Infosys Sees No Material Impact From US PERM Suspension

Infosys Ltd has said it does not expect the US Department of Labor’s suspension of its participation in the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) programme to materially affect its business. The Bengaluru-based IT services company made the statement in an exchange filing on Saturday, October 10.

The Labor Department said on October 8 that it would neither accept new PERM applications nor process pending ones involving eight employers: Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Cognizant, Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe. The announcement was made by US Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, according to Business Today.

What the companies said

In its filing, Infosys said it welcomed the opportunity to work with the Labor Department and related agencies, and did not expect the announcement to have “a material impact on the organization”. The company pointed to its investments in a local US workforce and in technology and innovation hubs in the country.

TCS said it had noted the announcement, would comply with any directive from the department and did not foresee an impact, according to Upstox. The company said its US hiring relies on local campus recruitment and that it has a significant local workforce across 31 offices and delivery centres.

What PERM covers

PERM is the labour certification step that employers complete before filing certain employment-based green card petitions with US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Certification on its own does not grant a green card, and not every employment-based category requires it.

The programme is separate from the H-1B temporary work visa, and the suspension does not appear to directly affect existing H-1B visa holders, Investing.com reported. The department has not said how long the freeze will last.

US officials have alleged that some companies used the programme to replace American workers with lower-cost foreign employees. The action is part of the Trump administration’s wider tightening of skilled immigration routes.

Indian IT stocks shrugged off the news on Friday. The Nifty IT index rose 3%, while Infosys shares gained 2.65% to close at ₹1,023.40 on the NSE. The stock is still down 37% so far this year and hit a 52-week low of ₹980.40 on September 29.

Infosys had a market capitalisation of ₹4.15 lakh crore as of October 9. The US is the largest market for Indian IT services companies, which makes any shift in American immigration policy a key risk for the sector.

HCL Technologies, also named in the suspension, reports its September-quarter results on Monday, and investors will look for management commentary on the PERM action and US visa policy. Any clarification from the Labor Department on the scope and duration of the freeze will also be closely watched.