The team from Indian IT industry body Nasscom, which was on a five-day trip to the US to meet senators and key policy makers has said that the mood is bad in the country and the industry will have to be watchful during the next three-four weeks. The delegation included Nasscom president Som Mittal and chairman Ganesh Natarajan and had a three-pronged agenda for the visit — totalisation agreement, immigration issues and benefits of outsourcing. Considering that there continues to be ambiguity on the impact of Americas? anti-outsourcing issues and protectionist measures on Indian IT companies, the outcome of this visit was highly anticipated.
?There have been a lot of job losses in the country. The market sentiment is bad. The next three-four quarters are going to be weak and Indian IT companies will have to be fully prepared to deal with it,? Natarajan told FE from California. On being asked if the team managed to gain some clarity on the anti-outsourcing stance and the fact that American administration is discouraging companies from hiring foreign talent on H-1B visas, he said that the government is not anti-outsourcing rather it is just trying to create jobs in America.
?Everyone we met from New York to Washington seems to be pro-outsourcing and free trade movement. But, considering the market conditions there, logical thinking is being slightly overpowered by emotions,? he said.
Natarajan added that the industry would have to be very careful during the next few weeks as any senator can introduce a provision that has a restrictive clause. However, Natarajan refused to share the names of the people the team interacted with. ?Wait for a formal communication next week,? he said. Nasscom had recently hired one PR firm and a legal firm to lobby with the US administration on its behalf.
The US President, Barack Obama?s statement, which talked about ending tax-breaks to companies that outsource jobs abroad has sent the Indian IT industry in the panic mode. Around 60% of the Indian IT export revenues come from the US. Though market experts feel that outsourcing of manufacturing jobs is a larger issue than the services side of it, the lack of clarity on this issue is making matters worse. Moreover, a recent legislation has also forbidden companies that have been beneficiaries of the government bail-out packaged to replace local jobs with foreign working carrying H-1B visas. Around 65%-70% of the total 65,000 H-1B visas issued are taken up by Indian IT professionals across diverse industries.