IT outsourcing firm Cognizant has received 52k H1B visas since 2009, more than any other American company. Almost all went to Indians. In October a federal jury ruled the company had intentionally discriminated against more than 2,000 non-Indian employees employed from 2013-22.
American employees were replaced by cheaper Indian H1Bs more willing to relocate. Labor costs drove hiring, not skills. Fewer than 20 percent of H1Bs Cognizant sponsored since 2020 hold a masters degree or higher. IT companies use the visas to fill lower level roles.
In 2015 Cognizant executives panicked when a bill in Congress aimed to prevent companies with more than 50% of its workforce on H1B visas from receiving more. The former head of US recruitment at Cognizant says “the entire business model is built off cheap Indian labor.”
A former executive alleges that he was asked to sign hundreds of official H1B applications for assignments under him that did not exist. He claims he was fired after filing an internal complaint alleging discrimination against non-South Indian employees.
Insiders allege Cognizant keeps a reserve of H1B workers abroad and gives them preferred assignments in the US. Corporate prefers transferring workers from India to hiring an Americans. American workers train them and are terminated shortly thereafter.
In the past five years, the five largest IT outsourcing companies have all settled, lost, or are currently fighting similar discrimination lawsuits. Plaintiffs stand to win hundreds of millions of dollars. These are the “skilled workers” companies sponsor under the H1B program.
IT outsourcing firm Cognizant has received 52k H1B visas since 2009, more than any other American company. Almost all went to Indians. In October a federal jury ruled the company had intentionally discriminated against more than 2,000 non-Indian employees employed from 2013-22.
American employees were replaced by cheaper Indian H1Bs more willing to relocate. Labor costs drove hiring, not skills. Fewer than 20 percent of H1Bs Cognizant sponsored since 2020 hold a masters degree or higher. IT companies use the visas to fill lower level roles.
In 2015 Cognizant executives panicked when a bill in Congress aimed to prevent companies with more than 50% of its workforce on H1B visas from receiving more. The former head of US recruitment at Cognizant says “the entire business model is built off cheap Indian labor.”
A former executive alleges that he was asked to sign hundreds of official H1B applications for assignments under him that did not exist. He claims he was fired after filing an internal complaint alleging discrimination against non-South Indian employees.
Insiders allege Cognizant keeps a reserve of H1B workers abroad and gives them preferred assignments in the US. Corporate prefers transferring workers from India to hiring an Americans. American workers train them and are terminated shortly thereafter.
In the past five years, the five largest IT outsourcing companies have all settled, lost, or are currently fighting similar discrimination lawsuits. Plaintiffs stand to win hundreds of millions of dollars. These are the “skilled workers” companies sponsor under the H1B program.
In the past, it was noticed that through bulk SMSes, investors were induced to invest in or purchase the stocks of certain listed companies. Telegram has gained a reputation as the “secure” communications app in the post-Soviet states, but whenever you make choices about your digital security, it’s important to start by asking yourself, “What exactly am I securing? And who am I securing it from?” These questions should inform your decisions about whether you are using the right tool or platform for your digital security needs. Telegram is certainly not the most secure messaging app on the market right now. Its security model requires users to place a great deal of trust in Telegram’s ability to protect user data. For some users, this may be good enough for now. For others, it may be wiser to move to a different platform for certain kinds of high-risk communications. Asked about its stance on disinformation, Telegram spokesperson Remi Vaughn told AFP: "As noted by our CEO, the sheer volume of information being shared on channels makes it extremely difficult to verify, so it's important that users double-check what they read." As the war in Ukraine rages, the messaging app Telegram has emerged as the go-to place for unfiltered live war updates for both Ukrainian refugees and increasingly isolated Russians alike. Emerson Brooking, a disinformation expert at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, said: "Back in the Wild West period of content moderation, like 2014 or 2015, maybe they could have gotten away with it, but it stands in marked contrast with how other companies run themselves today."
from tr
