As TCS has stopped H1B procedures indefinitely, other Indian companies are following suit. Paying around USD 100,000 per H1B candidate is not feasible, the companies realized.
Additionally, establishing the necessary documentation to support an H1B application has become increasingly tedious.
As a result, companies are now focusing on hiring students who have completed their studies and are on OPT (Optional Practical Training) visas.
The idea is to hire these candidates at lower wages since OPT visas allow them to gain practical training in the job. However, a new bottleneck has emerged; interviews are increasingly being conducted through AI interfaces.
A source in the USA revealed that while 72% of H1B holders are Indians, around 62% of them do not meet the AI-assessed standards. This is shocking, but it reflects the rigorous screening done by AI during interviews.
Even candidates on OPT struggle to meet these automated standards and getting rejected, and companies can only hire individuals approved through AI grading. Consequently, the future appears increasingly challenging for average applicants.
Not everyone on an H1B in the USA is exceptionally talented; earlier, factors such as manual interviews, manipulations like proxies and consultancy support played a significant role in securing jobs.
Now, AI introduces full transparency, making it much harder for companies to hire foreign talent without merit-based approval.
Companies must now prioritize green card holders and citizens first. Hiring foreign candidates is becoming increasingly complex, and this narrowing bottleneck is creating significant tremors in the US job market for Indians.
“It feels almost like the endgame,” lamented a managing director of a tech company in Hyderabad, highlighting the growing challenges faced by Indian professionals seeking opportunities in the US.