The Hindu Business Line : US industry wants H1B visa cap revisited

Mr Kapil Sibal, Minister for Science and Technology; Mr Kenneth I. Juster, Under Secretary of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, US Department of Commerce; and Mr Harris Miller, President, Information Technology Association of America; at The India-US Information Security Summit in the Capital on Tuesday. - - Kamal Narang

New Delhi , Oct. 12

THE Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) on Tuesday expressed disappointment at the low H1B visa cap saying that cutting down immigration increased the movement of jobs offshore, but hoped that the entire issue would be `revisited'.

"It is very disappointing but it is a reflection of the fact that US politicians are currently afraid the American people think they are losing jobs offshore. I have argued for 25 years that cutting immigration only sends more jobs offshore. As companies cannot bring in the skilled manpower, they are just going to move work offshore more quickly," the ITAA President, Mr Harris N. Miller, told Business Line.

He hoped that the issue would be revisited after the US elections. "Right now, members of Congress seem reluctant to deal with the issue but we are trying very hard," he said.

Mr Miller said the ITAA strongly opposed legislations restricting outsourcing in the US. "We believe that commercial market should determine where business is done. We want to open up the global marketplace. We are convinced that the best way for us to succeed is to have a free and fair marketplace and not have Governments in the US, Europe or even India pass laws on where business can or cannot be done," he said.

He said according to a recent study measuring the positive impacts of global sourcing on the US economy, global sourcing had created 90,000 more jobs in the US in 2003 and would further create an estimated 3,17,000 more jobs by 2008.

He said it had shown that while global sourcing had led to increase in the number of jobs, it had also created better paying jobs. "It may cost one individual a job in one industry, but it makes all the other industries using IT, more efficient. With efficiency, there is money to spend and, therefore, more people are recruited," he said.

Mr Miller, however, pointed out that India, on its part, had to become a consumer nation. He also cautioned that India needed to constantly upgrade its skill-sets to retain its hold as an outsourcing destination.

Mr Miller also emphasised that data security was becoming a more important an issue than job loss.