H-1B visa: Why Warren Buffett is bullish on immigrants
NEW DELHI: In his recent annual letter to shareholders, Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., mentioned "ambitious immigrants" for growth in the US.
“Americans have combined human ingenuity, a market system, a tide of talented and ambitious immigrants, and the rule of law to deliver abundance beyond any dreams of our forefathers," Buffett wrote in his letter which has become a mega event in the US over the years as shareholders wait to read nuggets of wisdom from Buffett who is a legend in investment circles.
Buffett's statement could be a reality check for US President Donald Trump's controversial efforts to cap work visas for foreign companies, mainly in the tech sector.
Indian IT companies, which will suffer greatly from Trump's curbs on H-1B visas, are in fact big contributors to the US economy in several ways.
The most obvious contribution is the Indians heading top tech firms. Google and Microsoft won't have Sunder Pichai and Satya Nadella had it not been for a liberal work visa regime.
Pichai and Nadella lead what Buffett calls "the tide of talented and ambitious immigrants" which includes dozens of Indians at top places in big American companies. A few of them are Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayan, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga, GlobalFoundries CEO Sanjay Jha, NetApp CEO George Kurien and Harman International CEO Dinesh Paliwal.
When lauding immigrants, Buffett must be speaking from first-hand experience. His Berkshire Hathaway Insurance is headed by an immigrant and his faourite, Ajit Jain. Jain is seen as Buffett's successor at the holding company headed by Buffett.
Moreover, Indian IT companies fill the demand-supply gap in tech employment. Nasscom states that there would be a shortage of 230,000 advanced degree STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) workforce by 2018. Availability of computer professionals by 2022 will be very low. For a demand of 945,000 professional, only 500,000 will be available.
According to a 2015 Nasscom report, Indian information technology (IT) companies make huge contribution to the US economy. Here are the contributions the Nasscom report lists:
1. Jobs
Indian companies supported more than 410,000 jobs in the US These included 255,000 indirect and 156,000 direct jobs.
2. Investment
From 2011 to 2013, Indian companies invested $2 billion in the US.
3. Taxes
Indian companies paid more than $20 billion taxes in the US from 2011 to 2015.
4. Social contribution
Leading Indian tech firms touched more than 120,000 American lives through CSR activities from 2011 to 2013. These activities included providing sponsorships and mentoring programs; funding healthcare programs; donations for the welfare of the society; and capacity-building initiatives such as providing training programs and assisting in resume writing.
5. Intangible contributions
Other contributions such as fueling innovation, building efficiencies, reducing time-to-market and helping gain market share are difficult to quantify.
6. Wages
It's a myth that Foreign talent is being hired at lower salaries. Nasscom report says Indian tech industry pays equivalent wages to the U.S. nationals and foreign workers. In 2013, wages for a US national were $81,447 while those for a US visa holder were $81,022 plus $15,000 fees.
“Americans have combined human ingenuity, a market system, a tide of talented and ambitious immigrants, and the rule of law to deliver abundance beyond any dreams of our forefathers," Buffett wrote in his letter which has become a mega event in the US over the years as shareholders wait to read nuggets of wisdom from Buffett who is a legend in investment circles.
Buffett's statement could be a reality check for US President Donald Trump's controversial efforts to cap work visas for foreign companies, mainly in the tech sector.
Indian IT companies, which will suffer greatly from Trump's curbs on H-1B visas, are in fact big contributors to the US economy in several ways.
The most obvious contribution is the Indians heading top tech firms. Google and Microsoft won't have Sunder Pichai and Satya Nadella had it not been for a liberal work visa regime.
Pichai and Nadella lead what Buffett calls "the tide of talented and ambitious immigrants" which includes dozens of Indians at top places in big American companies. A few of them are Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayan, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga, GlobalFoundries CEO Sanjay Jha, NetApp CEO George Kurien and Harman International CEO Dinesh Paliwal.
When lauding immigrants, Buffett must be speaking from first-hand experience. His Berkshire Hathaway Insurance is headed by an immigrant and his faourite, Ajit Jain. Jain is seen as Buffett's successor at the holding company headed by Buffett.
Moreover, Indian IT companies fill the demand-supply gap in tech employment. Nasscom states that there would be a shortage of 230,000 advanced degree STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) workforce by 2018. Availability of computer professionals by 2022 will be very low. For a demand of 945,000 professional, only 500,000 will be available.
According to a 2015 Nasscom report, Indian information technology (IT) companies make huge contribution to the US economy. Here are the contributions the Nasscom report lists:
1. Jobs
Indian companies supported more than 410,000 jobs in the US These included 255,000 indirect and 156,000 direct jobs.
2. Investment
From 2011 to 2013, Indian companies invested $2 billion in the US.
3. Taxes
Indian companies paid more than $20 billion taxes in the US from 2011 to 2015.
4. Social contribution
Leading Indian tech firms touched more than 120,000 American lives through CSR activities from 2011 to 2013. These activities included providing sponsorships and mentoring programs; funding healthcare programs; donations for the welfare of the society; and capacity-building initiatives such as providing training programs and assisting in resume writing.
5. Intangible contributions
Other contributions such as fueling innovation, building efficiencies, reducing time-to-market and helping gain market share are difficult to quantify.
6. Wages
It's a myth that Foreign talent is being hired at lower salaries. Nasscom report says Indian tech industry pays equivalent wages to the U.S. nationals and foreign workers. In 2013, wages for a US national were $81,447 while those for a US visa holder were $81,022 plus $15,000 fees.
