India Losing its Skilled Talent to U.S.

Bangalore: The U.S. doesn’t just attract students and now many more Indians are moving to the U.S. for jobs. Several skilled Indian workers moved to the U.S. in 2012 for employment, said reports from U.S. Embassy in Delhi.

It was noted that more Indian nationals were employed in the U.S. in 2012 than in 2011, reported Kenneth Rapoza for Forbes. It was also seen that H-1B acceptances increased 15 percent to around 130,000 visas. The number was 114,000 in 2011. H-1B visas are used greatly by Indian companies for their employees travelling to the U.S.

Approximately 120,000 H category visas were issued to Indian nationals globally, as per the U.S. State Department’s annual report for fiscal year 2011. These include both employees and their dependent children and spouses.

It is noted that H-1B program is used mostly by Indian IT firms hiring from abroad.

In India the H1B visa numbers have gone up in 2012. It is noted that U.S. businesses use H-1B visas to employ overseas workers in specialty occupations such as engineers, scientists, and IT professionals. Indian IT firms in the U.S. have been troubled over the past few months over stricter norms in issuing H category visas by the U.S. government.

However, U.S. President Barack Obama has been in support of granting more H-1B visas, and relaxing policies that would allow foreign students to stay on and work in the U.S. In fact numerous multinational tech companies have called for more H-1B visas to be issued to fill the spaces in the skilled labor pool.

Also Read: U.S. Attracts Indian Students, Lowers Fees