proposed overhaul of popular H-1B visa regime by American President Donald Trump +sent IT stocks stocks plunging +Lofgren Bill +total base of employees currently on H1-B visas +NEW DELHI: Indian IT firms face the risk of higher operational costs and shortage of skilled workers with the, leading to a sharp slide in tech stocks and prompting India to convey its concerns to the US.A US legislation that proposes doubling of the minimum wages of H-1B visa holders to $130,000,by 9% today on fears that headcount expenses will go up hitting the sector's profitability.Industry body Nasscom conceded that thecontains provisions that may prove "challenging" for the sector. It plans to take a delegation to the US in February to meet US administration on this issue. "Since the rationale for the administration and the legislative wing is to protect job opportunities for Americans, our strong suggestion is that they should carefully calibrate the conditions keeping in mind the skill shortage in the US," Nasscom President R Chandrashekhar said.Raising wage levels under new rules for certain set of companies will nullify the objective of protecting jobs for American nationals, he added.Ministry of External Affairs has said India's interests and concerns on the issue have been conveyed both to the US administration and the US Congress at senior levels.Some analysts are of the opinion that Indian companies could easily witness around 60-70 per cent rise in salaries of the H-1B visa dependent workforce. Technology companies, including those from India, depend on it for hiring tens of thousands of employees each year. "There is very little room to manoeuvre and optimise it further other than replacing it with locals...

Source: Times of India January 31, 2017 14:59 UTC