Indian Firms, Microsoft Top H-1B List

Indian outsourcers, along with Microsoft and Google, again lead the list of companies bringing foreign workers to the U.S. on the H-1B visa program.

According to U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS), Four India-based companies topped the list:

Infosys Technologies (INFY, India): 4,559 H-1B visas approved in 2008, 4,559 in 2007
Wipro (WIT, India): 2,678 H-1B visas approved in 2008; 2,567 in 2007
Satyam (SAY, India): 1,917 H-1B visas approved in 2008; 1,396 in 2007
Tata (TCS.BO, India): 1,539 H-1B visas approved in 2008; 797 in 2007
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT): 1,018 H-1B visas approved in 2008; 959 in 2007
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG): 248 H-1B visas approved in 2008
Lehman Brothers: 130 H-1B visas approved in 2008

In fiscal year 2007, six of the top 10 visa recipients were based in India; two others among the top 10, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) and UST Global, are headquartered in the U.S. but have most of their operations in India, according to BusinessWeek

• The H-1B program, which started in 1990, was set up to allow U.S. companies to import the best and brightest in technology, engineering, and other fields when such workers are in short supply domestically.
• The H-1B visa program is currently capped at 65,000 per year, with another 20,000 set aside for advanced-degree graduates of U.S. universities.

USCIS will begin taking H-1B applications for the next fiscal year on April 1 and will distribute the new visas on Oct. 1.

Source: U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS)

Yet Another Scandal for ‘India’s Enron’ (Satyam Computer Services)

According to FoxNews: “Satyam Computer Services Ltd., the Indian tech giant at the center of a $1 billion executive fraud and a World Bank ethics scandal, is involved in yet another kind of debacle — this time at the United Nations’ public health arm, the World Health Organization (WHO).

At issue is Satyam’s role in the development of a $55.5 million global business management system for WHO, which was slated to become the master control for staffing, financial payments and procurement by the organization by an initial deadline of September 2007.

That deadline has long since passed, and instead, according to documents obtained by FOX News, the project is far behind schedule, wallowing in glitches that have deeply affected WHO operations, and, despite management claims to the contrary, likely to end up far exceeding its budget.

Moreover, according to the documents, in the push to get at least part of the system up and running by last summer, Satyam ignored the instructions of the software’s manufacturer, Oracle, for implementing the complex system; ran user tests that validated the system without “being able to replicate a real-life situation,” provided little or no training to WHO employees; and failed to adequately involve health care professionals who see the system as a vital tool, among a host of other failings.”

Satyam’s Computer Services Chairman Arrested , Board Sacked, in Fraud Probe

According to Bloomberg: “Satyam Computer Services Ltd. chairman Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama were arrested and the remaining directors of the software exporter sacked, as India started investigating an alleged $1 billion fraud.”

“Satyam, India’s fourth-largest software exporter, plunged for a second day in Mumbai trading on concern it may run out of money after Raju said he falsified the accounts “for several years.” The scandal, whose scope is being likened to the 2001 bankruptcy of Enron Corp., has shaken confidence in Indian companies and accounting standards.”

“The Satyam case is an aberration,” Prem Chand Gupta, the Corporate Affairs Minister said. “The credibility of the Indian corporate sector in general, and IT sector in particular, should not be allowed to suffer because of this.”, according to BBC

Update (01-10-2009): “The chief financial officer of India’s Satyam Computer Services Ltd. was arrested Saturday, the third person taken into custody in a scandal that began when the company’s chairman admitted inflating profits with “fictitious” assets and non-existent cash.

Company founder B. Ramalinga Raju and his brother, Rama Raju, Satyam’s managing director, were arrested Friday in connection with the scandal. In a letter written to investigators, B. Ramalinga Raju admitted that he and his brother were responsible for cooking the books at Satyam”, according to CNN

Satyam founder B. Ramalinga Raju

Update 2 (01-10-2009): According to Naatmad: “Satyam Computer Services, [..] has said it will take fewer people on board to cut costs due to the unstable global economic environment. The company is planning to hire only 8,000-10,000 people this fiscal as against 15,000 that it had earlier planned to recruit. [..] Around 250 employees were given the pink slip last quarter.”

