A new report by the prominent think tank Economic Policy Institute alleges that thousands of migrant IT workers on the H-1B visa program for high-skilled workers have been underpaid by a combined total of at least $95 million annually.
The workers in the report are employed by HCL Technologies, an India-based IT staffing firm that places workers at major companies in the U.S. through the H-1B visa system, which is a work visa for high-skilled workers that has been used to attract top talent to the United States and to fill worker shortages in STEM fields. In 2020, the Department of Labor approved HCL for 104 positions with H-1B visas at Google, 45 at FedEx, and 27 at Disney.
The think tank’s new report is based on an analysis of data from an internal HCL presentation released as an exhibit in an ongoing whistleblower lawsuit filed against HCL in September that alleges visa fraud under the False Claims Act. The report alleges that H-1B workers are being systematically paid less than their American-born colleagues are paid for the same roles.
A spokesperson for HCL denied the allegations made in this report, stating, “HCL Technologies is strictly compliant with all relevant rules and regulations and is committed to pay wages to all employees in accordance with applicable laws.”
The HCL presentation lays out plans for H-1B visas for the fiscal year 2016 and was likely created in 2014 or 2015, according to the report’s authors. The presentation contains data on HCL’s...
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