Indian IT stocks lost around Rs 55,000 crore in market value in a single session after the United States suspended Cognizant’s PERM labour certification filings.

PERM, or Program Electronic Review Management, is the labour certification programme run by the US Department of Labor. It is the first step an employer completes when sponsoring a foreign employee for permanent residency, making it a core part of how technology companies build long-term, locally based workforces in the United States. A suspension of filings means affected employees cannot currently progress through that sponsorship channel, leaving employers uncertain over how long the pause will last.

The move raised fresh concerns about tighter scrutiny of work visas and alleged visa fraud. The development lands in a sector where the United States is the largest market for Indian IT exporters, and where employment-based sponsorship — from skilled-work visas to green cards — has long underpinned the model of placing skilled staff at client sites. The Economic Times Markets report framed the suspension as the latest in a string of US policy actions affecting Indian IT under the Trump administration.

For readers tracking the sector, the immediate questions are the stated grounds for the suspension, its duration, and whether the Department of Labor applies similar checks to other large employers. Cognizant’s response and any regulatory clarification will shape how the wider industry manages its US hiring and residency pipelines from here.

Source: Economic Times Markets