Update 3 (01-14-2009): According to BusinessStandard (India): Satyam may get full-time directors in a week

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European investors unfazed by “India’s Enron” in IT

According to Reuters: “European investors remain upbeat about India despite an accounting scandal at IT company Satyam Computer Services (SATY.BO) that sent Indian markets tumbling on Wednesday.

Shares in the IT group fell almost 80 percent after founder and chairman Ramalinga Raju admitted inflating the company’s reported cash and bank balances by over 50 billion rupees ($1 billion).

While shaken by what has been dubbed “India’s Enron”, some investors say they will wait for signs of widespread malfeasance among Indian companies before deciding whether to change their investment policy on India.”

• Satyam is the fourth largest of the Indian IT outsourcing firms
• Satyam serves more than a third of the Fortune 500 companies
• Satyam’s clients include multinationals such as Nestlé, General Motors (GM), and General Electric (GE)
• Satyam’s auditor is PricewaterhouseCoopers, who endorsed the company’s accounts

Update: Ramalingam Raju, the chairman of troubled Indian IT outsourcing company Satyam Computer Services, resigned on Jan. 7, 2009, admitting the firm had falsified accounts and assets and inflated its profits over several years.

(Rumor) Oracle: Major layoffs are to come in January 2009

According to rumors from different sources: “There were several layoffs reported between November – December, 2008 in Oracle’s North America consulting unit. The reduction in force included 140 IT consultants specializing in Siebel, E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, J.D. Edwards, and Hyperion products.”

Rumor: “A bunch of people were laid off from Oracle’s business units including utility and retail. Major layoffs are to come in Jan 2009”.

Rumor: “at least 2 people were laid off from PeopleSoft/Oracle unit with no warning.”

Rumor: “20% of the Education staff was let go”.

Update: According to Dow Jones and CNNMoney: “Oracle Corp.’s (NASDAQ: ORCL) fiscal second-quarter net income fell slightly, with the stronger dollar dragging on revenue and profitability.
Revenue for the quarter was lower than Wall Street expected, reflecting both the currency impact and weaker information-technology expenditure, but cost control and a strong flow of maintenance support revenue helped Oracle hit its quarterly earnings per share guidance.”

Update 2 (1-09-2009): According to rumors:

• SAP layoffs: “A source reports that SAP is making some deep cuts in SAP’s Strategic Growth Enterprise (SGE) unit (focused on the SMB space). A 300 sales-related positions were affected in North America.”
• Infor layoffs: A source reports that “Infor just laid off a staggering 85% of their senior managers and executives across UK and Europe.”

Update 3 (1-11-2009):

• India’s Oracle office in Bangalore lays off 40 people, according to The Time of India.
• Oracle India has an extensive network of more than 400 channel and alliance partners in India, which includes Infosys, Satyam, Sonata, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro.

Update 4 (1-12-2009):

• Reports said that after the acquisition of i-Flex, Oracle was planning to lay off almost all employees of that company, though the decision was scrapped after intervention of Oracle’s management, as the layoff of all i-Flex employees could project a failure of the acquisition, according to rumor

Update 5 (1-13-2009):

• An anonymous report suggests that termination packages were sent out to folks on 1/9/2009 in the US.
• PCWorld mentioned LayoffBlog.com in their Oracle layoff-related article.
• ComputerWorld also mentioned LayoffBlog.com.

Update 6 (1-13-2009):

• Oracle cut around 500 positions in its North American sales and consulting businesses last Friday (January 9, 2009), according to WSJ and other sources.
• Investors had anticipated a larger scale of the job cuts thanks to the rumors last week that the company was aiming to eliminate thousands of its employees, according to Yahoo Finance
• Oracle  employed 86,657 globally at the end of November.

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