The New Year's big news is that there is no more rush among professionals to go on short US assignments.
For the first time in recent years, H1B visas, the most sought after by Indian techies and other professionals, has found not enough takers.
Indian software industry feels that the over 11,000 unused slots out of the global quota of 65,000 in the much sought after H1B visas this year merely indicated a mismatch in demand and supply and possibly changing business models. Others see it as a lack of attraction of the US as a job destination, a lingering effect of the slowdown.
Of the 65,000 mandated H1B visa slots, about 11,000 remains unused for the fiscal 2010- 2011, it was reported on Friday, quoting the latest figures released by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services ( USCIS).
The H1B is a non-immigrant visa for American companies to temporarily hire foreign workers in different fields. Several Indian infotech firms use it. A section of infotech bosses see the dip as an indicator of low-level activity post slowdown, coupled with the impact of hike visa fees.
"The attraction of the US as a work destination is coming down across different sectors," said Mohandas Pai, a director who handles human resources at Infosys.
"The demand has come down across industries. It is the lingering impact of the slowdown and the hike in visa fees. People are cautious now," Pai added.
Earlier people used to apply for visas in anticipation of more work. But now high costs and unsure work prospects prevent it.
Though Indian infotech industry has shown healthy growth this year, H1B applications were lesser than usual at 12,000 to 13,000 Pai said. It earlier ranged between 15,000 to 20,000 or even more.
President of the software industry umbrella group Nasscom, Som Mittal, said, that vacancies in the visa quota did not necessarily reflect the job or business scenario, but changing patterns in getting work done.
" I don't think we should mix up issues," Mittal said. "We have always been saying that quotas are artificial limits."
Courtesy: Mail Today 
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