US lawmakers have questioned Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) over its use of the H-1B visa programme, recent layoffs, and wage practices, as part of a broader Senate investigation into the employment of foreign workers, Financial Express reported.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Dick Durbin sent letters to the chief executives of 10 large companies, including Amazon, Apple, Cognizant, Deloitte, Google, JPMorgan Chase, Meta, Microsoft, Walmart and TCS, Financial Express said. The letters raised concerns that companies may be filing thousands of H-1B visa petitions while at the same time laying off American employees.
According to the report, lawmakers argued that such practices risk disadvantaging domestic workers, particularly in light of rising unemployment in the technology sector and among recent graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.
TCS response
TCS was the only Indian-headquartered company among those contacted. Lawmakers have asked TCS to respond to their questions by 10 October 2025, Financial Express reported.
The letter to TCS referred to its recent announcement of more than 12,000 job cuts worldwide, including layoffs of American staff. It highlighted that nearly 60 employees were laid off in Jacksonville, Florida, in September.
At the same time, lawmakers noted that TCS continues to petition for H-1B visas. In fiscal year 2025, the company received approval for 5,505 new H-1B workers, making it the second-largest employer of newly approved beneficiaries in the United States, Financial Express reported.
Questions raised
The letter outlined a series of questions for TCS, including:
- Why the company continues to hire foreign workers while US technology employees are losing jobs.
- Whether TCS makes a genuine effort to recruit American workers before filing H-1B petitions.
- If H-1B job postings are kept separate from other recruitment advertisements.
- Whether American employees have been replaced by H-1B workers.
- If foreign workers are paid salaries and benefits equivalent to US staff with similar qualifications.
- How many H-1B hires are recruited at level one wages, and how many remain at that wage tier.
- Whether TCS uses contractors or staffing firms to place H-1B employees and, if so, how many workers are directly employed and paid by TCS.
- For fiscal year 2025 approvals, how many H-1B workers were outsourced and paid by third-party firms.
The inquiry follows an investigation by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) into allegations that TCS replaced older American employees with younger H-1B hires. According to Financial Express, the EEOC review is ongoing.
Lawmakers noted that hundreds of thousands of US technology employees have been laid off in recent years, while major companies continue to apply for large numbers of H-1B visas. They said this raised questions about the impact of foreign hiring on domestic employment and wages.
According to the report, the Senate Judiciary Committee intends to examine responses from all 10 companies as part of its review of the H-1B programme and possible legislative reforms.
TCS, which employs more than 600,000 people worldwide, is one of the largest IT services companies globally. The United States remains its biggest market, generating a substantial portion of its revenue.
The company has not yet publicly commented on the Senate letter.