US H-1B Visa Cost Increase Is 'Manageable,' HSBC Says

Watch US H-1B Visa Cost Increase Is 'Manageable,' HSBC Says - Bloomberg on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00We've had this change on the H-1B visa.

00:03How much does that affect you?

00:04Because we know it affects tech heavily.

00:05It also affects finance.

00:07It does.

00:08You know, our operations in the United States are about 6,000 people.

00:10So, relatively, it's much less than if you're Microsoft or Google or some of the big tech companies

00:15or some of our American competitors.

00:18We had a flurry of activity this weekend, like everyone else.

00:21I think it was unfortunate because the initial policy was unclear as to whether it was retroactive or prospective.

00:28They've now clarified that it is prospective, so that makes it much easier.

00:33I think it was going to be very disconcerting for a lot of people,

00:35in particular those holders of those visas who were traveling abroad.

00:39But are you instructing staff to stay put?

00:43Do you think in the longer term you'll have more staff based, say, in Asia or in Europe?

00:48You know, again, we don't have a huge amount of the H-1B visa holders.

00:54Yes, I think for all companies, you know, to pay an extra $100,000 on top of everything else,

00:58it is going to change the way we look at staffing.

01:01I think for us, it's manageable.

01:04I think for maybe other financial services companies similarly.

01:07I think for tech companies, that is a much bigger issue.

01:10I think for them, they're not going to talk to people in the future.

01:16I think for others, it might be a lot of people in the future.

01:17They're going to be a lot of people in the future.