'It Will Not Impact Our Workforce Strategy & Customer Engagement': TCS Reacts To US Suspension From Green Card Programme

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest IT services exporter, has said the US suspension of its access to the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) programme will not affect its workforce strategy or client engagements. The company made the statement in a filing to the BSE.

TCS says filing was in single digit since two years

TCS stated explicitly in its BSE filing, "We have noted the announcement by the US Government on the Permanent Labor Certification Program (PERM) and TCS will comply with any directive from the Department of Labor."

It added, "Our workforce strategy in the US is anchored in hiring local talent, supported by a robust campus recruitment model."

On the scale of its PERM use, the company said in the same filing. "Our PERM applications were in single digits in the last two years and hence we do not expect the suspension of the program to impact our workforce strategy and customer engagements."

Local workforce and hiring plans

TCS said it has built a "significant" local workforce across 31 offices and delivery centres in the US. It also reiterated an earlier announcement that it plans to hire 15,000 more people in the US over the next five years to add to that workforce, according to the filing.

What the suspension covers

The US Department of Labor suspended eight technology-services companies from the PERM programme on October 8, 2026, citing multiple active federal investigations. The companies are Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini. Vice President JD Vance and Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced the decision.

The department will neither accept new PERM applications from these companies nor process those already pending. Sonderling said the eight companies have received more than 230,000 H-1B approvals and over 100,000 PERM certifications since 2009. Officials cited alleged programme abuse and, in the cases of Microsoft and Adobe, multiple active federal investigations.

Why PERM matters

PERM is the first step in most employment-based green card applications. Under it, employers must show that hiring a foreign worker will not hurt the wages or jobs of US workers. The rules also require employers to run a time-consuming and costly test recruitment before filing. There is no indication yet of when the suspensions might end or whether more companies will be targeted.

Microsoft has also responded

Microsoft has defended its practices separately. It said 80 percent of the roughly 6,000 H-1B applications it filed last fiscal year were to extend or change the status of existing employees. It also said most of its US workforce is American.