Highlights – US President Donald Trump shattered the hearts of thousands of Indian students pursuing the American Dream by raising the H-1B visa fee to $100,000. The immediate impact of Trump’s move is already felt on travel advisories and the market. The medium-term effects will reshape sourcing strategies in the technology, business services, and higher education sectors.
Trump’s decision blocks the path for new Satya Nadellas and Sundar Pichais
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US President Donald Trump shattered the hearts of thousands of Indian students pursuing the American Dream by raising the H-1B visa fee to $100,000.
Companies will have to find alternative ways to recruit.
This will significantly reduce recruitment for low- and medium-paying H-1B positions, while higher-paying positions are already low. This will force employers and employees to seek alternative options or restructure staffing models.
The immediate impact of Trump’s move is already felt on travel advisories and the market. The medium-term impact will reshape sourcing strategies in technology, business services, and higher education.
This increase will primarily affect those seeking middle- or entry-level jobs, where the average salary for entry-level positions is US$65,000-80,000 per year and for mid-career positions, it’s approximately US$100,000-122,000 per year.
America will not see a new Satya Nadella or Sundar Pichai.
For those in high positions, the company will not be comfortable paying a fee of $100,000, and it’s possible that both parties will share this amount. However, Trump’s decision has virtually closed the door to a new Satya Nadella and another Sundar Pichai. Now, such individuals will have to be found from within the company.
Currently, more than 400,000 Indians are working in the US in computer and information technology professions, including software engineers, data scientists, systems analysts, artificial intelligence, and machine learning engineers.
Impact on Employees and Indian Software Exports
This decision by the Trump administration is going to affect India the most. Consequently, the new H-1B visa rule could adversely impact Indian software exports, estimated at approximately $200 billion.
