印度IT业对美国H-1B签证改革感到担心
印度高管们警告，美国一项限制技术工人签证的举措将给美印贸易关系造成严重冲击，大幅抬高印度规模达1460亿美元的IT服务业在美国这个关键市场的成本。
Indian IT companies, which are heavy users of skilled H-1B visas to the US, have cut hiring from domestic university campuses after new legislation was proposed that would tighten US rules on skilled immigration.
在有关方面提议会收紧美国技术移民规定的新法案后，作为H-1B技术工人签证“重度用户”的印度IT企业已减少了在本国高校的招聘。
The industry is planning to send a delegation to the US this month to argue against the changes, which have prompted widespread alarm in India.
印度IT服务业正计划在本月向美国派出一个代表团、劝说美方不要实施这些改革。这些改革已在印度引起了普遍担心。
“Despite the importance that has been attributed to the Indian relationship, despite the warm words from Trump, there may be measures that are taken that are seriously damaging,” said R Chandrasekhar, president of India’s National Association of Software and Services Companies.
印度国家软件与服务公司协会(NASSCOM)主席R•钱德拉塞卡尔(R Chandrasekhar)表示：“尽管美国看重与印度的关系，尽管特朗普(Donald Trump)发表了热情的讲话，但美方可能要采取的举措会造成严重的破坏。
“If the US was to curb the number of people that are taken in on H-1B visas in the area, two things can happen: either those jobs remain unfilled in the US or the job goes out of the US.”
“如果美国要在该领域限制持H-1B签证入境的人数，可能会发生两件事：要么美国的这些工作岗位依然招不到足够的人，要么这些工作岗位流出美国。”
Last month legislation was introduced to the House of Representatives that would require companies to pay H-1B immigrants at least $130,000 — more than double their previous minimum salary — unless they can prove that they were unable to find a US worker to do the same job. This effective wage floor currently stands at $60,000 and would be increased in order “to protect American workers”.
上月提交美国众议院的法案要求企业得为持H-1B签证的员工开出至少13万美元的薪资——为此前最低薪资水平的两倍多——除非这些企业能证明它们找不到美籍员工来做这份工作。目前针对这类员工施行的最低薪资要求为6万美元，为了“保护美国劳动者”，将抬高这一门槛。
Sean Spicer, President Donald Trump’s press secretary, has said the White House will also consider reforming H-1B visas through an executive order.
美国总统唐纳德•特朗普的白宫新闻秘书肖恩•斯派塞(Sean Spicer)表示，白宫还将考虑通过行政令来改革H-1B签证制度。
The move has prompted a public outcry in India — two-thirds of the H-1B visas issued by the US in the 2015 fiscal year were granted to Indians, according to US state department figures. The concern is that an increase would make it too costly for Indian contractors to recruit Indian workers for jobs in the US — and would sharply constrain an industry that has become an engine of skilled job growth in the country.
此举在印度引起舆论一片哗然。根据美国国务院的数据，美国在2015财年签发的H-1B签证有三分之二发给了印度人。印度人的担忧是，提高最低薪资要求会使印度承包商招聘印度工人赴美工作的成本变得过于高昂，严重制约一个已成为印度技术工作岗位增长引擎的行业。
The IT sector in India is still heavily reliant on its traditional, labour-intensive sources of revenue despite efforts to shift to more cutting-edge areas such as data analytics. Although they can provide some services remotely, the companies rely on sending their best employees to work directly with clients in the US.
尽管已尝试转向数据分析等更为尖端的领域，但印度IT业目前仍严重依赖其传统的、劳动密集型的营收来源。虽然这些企业可以远程方式提供部分服务，但把最优秀的员工派到美国与客户直接合作仍是它们主要的业务模式。
The industry last year generated 60 per cent — or $64.8bn — of its revenues in the US, where it employed 155,000 people in 2015, according to Nasscom. After Mr Trump was elected in November, the association cut its growth outlook for the industry this financial year from 10-12 per cent to 8-10 per cent, citing “domestic and global factors impacting its performance”.
NASSCOM的数据显示，去年印度IT业60%的营收(即648亿美元)是在美国创造的，2015年印度IT业在美国雇佣了15.5万人。特朗普去年11月当选总统后，NASSCOM将其对印度IT业本财年增速的预期从10%到12%下调至8%到10%，理由是“国内和全球因素会影响其业绩”。
Vineet Nayar, former chief executive of HCL Technologies, the fourth-largest Indian IT services company by revenue, said US companies would also be hit: “Facebook, Microsoft — everybody applies for H-1B.”
前HCL Technologies首席执行官维尼特•纳亚尔(Vineet Nayar)表示，美国企业也会受到打击，“Facebook、微软(Microsoft)，所有公司都申请H-1B”。HCL Technologies是以营收计的印度第四大IT服务公司。
US-based companies such as IBM, Cognizant and Accenture are among the largest applicants for H-1B visas, according to My Visa Jobs, an immigration consultancy which compiles data on applications.
根据汇编签证申请数据的移民咨询公司My Visa Jobs的数据，申请H-1B签证最多的公司包括IBM、高知特(Cognizant)和埃森哲(Accenture)等总部位于美国的公司。
India’s ministry of external affairs was forced to complain to the Trump administration after news about the new bill caused a slump in IT stocks last month. Sector leader Tata Consultancy Services lost more than 7 per cent of its market value. “India’s interests and concerns have been conveyed both to the US administration and the US Congress at senior levels,” the ministry said.
有关新法案的消息导致印度IT股上月暴跌，印度外交部不得不向特朗普政府表示不满。在这轮暴跌中，行业领头羊塔塔咨询服务公司(Tata Consultancy Services)市值缩水逾7%。印度外交部表示：“印方在高层级上向美国政府和美国国会都传达了印度的利益和关切所在。”
Companies have begun to take pre-emptive steps, according to placement advisers on college campuses. “[Trump] will impact the employment opportunity for Indian students,” said Kanwal Kapil, chairperson of placements at the Management Development Institute in Gurgaon, which has seen IT hiring fall by 26 per cent compared with last year.
按照印度高校就业顾问的说法，印度企业已开始采取预防性措施。古尔冈管理发展学院(Management Development Institute)就业部门主任坎瓦尔•卡皮尔(Kanwal Kapil)表示：“(特朗普)会影响印度学生的就业机会。”该院发现，与上年相比，IT业招聘人数减少了26%。
“We cannot rule out the fact that the scepticism has some [relation] to Mr Trump’s future policies,” said Saveeta Mohanty, placements adviser at the Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, which expects a 40 per cent fall in IT hiring this season.
泽维尔管理与创业学院(Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship)就业顾问萨维塔•莫汉蒂(Saveeta Mohanty)表示：“我们无法排除这一事实：这种疑虑与特朗普未来的政策有一定(关系)。”该院预计，本季度印度IT业招聘人数会下滑40%。
Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research said hiring had fallen 30-40 per cent. All three institutions claimed there was less take-up from TCS and Infosys, which filed the most applications for H-1B visas last year, according to My Visa Jobs. The average salaries for applicants were significantly below the new proposed $130,000 mark — at $79,201 for Infosys and $69,648 for TCS.
韦林卡管理发展与研究学院(Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research)表示，招聘人数已经下滑30%到40%。上述三家机构都声称，塔塔咨询和印孚瑟斯(Infosys)的招聘人数减少了。根据My Visa Jobs的数据，去年申请H-1B签证最多的公司就是印孚瑟斯。申请者的平均薪资大大低于拟议的13万美元的新门槛，其中印孚瑟斯为79201美元，塔塔咨询为69648美元。
