Indian professionals aspiring to go to the US to work may now find it more difficult to get H-1B visas with Washington deciding on stricter screening following complaints of misuse of the facility.
Acting on the complaints, the US has adopted “fraud prevention tactics” to prevent such misuse. “We’ve added fraud prevention tactics. We’ve begun looking at other more standard fraud investigatory techniques that weren’t being used in H-1B that we are now going to employ. It includes things like sites visits and worksites visits,” Janet Napolitano, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said.
Testifying before the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Napolitano said over the last month, the Department has added some tools to rigorously enforce H-1B visa programme and prevent fraud.
Napolitano comment’s on H-1B visa programme came in response to a question from senator Richard Durbin, who along with senator Chuck Grassley, has introduced a legislation in the US Senate in this regard. Senator Durbin alleged that most of the H-1B visa fraud is being done by companies in India.
“The most outrageous abuses when it comes to H-1B visas include the fact that some major companies overseas, primarily in India, have successfully managed to marshal many of these H-1B visas and make a profit off them,” Durbin said.
“They charged the citizens of India coming to the US on H-1B visas and after three to six years, when they are to return to India, they charge to place them in companies which will then compete with the US,” he alleged.
Agencies
Showing posts with label US companies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US companies. Show all posts
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Has US companies cut 4,91,000 jobs during April 2009?
In a possible sign that the worst may be over for the country's labour market, a new report shows that American private companies slashed as many as 4,91,000 jobs in April, much less than expected.
The latest ADP National Employment Report showed that non-farm private employment fell 4,91,000 from "March to April 2009 on a seasonally adjusted basis".
Experts were expecting that the decline would be more than 6,00,000.
"The estimated change of employment from February to March was revised by 34,000, from a decline of 742,000 to a decline of 7,08,000," ADP said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the report, private employment in the service-providing sector plunged by 2,29,000 in April. During the same period, jobs in the goods-producing segment decreased 2,62,000 while that in the manufacturing sector dropped by 1,59,000.
Last month, construction employment dropped 95,000, which was also the "smallest" in nearly six months.
"This was its twenty-seventh consecutive monthly decline, and brings the total decline in construction jobs since the peak in January 2007 to 1,261,000. April's decline, however, was the smallest since November of 2008," the statement said.
Large businesses, defined as those with 500 or more workers, witnessed their employment decline by 77,000 whereas medium-size businesses -- having between 50 and 499 workers -- skid by 2,31,000.
Further, small-size entities, which have less than 50 workers, saw a fall of 1,83,000 in employment.
"The employment declines among medium-and small-size businesses
indicate that the recession continues to spread beyond manufacturing and housing-related activities to almost every area of the economy," it noted.
The report sponsored by ADP is maintained by Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC and it is a measure of employment derived from an anonymous subset of roughly 5,00,000 US business clients.
In the last six months of 2008, the subset represented nearly 4,00,000 US business clients representing nearly 24 million American employees working in all private industrial sectors, ADP said.
Agencies
The latest ADP National Employment Report showed that non-farm private employment fell 4,91,000 from "March to April 2009 on a seasonally adjusted basis".
Experts were expecting that the decline would be more than 6,00,000.
"The estimated change of employment from February to March was revised by 34,000, from a decline of 742,000 to a decline of 7,08,000," ADP said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the report, private employment in the service-providing sector plunged by 2,29,000 in April. During the same period, jobs in the goods-producing segment decreased 2,62,000 while that in the manufacturing sector dropped by 1,59,000.
Last month, construction employment dropped 95,000, which was also the "smallest" in nearly six months.
"This was its twenty-seventh consecutive monthly decline, and brings the total decline in construction jobs since the peak in January 2007 to 1,261,000. April's decline, however, was the smallest since November of 2008," the statement said.
Large businesses, defined as those with 500 or more workers, witnessed their employment decline by 77,000 whereas medium-size businesses -- having between 50 and 499 workers -- skid by 2,31,000.
Further, small-size entities, which have less than 50 workers, saw a fall of 1,83,000 in employment.
"The employment declines among medium-and small-size businesses
indicate that the recession continues to spread beyond manufacturing and housing-related activities to almost every area of the economy," it noted.
The report sponsored by ADP is maintained by Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC and it is a measure of employment derived from an anonymous subset of roughly 5,00,000 US business clients.
In the last six months of 2008, the subset represented nearly 4,00,000 US business clients representing nearly 24 million American employees working in all private industrial sectors, ADP said.
Agencies
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
One in four US companies plan salary freeze
About a quarter of businesses in America have frozen workers' salaries for 2009 in the wake of a pessimistic economic outlook, according to a new survey.
Outsourcing and consulting firm Mercer in a survey released Monday said 25 percent of organizations surveyed said they have already decided not to raise their employees' pay, and another 20 percent are considering a salary freeze this year.
