Clients back Cognizant on Immigration Bill

Current legislation as written will severely damage the US economy and lead to loss of tremendous number of high skilled jobs

Nasdaq-listed Cognizant, which continued to see growth in markets such as the US and Europe, said US clients were ready to help the company in its efforts to lobby for the Immigration Bill proposed in the US Congress.

After the company’s results for the quarter ended March were announced on Wednesday, Cognizant President Gordon Coburn told an analyst, “It is important to remember this is going to be a long process. It is yet to go into the House of Representatives. The Bill that would come out would look very different. So, clients we have been talking to feel the time to weigh in is much later.”

He added based on conversations in Washington, as well as discussions with some of clients, there was a clear understanding that the current legislation would severely damage the US economy, lead to the loss of a large number of high-skilled jobs and create diplomatic and international trade challenges. “Clearly, most politicians would not want these unintended consequences,” he said.

He pointed to the comment by Senator Robio (one of the Senators who drafted the Bill) that the Senate Bill, as it was written, “cannot pass the US House of Representatives”.

Last month, a bi-partisan group of eight US Senators had brought out a comprehensive Immigration Bill. If the Bill is passed, some provisions for temporary workers may prove detrimental to the interests of the information technology industry.

Cognizant said it was an active participant in the discussions on increasing the number of high-skilled visas and streamlining the process of securing ‘green cards’ for permanent residency. “We are one of the top applicants for green cards in the nation; it is part of our business model. We are also a large user of H and L temporary workers. We are unable to find all the talent domestically and we must support global sourcing of talent. We also recruit heavily in the US, with 75 full-time recruiters identifying experienced talent, and recruit hundreds of US university students,” Coburn said.

He added Fortune 1,000 companies relied on global talent to help them run their businesses, as well as innovate. “We are highly confident our customers will weigh in on the issue at the appropriate time,” he said.

According to data available on OpenSecrets.org, a website tracking the influence of money in US politics, last year, Cognizant spent about $960,000 for lobbying on issues such as immigration, taxes and education.