TCS says Trump's PERM suspension won't affect US plans, targets 15,000 new hires

Trump administration suspended eight companies. (Photo: Reuters)

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Friday said the US government's suspension of the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme for several technology companies was not expected to have any material impact on its workforce strategy or client engagements. This came a day after the Trump administration suspended eight companies, including TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCLTech, Cognizant, Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe, from participating in the programme. In a statement, TCS said it would comply with the US government's directives and stressed that its hiring strategy focused on recruiting local talent. “We have noted the announcement by the US Government on the Permanent Labour Certification Program (PERM) and TCS will comply with any directive from the Department of Labour. 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 centres throughout the country,” the company said. TCS said its PERM applications had been in “single digits” over the past two years and reiterated its plan to hire an additional 15,000 employees in the US over the next five years. “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. 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,” the company said. The Trump administrations move is part of a broader crackdown on skilled-worker immigration, with US officials alleging that companies have used the system at the expense of American workers. The US Department of Labour said it would stop accepting and processing new and pending PERM applications involving the affected companies. PERM is an important step in the employment-based green card process. Employers generally need labour certification from the US Department of Labour before sponsoring eligible foreign workers for permanent residence. The certification process requires employers to establish that there are not enough qualified, willing and available US workers for the position and that hiring a foreign worker will not adversely affect wages and working conditions. The suspension has also drawn criticism from Democratic lawmaker Pramila Jayapal, who represents Washington state, where Microsoft is headquartered. Jayapal said the Trump administration was repeatedly restricting legal immigration pathways and described the latest move as another such attack. “You don’t fix a broken immigration system by taking a hammer to legal immigration,” she said. She argued that PERM provides a structured process for employment-based green cards and includes safeguards intended to ensure that hiring foreign workers benefits the US economy without harming American workers. US Vice President JD Vance responded to Jayapal's criticism by questioning her defence of Microsoft and other major technology companies. “'Socialism' apparently means fighting like hell to ensure megacorporations have a never-ending flow of cheap labour,” Vance said. Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling announced the suspensions on Thursday, with Vance standing alongside him. The administration accused the affected companies of abusing the visa system at the expense of American workers. The administration also announced investigations into nine universities, including Harvard, Yale and Stanford, over allegations that international students and foreign workers were being used to reduce labour costs or compromise federally funded research.