US senators question TCS, others over H-1B

TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES (TCS) and Cognizant are among the many tech firms who have been asked to explain their hiring practices by senior US lawmakers owing to concerns over the companies’ continued use of H-1B visas while laying off American staff.

- URVI MALVANIA

In a letter dated September 24, which FE has seen a copy of, United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary chairman Charles Grassley and ranking member Richard Durbin flagged “troubling employment trends” in the tech sector and questioned TCS chief executive K Krithivasan on why the company was filing thousands of H-1B petitions even as US tech unemployment remained above the national average.

TCS, which has announced more than 12,000 layoffs globally this year, received approval for 5, 505 H-1B workers in FY25, making it the second-largest sponsor of new visa beneficiaries.

"TCS RECENTLY ANNOUNCED plans to lay off over 12, 000 employees worldwide, including American staff. For example, TCS laid off nearly five dozen employees in its Jacksonville office alone last month. At the same time you have been laying off American employees, you have been filing H1-B visa petitions for thousands of foreign workers," the lawmakers stated in their letter.