US green card freeze: Wipro says no business impact, 80% of US staff hired locally

Wipro does not expect any material business impact from the US government's suspension of new green card applications for certain companies, the IT services firm said on Tuesday.

The company said the action by the US Department of Labor concerns a specific pathway to permanent residency and is separate from broader skilled worker mobility programmes, such as the H-1B visa.

"The recent announcement by the U.S. Department of Labor regarding the suspension of new PERM applications for certain companies, relates to a specific permanent residency pathway and is distinct from broader skilled talent mobility programmes such as the H1B Visa. We don’t anticipate any material business impact from this announcement," Wipro said in a statement.

The company added that more than 80% of its US workforce was locally hired as part of a long-term localisation strategy. "We remain committed to investing in local talent, complying with all applicable U.S. laws and regulations, and ensuring business continuity for our clients," it said.

US suspends green card applications

Last Thursday, the US suspended eight IT firms, including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant and Microsoft, from filing new applications under the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) programme for foreign workers. The US government argued that the practice had shut Americans out of the job market.

The action comes as Indian IT companies face tighter scrutiny of work visas and higher costs for H-1B applicants. The US is the biggest market for India's $300-billion IT industry.

Industry body Nasscom has also stressed that immigration and skilled talent mobility should be treated as separate issues.

TCS said on Friday that it did not expect the suspension to affect its workforce strategy or customer engagements. The company said its PERM applications had been in single digits over the previous two years.

"Our PERM applications were in single digits in the last two years, and hence we do not expect the suspension of the program to impact our workforce strategy and customer engagements," TCS said in a statement.