Infosys has been in the eye of the storm on alleged violation of H-1B and business visa norms on several occasions in the US
In an interesting turn of events, a former recruiter in the US who was employed with India’s second-largest information technology services firm Infosys, has revealed that the company authorities were encouraging recruiters to focus more on hiring Indian candidates over Americans.
According to Computerworld magazine, the account of the said recruiter, Samuel Marrero, has been included in the amended complaint last week, originally filed by four job seekers in the US late last year at a federal court in Wisconsin. The lawsuit had alleged that Infosys indulged in ‘national origin and race discrimination’ by giving preference to candidates belonging to South Asia.
“In weekly conference calls held by company officials, the lawsuit says, recruiters were encouraged to focus their efforts on Indian candidates and ‘stick to the talent we’re used to’,” the report published on the Computerworld website said. It said when Marrero asked Infosys officials if the company wanted him to hire just Indian talent, one of the Infosys officials on the call (who has been identified in the complaint) allegedly responded: “Yes. They know our style and culture.” Samuel Marrero worked as a recruiter in Infosys's talent acquisition team from 2011 to May 2013, according to the report.
Infosys, however, termed these allegations as 'incorrect’. In reply to an email query, the Bangalore-based company has said currently it is recruiting to fill over 440 active openings across 20 states in the US. This includes 300 positions for professional hires and about 140 openings targeting local and fresh MBA graduates, master’s degree holders and undergraduates to bolster the firm’s sales and management consulting teams.
“Attracting the best and brightest talent is paramount to Infosys’ success…We are an equal opportunity employer and hire from the local market in line with our business needs. We not only post every external job opening to accord equal opportunity to everyone, but, we also advertise our job openings on a variety of local job boards,” the company said.
Infosys has been in the eye of the storm on alleged violation of H-1B and business visa norms on several occasions in the US. Earlier this month, Jack Palmer, a former Infosys employee who had triggered a probe by US authorities three years ago into Infosys’s visa practices, filed a fresh case in a New Jersey district court. He alleged he had been discriminated against because he had raised the issue of breach of US visa rules.
In 2011, Palmer had sued Infosys in an Alabama state court accusing the company of harassment and breach of contract after he raised concerns about possible visa violations by the firm. The case was subsequently dismissed by a US district judge court on the grounds that there was “no basis to support any of the charges filed by Palmer”.
Last year, Infosys had paid $34 million (Rs 204 crore) for civil settlement of a US visa misuse case. Despite this, the company was asked by the US authorities to retain an independent third-party auditor at its expense to review visa compliance until 2015.
Infosys is one of the leading users of the H-1B visa programme in the US, its largest market. In the quarter ended June 30, North America accounted for close to 61 per cent of Infosys’s overall revenues.
According to Infosys, the company is supporting many external organisations as a part of its outreach effort to encourage diverse recruitment, education and professional achievement. Besides, it has partnerships with institutes including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Office of Engineering Outreach Programs, the National Black MBA Association, the National Center for Women & Information Technology, the National Society of Hispanic MBA and the Network of Champions in the US.
Infy's human perspective
160,405 is the number of employees Infosys had as of March 31, 2014, covering 98 nationalities
The number includes
- 144,121 in India
- 5,512 in APAC region
- 5,771 in Americas
- 5,001 in Europe,
- Middle East and Africa
- Globally, Infosys has 93 development centres
Major part of Infosys’s manpower requirement is met by recruiting students in India
As of March 31, 2014, majority of Infosys’s professionals in the US held either H-1B or L-1 visas
Company selectively recruits students through campus programmes in the US, the UK, Australia and China
