TCS questioned by US lawmakers over H-1B hires, layoffs, wage practices

US lawmakers have sought clarifications from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) regarding its continued filing of H-1B visa petitions, even as the company carries out layoffs of American tech workers

US lawmakers are intensifying scrutiny of the H-1B visa programme, reaching the top executives of major US corporations. As part of a broader Senate investigation, Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Dick Durbin have sent letters to the CEOs of 10 leading companies, including Amazon, Apple, Cognizant, Deloitte, Google, JPMorgan Chase, Meta, Microsoft, Walmart, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), according to a report by Financial Express.

 

The H-1B visa programme, designed to bring foreign workers into the US, has become the focus of criticism over the treatment of the country’s non-immigrant temporary workforce. US companies are accused of displacing American employees by hiring foreign workers at lower wages.

 

The letters emphasise concerns over the apparent practice of filing thousands of H-1B visa petitions while laying off American employees. Lawmakers argue that such actions could disadvantage domestic talent, particularly in light of rising unemployment within the technology sector and among recent STEM graduates. 

TCS under the microscope

TCS is the only Indian company among the 10 addressed. Lawmakers have requested a detailed response from the company by October 10, 2025. According to the letter sent to TCS, the company recently announced plans to lay off more than 12,000 employees worldwide, including a number of American staff. In Jacksonville, for instance, nearly 60 employees were laid off last month.

 

Simultaneously, TCS continues to petition for H-1B visas. In fiscal year 2025, the company received approval to hire 5,505 H-1B workers, making it the second-largest employer of newly approved H-1B beneficiaries in the United States. Lawmakers question why the company appears unable to fill these roles with qualified American workers.

Key concerns and questions

The letter raised several specific questions:

 

• Why is TCS hiring foreign workers while hundreds of thousands of American tech employees have been laid off in recent years?
• Does the company make a genuine effort to recruit Americans before filing H-1B petitions?
• Are H-1B job postings kept separate from general hiring advertisements?
• Has TCS replaced any American employees with H-1B workers?
• Are H-1B hires offered equivalent salaries and benefits to American employees with similar qualifications?
• How many H-1B workers were recruited at level one wages, and how many remain at this pay level?
• Does TCS use contractors or staffing firms to place H-1B employees within the company?
• Of the current H-1B workforce, how many are directly employed and paid by TCS?
• For H-1B approvals in 2025, how many workers were outsourced and how many had their salaries paid by a third-party firm?

The investigation also follows an ongoing Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigation into allegations that TCS may have replaced older American employees with younger H-1B hires, a matter that could have significant legal and reputational consequences for the company.