Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has said it does not expect the US suspension of its permanent labour certification (PERM) access to affect its workforce strategy or customer engagements. It said its PERM applications were "in single digits in the last two years".
In a filing to the National Stock Exchange and BSE on Friday, the IT major said it had "noted the announcement" and "will comply with any directive from the Department of Labor". The company added that it does not expect the suspension of the programme to affect its workforce strategy and customer engagements.
TCS said its US strategy is "anchored in hiring local talent, supported by a robust campus recruitment model". It has built a local workforce across 31 offices and delivery centres in the country.
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It reiterated an earlier plan to hire an additional 15,000 people in the US over the next five years.
The statement follows Thursday's announcement by the US Department of Labor. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling suspended Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini from the PERM programme, citing active federal investigations.
The department will neither accept new PERM applications from these companies nor process those already pending. Sonderling said the firms have received over 230,000 H-1B approvals and over 100,000 PERM certifications since 2009.
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PERM is the stage at which an employer must show the Department of Labor that no qualified and willing US workers are available for a role.
It is generally a prerequisite for sponsoring a foreign employee for an employment-based green card.
The suspension does not cancel H-1B visas, and affected employees do not automatically lose their right to work in the US.
Vice President JD Vance, who announced the action at a White House briefing, reserved his sharpest criticism for Microsoft. He said the company laid off thousands of American workers while still bringing in foreign staff on H-1B visas.
Microsoft responded that 80% of its roughly 6,000 H-1B applications last fiscal year were to extend or change the status of existing employees.
The development is closely watched in India. Indian nationals make up roughly 70% of H-1B holders.
Because the green-card backlog for Indian applicants runs well beyond the six-year H-1B limit, many Indian employees need a certified PERM to stay in the US past that period.
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