The Hindu : Business : To adjust offshore staff on U.S. project

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Tuesday, Jan 20, 2009
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Business

To adjust offshore staff on U.S. project

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD:What will be the fate of the 900-odd employees working on the US-based State Farm Insurance company’s project in Satyam Computer after the collapse of the 15-year-old engagement between them?

Satyam plans to adjust the 500-odd offshore associates, who have rich experience, in other verticals. Among the 400 onsite employees working on client’s location at Bloomington, Illinois, U.S., 180 have H1-B Visas, sponsored by the company. The rest have L1 Visas.

Those with H1-B Visas have an option to resign from Satyam and take up another job, but the sponsor company will have to give an approval.

Those with L1 Visas have no option but to return to India for joining other projects.

Will Satyam grant approval to the H1B Visa-holders? Maybe yes. If State Farm Insurance chooses some of them to work with itself and “negotiates” with other vendors (software companies) to rebadge a few more (employing the associates on the project at their current levels of operation by the new vendor), while transitioning the project, there may not be a big problem.

But if Satyam wants to retain them even though some of them wish to join the new arrangement, the employees will have to get back to India and restart the process of securing Visas.

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