All large US cos want increase in HIB visas as there is a lack of talent in US: V Balakrishnan

In a chat with ET Now, V Balakrishnan, Former CFO, Infosy, says , till the November elections, you will see a lot of noise around H1B visas but finally economic sense will prevail. Edited excerpts

ET Now: All important bipartisan H1B Visa Bill has been deferred or being taken up for discussion. Do you think it is a big relief as far as Indian IT majors are concerned?

V Balakrishnan: It is definitely a relief. It removes one uncertainty because IT industry in India is facing a lot of headwinds because of the economy, because of the fall in IT spending and all that. At least the uncertainty removed for now. It is a good thing.

ET Now: IT companies have been dealing with this uncertainty for a while now and this bipartisan bill raises the minimum wage for workers but also some law makers in the US say that this will not exactly curb outsourcing. What is your view on the bill per se if it were to see the light of the day?

V Balakrishnan: I think H1B visa is more a political issue than an economic issue because if you talk to all the large corporates in US, everyone of them want increase in the quarter and they want more H1Bs because there is a lack of talent in the US and the talent is available only in countries like India. So there is a need for the corporates to get more H1B Visa but because of the election year every four years we see lot of attention on H1B visas. People want to increase salary and all that but finally economic sense prevails because corporates want more talent and talent will come only if there is more H1B visas in the country.

ET Now: We have been talking to Nasscom in the last hour on this. They are saying that this is just one bill, there will be many more to go. So. is there really a lot of reasons to cheer about or do we have to prepare for more such bills in the run up to the US elections?

V Balakrishnan: I think it is good that this bill has not gone through because it removes one uncertainty and the elections are there in November. So, till then, you will see lot of noise around H1B but I think finally economic sense will prevail. US is a very open society and the beauty of US is that it able to attract good talent to come and work there globally. I do not think they will take some stupid measures in a hurry, they will see the economic impact and that country requires talent and talent can only come from countries like India.

ET Now: So do you also believe on the cost front this will be a huge relief? It had proposed I think $60,000 in one level, $100,000 at another level. So you are in an environment where companies are already facing a lot of cost pressure. Will this again be a significant positive?

V Balakrishnan: Yes, this will be a positive but if you look at all large companies they are already paying salaries at that level for the H1 visa. So, I do not think cost is a big issue but once uncertainty is removed, that is a good thing.

ET Now: Anything else that companies can really prepare for going forward? They have been talking about increasing employment onsite but we are still seeing this rhetoric coming up now and again. Do you think this will force them to hire more people locally perhaps?

V Balakrishnan: In the long term, every company as such wants to hire more talent locally but the reality is there is no local talent available in that country that is why you need the H1B visas. So in the long term. everybody will try but in the short term I think these noises will be there and the companies will manage it.