13 major IT services firms saw their PERM certifications tumble to 607 in the first nine months of FY26, a sharp decline from 1,670 in FY25 and 1,756 in FY24, according to Kotak Institutional Equities.
TCS and Wipro each logged only two certifications—a drop from 505 and 206, respectively, in FY25—while HCL Technologies fell to 28 from 94. Infosys posted 12 in FY25 but no figure for the current period, and Capgemini slid to seven from 290 in FY25.
LTM, Persistent Systems, Mphasis and Hexaware also saw reductions: 168, 58, 82, and 73 certifications respectively, compared with 127, 16, 132, and 24 in FY25.
The slump follows the US administration’s decision to suspend new and pending PERM applications involving the top firms, tightening the labor‑certification process that underpins employment‑based green cards.
With the pause in effect, companies are evaluating alternative visa pathways and re‑engineering their hiring strategies to keep talent pipelines flowing.