A year ago, just 5 percent of companies planned to suspend raises for their staff. Mercer predicted that one in three companies will have frozen wages at 2008 levels by the end of 2009.
"It's not an easy message to communicate to employees, but we think managers will be aided by the unprecedented context of these difficult decisions - including low inflation and high unemployment," said Steve Gross of Mercer.
Those companies that plan on offering raises to their employees will give smaller-than-expected pay increases, Mercer said. The average expected salary bump at those businesses was just 3.2 percent, down from a planned 3.6 percent according to an October study.
The news comes as many employers are opting to slash jobs rather than reduce or freeze pay. Announced layoffs so far this year have already topped 300,000, and the Labour Department reported Friday that employers slashed 598,000 jobs in January - the single highest monthly job-loss total since December 1974.
Mercer also reported that executives are far less likely to get a salary increase than other employees in 2009. According to the survey, just 61 percent of companies are planning to raise their executives' pay, and 77 percent of respondents plan to decrease the level of executive compensation from their October projections.
Only 69 percent of employers plan to raise salaries for employees in managerial positions.
"Given lacklustre corporate performance and recent pressure from regulators, shareholders and the president (Barack Obama), it's not surprising to see that over the past few months, more than one-third of participants who reported executive salary data went from a 2009 planned base-salary increase for their executives to a freeze," said Gross.
Agencies
Outsourcing and consulting firm Mercer in a survey released Monday said 25 percent of organizations surveyed said they have already decided not to raise their employees' pay, and another 20 percent are considering a salary freeze this year.
A year ago, just 5 percent of companies planned to suspend raises for their staff. Mercer predicted that one in three companies will have frozen wages at 2008 levels by the end of 2009.
"It's not an easy message to communicate to employees, but we think managers will be aided by the unprecedented context of these difficult decisions - including low inflation and high unemployment," said Steve Gross of Mercer.
Those companies that plan on offering raises to their employees will give smaller-than-expected pay increases, Mercer said. The average expected salary bump at those businesses was just 3.2 percent, down from a planned 3.6 percent according to an October study.
The news comes as many employers are opting to slash jobs rather than reduce or freeze pay. Announced layoffs so far this year have already topped 300,000, and the Labour Department reported Friday that employers slashed 598,000 jobs in January - the single highest monthly job-loss total since December 1974.
Mercer also reported that executives are far less likely to get a salary increase than other employees in 2009. According to the survey, just 61 percent of companies are planning to raise their executives' pay, and 77 percent of respondents plan to decrease the level of executive compensation from their October projections.
Only 69 percent of employers plan to raise salaries for employees in managerial positions.
"Given lacklustre corporate performance and recent pressure from regulators, shareholders and the president (Barack Obama), it's not surprising to see that over the past few months, more than one-third of participants who reported executive salary data went from a 2009 planned base-salary increase for their executives to a freeze," said Gross.
Agencies
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
US private cos layoff 5,22,000 jobs in January
Private sector companies in the US slashed a stunning 5,22,000 jobs in January, in yet another indication of the worsening labour market situation.
The latest ADP (Automatic Data Processing Inc) report showed that non-farm private employment on a seasonally adjusted basis, declined 5,22,000 in January 2009.
The ADP National Employment Report is based on anonymous payroll data and is maintained by Macroeconomic Advisers LLC.
In a statement today, ADP said the report for January estimates "non-farm private employment in the service-providing sector fell by 2,79,000".
While the goods-producing sector shed 2,43,000 jobs, the manufacturing industry saw the loss of 1,60,000 jobs last month.
According to the report, large businesses which are defined as those with 500 or more workers, slashed 92,000 jobs. Further, medium-size and small-size entities reduced their workforce by 2,55,000 and 1,75,000 employees, respectively.
Medium-size companies are those having 50 to 499 people whereas small-size firms are described as those with less than 50 workers.
Agencies
The latest ADP (Automatic Data Processing Inc) report showed that non-farm private employment on a seasonally adjusted basis, declined 5,22,000 in January 2009.
The ADP National Employment Report is based on anonymous payroll data and is maintained by Macroeconomic Advisers LLC.
In a statement today, ADP said the report for January estimates "non-farm private employment in the service-providing sector fell by 2,79,000".
While the goods-producing sector shed 2,43,000 jobs, the manufacturing industry saw the loss of 1,60,000 jobs last month.
According to the report, large businesses which are defined as those with 500 or more workers, slashed 92,000 jobs. Further, medium-size and small-size entities reduced their workforce by 2,55,000 and 1,75,000 employees, respectively.
Medium-size companies are those having 50 to 499 people whereas small-size firms are described as those with less than 50 workers.
Agencies
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