The US government’s crackdown on H-1B visa program has resulted in another casualty. The administration is now accusing IT giant Cisco of not hiring US citizens, but instead securing visas for foreign workers.
The US Department of Labor is conducting an investigation into the matter. The US department has accused Cisco of paying less than average wages to these visa holders. Cisco has denied the allegation about pay parity but has so far refused to address the issue of favoring foreign workers over American citizens.
A Cisco spokeswoman confirmed that visa holders are paid on the same basis as US citizens and permanent residents. She said, “We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce that includes ensuring that everyone who works for Cisco is paid fairly for the job that they do.”
The US firm made $49 billion this fiscal year. The company has 37,000 employees working in the US as compared to the global workforce of 72,900. Cisco employed close to 1600 visa holders in the last fiscal year alone. According to Bloomberg, Cisco received 479 H-1B visa approvals last year.
The National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) recently disclosed these numbers. The US firm had a total of 1,587 new and renewed H-1B visa holders in 2017 and the company offers an average salary of $128,389 to all its employees. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offers work visas to highly skilled eligible immigrants for temporary work in ‘specialty occupations’.
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) which is part of the U.S. Department of Labor acts as a watchdog for uncovering discriminating practices by US firms. The investigation was part of a routine audit for DOL. The probe into Cisco is one of the several ongoing investigations. Any bias against workers in the US was banned by an executive order issued in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson.
As per media reports, several other tech firms follow similar practices to misuse the provision of the H-1B visa program. Cisco was awarded nearly $259 million in federal contracts last year. A large part of that came from a deal to provide tech services for the Defense Department.