US President Donald Trump has called on major technology giants including Google, Microsoft, and others to halt tech recruitment in India and concentrate hiring efforts on American workers. The statement, delivered at a high-profile AI Summit in Washington, signals a profound shift from globalization to tech sector nationalism, with ramifications for Indian IT talent, the US innovation economy, and Silicon Valley’s global reach.
At the AI Summit, Trump declared:
“Many of our largest tech companies have reaped the blessings of American freedom while building their factories in China, hiring workers in India, and slashing profits in Ireland… Under President Trump, those days are over.”
He further pressed the industry to “put America first,” warning tech leaders that “winning the AI race will demand a new spirit of patriotism and national loyalty in Silicon Valley and long beyond.” Trump signed three executive orders centered on Artificial Intelligence and workforce priorities to cement the administration’s tech-first and America-first agenda
US tech giants are being asked to stop recruiting in India and other offshore locations, with Trump explicitly advising against tech outsourcing and the expansion of overseas operations. The focus is shifting towards keeping high-skill, high-value AI and tech jobs inside the US.
Trump criticized what he called “radical globalism” that, in his words, left millions of Americans feeling betrayed by the offshoring of US technology jobs.
Many companies, including Google and Microsoft, have historically relied on Indian IT professionals for both US-based roles and offshore development centers. A clampdown on hiring in India could disrupt talent pipelines, increase labor costs, and challenge the fast pace of innovation that the tech industry has sustained via global collaboration.
Indian IT workers especially those working under the H-1B visa in the US face renewed uncertainty, as past Trump-era policies already made skilled-immigration more difficult and increased denial rates for work visas. American job seekers in tech may see more roles opening up domestically although multiple industry studies have shown that local talent shortages in tech persist in many areas.
Trump’s direct message to top tech employers comes on the heels of similar calls to Apple to “make in America, not India” and a broader effort to re-shore manufacturing and engineering jobs from global hubs like India and China back to the US. Industry groups and tech CEOs maintain that access to a global workforce especially in AI and cloud engineering remains essential for competitiveness and innovation, warning that a narrow nationalist policy could risk undermining Silicon Valley’s global leadership.
US tech companies may face pressure to re-examine global workforce strategies, potentially reducing hiring and site expansion in India.
Industry pushback is likely, with leading firms highlighting the ongoing tech talent shortage in the US and the need for global expertise.
For Indian professionals, the path to US-based tech careers may become narrower, pushing some to explore opportunities in other countries or focus on India’s burgeoning innovation sector.
Policy changes and new immigration directives are expected in the months ahead as the administration acts on these new executive orders.
