuses of employment-based visa programmes.

Despite the suspension, TCS has maintained that its existing US workforce, local recruitment strategy and customer commitments will remain on track.