China and Mexico seem to be the target of Donald Trump's campaign and his response to get jobs back to America
The $146 billion Indian IT services industry could well heave a sigh of relief as the first presidential debate between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton did not have any mention of job losses due to the IT services industry or the H1-b visa issue.
Rather, China and Mexico seem to be the target of Trump's campaign and his response to get jobs back to America. This does come as a surprise, considering that Trump had previously spoken against the Indian IT industry and tech job losses in the US.
“I think the US also realises that what the Indian IT industry contributes just adds to the competitive edge of the US corporates. Look at the industry and you see the change. These day’s conversation is no more about headcount or how many people are being added but on platforms, technology etc,” said Ganesh Natrajan, ex-CEO, Zensar Technologies, and a member of the Nasscom executive council.
The 90 minute debate saw Trump charging on China and Mexico and how companies are moving out of the US and going to these countries for production. During the campaign, Trump has been vocal on H1-B visa and had proposed to raise the minimum wage for this most-popular work visa for Indian technology professionals.
When asked how Trump is a better candidate to put back money into US citizen’s pocket, he said: “Our jobs are fleeing the country. They're going to Mexico. They're going to many other countries.
You look at what China is doing to our country in terms of making our product. They're devaluing their currency, and there's nobody in our government to fight them. Because they're using our country as a piggy bank to rebuild China, and many other countries are doing the same thing.”
Trump further added: “We have to stop our companies from leaving the United States and, with it, firing all of their people. All you have to do is take a look at Carrier air conditioning in Indianapolis. They left - fired 1,400 people. They're going to Mexico. So many hundreds and hundreds of companies are doing this.”
As for Clinton, her focus was on small and medium industries and jobs in infrastructure, in advanced manufacturing, innovation and technology, clean, renewable energy, and small business, because most of the new jobs will come from small business.
India and tech job losses have always been part of presidential elections in the US for several years. Natarajan added that the industry has also started to hire people in local markets. "The industry is creating jobs in the US and other markets," he said.
Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters
