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Computerworld - The U.S. government's H-1B visa usage data for fiscal 2008 shows that offshore outsourcing firms based in India are employing a growing number of H-1B workers — a hiring trend that is affecting the IT workforces in communities such as Oldsmar, Fla.

Oldsmar is the home of a technology center operated by The Nielsen Co., which measures TV audiences, consumer trends and other metrics for its clients. Nielsen last year began laying off workers at the facility after announcing in October 2007 a 10-year global outsourcing agreement valued at $1.2 billion with Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.

And while Nielsen cut employees, Mumbai, India-based Tata was increasing its hiring of H-1B workers. Tata received approval for a total of 1,539 H-1B visas during the federal fiscal year that ended last September, according to government data released this week. That was nearly double the 797 visas that the outsourcing and IT services vendor received in fiscal 2007.

In Oldsmar, "they are still bringing in Indians," said Janice Miller, a city councilwoman who lives about a mile from the Nielsen facility. "And there are a lot of [local] people out of work."

Nielsen received a variety of state and local incentives in 2001 to build the $100 million technology center. Because some of the incentives were pegged to employment levels, the company reported actions such as its layoffs to local officials. But after the public uproar over the cutbacks, Nielsen last July said it would end its use of tax breaks from Oldsmar and Florida's Pinellas County that had saved the company a total of $1.4 million.

Nielsen officials couldn't immediately be reached for comment on the current employment levels at the tech center. On its Web site, the company says 1,500 people work at the facility and details its multimillion-dollar contributions to the local economy. But Nielsen doesn't say how many of those workers are contractors. In July, Nielsen said it expected to have about 1,300 employees in Oldsmar by the end of last year, plus 250 or so contract workers.

The number of H-1B visas that can be issued annually is capped by Congress at 65,000, plus an additional 20,000 set aside for foreigners who hold advanced degrees from U.S. universities. But while the total of available visas remains constant, the number issued to the major offshoring vendors is rising.

The four largest H-1B recipients last year are all based in India: Infosys Technologies Ltd., with 4,559 visas; Wipro Ltd., with 2,678; Satyam Computer Services Ltd., with 1,917; and Tata. The number of visas issued to Infosys was identical to what it received in fiscal 2007, but Wipro, Satyam and Tata all saw increases.