itTata Consultancy Services has been sponsoring fewer H-1B visas to reduce dependence on the route to onboard talent for its US operations, chief executive K Krithivasan said during a conversation with ET.
India’s largest software exporter had 5,505 H-1B visa approvals in fiscal year 2025, second only to Amazon’s 10,044, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data. TCS was the only India-headquartered IT company among the top 10 on the list.
The company's disproportionate share in H-1B approvals compared to its Indian peers was due to its 600,000-strong global workforce.
“This 5,505 number is not just fresh applications. It has the amendments, the renewals...all of them are bunched together,” Krithivasan said.
However, the company has significantly brought down the number of applications, the TCS CEO added. “Historically, if you look at fresh applications, the numbers have been coming down. In the current financial year so far, we sent just about 500 people on H-1B to the US.”
Over the past five years, the top six IT employers — TCS, Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and LTIMindtree — have reduced H-1B issuances by an average of 46%, USCIS data shows.
Also Read: $100k H-1B visa fee disrupts Telugu graduates' career plans, marriages, faith
TCS is looking at “a larger workforce transformation”, Krithivasan said. “So, we believe that (reducing H-1B dependence) gives us a greater opportunity to hire more locally.”
Last week, the Indian IT bellwether announced plans to create 5,000 jobs in the UK as it opened an AI experience zone and design studio in London. The UK is TCS’s second-largest market, supporting 42,000 jobs directly and indirectly through its supply chain across 19 sites.
Meanwhile, net headcount at TCS dropped by nearly 20,000 employees in the quarter ended September. This comes amid India's largest IT services firm carrying out a massive layoff exercise impacting 2% of its global workforce.
According to data released for the second quarter of fiscal year 2026, TCS's headcount dropped to 593,314 in September. This is 19,755 fewer than the 613,069 employees it had in the June quarter.
Add Now!
India’s largest software exporter had 5,505 H-1B visa approvals in fiscal year 2025, second only to Amazon’s 10,044, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data. TCS was the only India-headquartered IT company among the top 10 on the list.
The company's disproportionate share in H-1B approvals compared to its Indian peers was due to its 600,000-strong global workforce.
“This 5,505 number is not just fresh applications. It has the amendments, the renewals...all of them are bunched together,” Krithivasan said.
However, the company has significantly brought down the number of applications, the TCS CEO added. “Historically, if you look at fresh applications, the numbers have been coming down. In the current financial year so far, we sent just about 500 people on H-1B to the US.”
Over the past five years, the top six IT employers — TCS, Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and LTIMindtree — have reduced H-1B issuances by an average of 46%, USCIS data shows.
Also Read: $100k H-1B visa fee disrupts Telugu graduates' career plans, marriages, faith
TCS is looking at “a larger workforce transformation”, Krithivasan said. “So, we believe that (reducing H-1B dependence) gives us a greater opportunity to hire more locally.”
Last week, the Indian IT bellwether announced plans to create 5,000 jobs in the UK as it opened an AI experience zone and design studio in London. The UK is TCS’s second-largest market, supporting 42,000 jobs directly and indirectly through its supply chain across 19 sites.
Meanwhile, net headcount at TCS dropped by nearly 20,000 employees in the quarter ended September. This comes amid India's largest IT services firm carrying out a massive layoff exercise impacting 2% of its global workforce.
According to data released for the second quarter of fiscal year 2026, TCS's headcount dropped to 593,314 in September. This is 19,755 fewer than the 613,069 employees it had in the June quarter.
Add 
as a Reliable and Trusted News Source
as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
