Trump’s H-1B visa freeze: will US tech firms lose the next Sundar Pichai or Satya Nadella?

The suspension of the scheme for skilled foreigners has dealt a blow to the US tech sector and Indian tech workers, who receive most of these visas

Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella are some talents from India who have built their tech careers in the US thanks to the H-1B visa

Reading Time:3 minutes

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, which owns Google. Photo: Twitter

Published: 4:03pm, 26 Jun 2020Updated: 8:15am, 27 Jun 2020

US President Donald Trump’s decision on June 24 to suspend the H-1B visa scheme for highly-skilled foreigners has dealt a blow to the immigrant-reliant US tech sector and Indian tech workers, who receive a majority of these visas.

Officials said the sweeping executive order, which will keep visas frozen until the end of the year, would save some 500,000 jobs for US citizens instead of falling into the hands of immigrants.

Indian immigrants, hired by both American tech firms and US-based Indian tech companies, are the overwhelming beneficiaries of the H-1B programme, receiving 70 per cent of the 85,000 visas issued every year.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft head Satya Nadella, and former boss of PepsiCo Indira Nooyi are some prominent talents from India who have used the H-1B scheme as a gateway to build their careers in the US.

Tech leaders said the visa freeze was detrimental to the US’ economic recovery amid the coronavirus pandemic, while other observers said Trump’s move appeared to be an election strategy ahead of the 2020 presidential polls.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x