PERM curbs force Indian IT to dabble in the GCC business

As if it weren’t already a tough year for Indian IT companies, the US landed yet another blow this month, suspending eight technology companies from the Permanent Labour Certification programme, or PERM. The list includes Indian tech giants Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and HCL Technologies as well as US majors Microsoft and Adobe. To add insult to injury, US Vice President J.D. Vance, channelling his inner Ben Shapiro, defended the move by comparing Indian engineers working in the US to “indentured servants”. The message is clear: the US won’t let these companies “abuse the visa system”.