The U.S. senate has demanded an explanation from nine Indian technology companies on how they are using the H-1B visas issued to them. Critics of the H-1B visa program, which allows foreign skilled workers to temporarily work in the U.S. , have been arguing for a while that companies use such visas to bring in cheaper staff from places like India and China to replace their more expensive American staff. The letters issued by senators Dick Durbin (D-III) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on May 14 are a vindication for these critics.

The senators have expressed three prime concerns, which will resonate well with the common man in an election year.

• The average annual salary of foreign workers is significantly lower than that of new U.S. graduates
• Companies often recruit foreign workers, and then outsource the individuals to other job sites or companies
• Companies often lay off American workers while continuing to employ cheaper H-1B visa holder.

The cause for concern is that the nine Indian companies are amongst the highest users of H-1B visas — between them they used 19,512 of H-1B visas (or 30% of the 65,000 visas allowed) in 2006. This leaves few visas for American and other foreign companies. (See table for the number of H-1B visas each of these companies was issued in 2006.)

In the letters sent to these companies, the senators ask difficult questions around wages and layoffs. Some questions that they ask are:

• How many U.S. citizens do you employ in the U.S.?
• What percentage of your total workforce are H-1B visa holders?
• Describe your efforts to recruit Americans for the positions for which you employ H-1B workers?
• What is the average wage of your company's H-1B visa holders?
• What is the average wage of your company's workers who are U.S. citizens in the same occupations?
• If your company has laid off workers in the U.S. , did any H-1B visa holders replace those dislocated workers?

See pdf of the letters.

There has not yet been any response from the Indian companies. Wipro has denied receiving such a letter from the senate. “We have not received a letter from Senators Grassley and Durbin,” an official spokesperson said to Global Services . Infosys says it is studying the issue, while two other companies that Global Services wrote to have not yet responded.

Whenever they come in, their answers will arm the H-1B visa opposition with data that they have been previously denied. This will pitch them against the corporates, including American tech giants like Microsoft and Motorola, which have argued in favor of the immigration of skilled workers. Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman, is one of the most ardent propagators of the visas, having made a case for raising the cap on the number of visas to U.S. congress earlier this year.

Academia in the U.S. , too, has been fighting the case for more such visas. In an interview with Global Services in July last year, Professor Jagadish Bhagwati, the renowned economist at Columbia University had said, “I have suggested that the top 100 universities in all engineering departments, physics, mathematics and economics, should let foreign student stay on once they graduate. There will be occasional problems depending on the state of the labor market for that particular field — like there are too many computer engineers right now. But that doesn't mean that will be the state for the next 10 years also.”