India’s IT sector hopes to gain under Biden rule

US President Joe Biden’s pledge to adopt a fresh approach on trade and immigration, and a renewed and revitalised interest in science and technology has given a new lease of life for the Indian IT sector. Biden's approach might help the Indian IT sector to expand and work more collaboratively with American companies as the US is the largest market for the sector. 

It has already been reported that Biden is expected to send a bill to the Congress that proposes to eliminate the per country cap for employment-based green cards. All this is expected to help Indian IT professionals. 

NASSCOM has welcomed Biden's move. “We appreciate President Biden’s commitment to review and make necessary changes to harmful regulatory policies put in place by the outgoing administration,” NASSCOM said in a statement. The NASSCOM statement further points out that a key challenge the technology sector faces is the lack of required STEM talent in the US and despite high degree of overall unemployment in the US, demand for high-tech skills continues to remain robust, clearly endorsing the argument that there are just not enough workers with relevant skills to fill them. The rules announced by the previous administration will worsen this talent gap. 

NASSCOM said that it has been actively engaged with US policy makers on these issues, and it looks forward to working together with the new US administration to find solutions to the STEM skills gap and enable the US to be more competitive, to grow and create more jobs.

As per NASSCOM, the Indian technology industry makes significant contributions to the US economy and workforce, including local investments and job-creation, workforce development and upskilling their US employees. “Our member companies have an important history in the US; they work with over three quarters of the Fortune 500 companies in the US, providing them vital technology services and helping them innovate, compete and grow. India-US bilateral trade increased by over 400 per cent since 2005, with a total increase in value from $37 billion in 2005 to $149 billion in 2019. Technology sectors of both the countries have played a critical role in driving this,” added the NASSCOM statement

IT experts say that the US under Biden will aim to gain back the competitive edge in technology that it has lost over the past four years. “There could be significant federal investments and the Indian IT sector could be a beneficiary,” remarked Alok Shende of Ascentius Consulting. 

Biden's approach is being considered to be a positive move as talented Indians in the science and technology domain are expected to find opportunities to work collaboratively with the universities and centres of science and technology in the US.  “We will see more US-based companies invest in research and development. Ultimately, many of these initiatives will have a positive impact on our outsourcing industry. We expect various domains of science from material science, agriculture, pharmaceuticals to information technology to get a boost,” said Aditya Narayan Mishra, the Director and CEO, CIEL HR Services. 

President Biden has defined it with clarity and has indicated that science will steer a lot of decision-making. “In many ways, he is doing a contra-image statement on Donald Trump and his approach. The fact that he has elevated the position of his science adviser to the cabinet status, further underlines it all. For the Indian IT industry, and so also the Indian core-science practitioners this means a lot. It means a positive approach in the focus market of the US. Indian IT has several issues with the US. Key among them is the issue of the H1B visa. Expect a whole lot of easing of the road ahead for Indian IT,” remarked brand expert Harish Bijoor.