The first week of November 2025 brought two events into sharp focus for India’s skilled workforce: the ambitious Bengaluru Skill Summit in Karnataka and the shockwaves from the United States’ dramatic H-1B visa fee hike. While one celebrated the promise of a future-ready, inclusive talent pool, the other cast a shadow over international job prospects for Indian graduates, especially those eyeing the famed American dream.
In Bengaluru, the city’s grand Lalit Ashok hotel played host to the inaugural Bengaluru Skill Summit from November 4 to 6, a landmark gathering organized by the Department of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood (SDEL), Government of Karnataka. The event’s theme, “Workforce 2030: Scale, Systems, Synergy,” set the tone for a conversation about transforming Karnataka’s workforce through large-scale skill development, robust training and certification systems, and international partnerships.
According to SDEL, the summit drew over 3,000 attendees, including policymakers, corporate leaders, academic experts, and innovators. More than 100 speakers—ranging from ministers and global leaders to academic pioneers—shared their perspectives on the future of work, while 50+ exhibitors and partners showcased the latest in skill development technology and pedagogy. The summit’s opening ceremony on November 4, inaugurated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, was attended by Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Dr. Sharanaprakash R. Patil, Minister for Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood and Medical Education. Distinguished guests included Muhammad Reza Cassem Uteem, Minister of Labour and Industrial Relations from Mauritius, and Gupta, Managing Director – India and Asia Pacific, Coursera.
In his keynote address, Dr. Sharanaprakash R. Patil highlighted Karnataka’s achievements and ongoing efforts in skill development. He emphasized the necessity of reaching “rural youth, women, self-help groups, marginalized communities, persons with disabilities, and traditional artisans and craftsmen.” The summit’s focus on inclusivity resonated in subsequent sessions, with Saraswati Ramachandra, Managing Director of Lightcast India, outlining practical steps to ensure underrepresented groups could access new opportunities.
International collaboration was a recurrent theme. Muhammad Reza Cassem Uteem underscored the vital role of Indian workers in the Mauritian economy, while Dr. Philipp Ackermann, Ambassador of Germany to India, joined virtually to discuss the growing number of Indian students and professionals contributing to Germany’s workforce. These global perspectives echoed throughout the summit, especially during a panel featuring German representatives who explored the skills Indian professionals need to thrive abroad.
Back in the United States, however, the pathway for Indian graduates took a sharp turn. As reported by Bloomberg and The Times of India, President Donald Trump’s administration introduced a staggering $100,000 application fee for the H-1B visa, effective from the next lottery period after September 2025. This move, intended to safeguard American employment and wages, has left Indian students and other international candidates reeling. Companies, faced with the prospect of steep sponsorship costs, have begun to automatically reject applicants requiring H-1B visas—no matter their qualifications.
Walmart Inc., the nation’s largest private employer, announced it would suspend job offers for candidates needing H-1B visas. According to Bloomberg, Ishaan Chauhan, an Indian student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, summed up the prevailing mood: “It doesn’t matter if you went to the best university or you have the best GPA or you did the best internships, you can still fail. The question that always pops up is: Could you now or in the future need sponsorship? And that sort of just ends the conversation itself.”
The numbers tell a stark story. Handshake, a student-focused career platform, found that the proportion of full-time positions offering visa sponsorship plummeted from 10.9% in 2023 to just 1.9% in 2025. The technology sector, long a magnet for Indian talent, saw the steepest drop—down to a third of its previous year’s level. With roughly 1.1 million international students enrolled in American universities, according to Institute of International Education data, the impact is widespread and deeply felt.
Recruitment has slowed across white-collar sectors, with companies exercising heightened caution in hiring. AI-driven automation has reduced the number of entry-level positions, compounding the difficulties for recent graduates. Kevin Collins of Carnegie Mellon University’s Career and Professional Development Centre observed that “organisations are seeing heightened caution in their recruitment activities presently,” forcing international students to apply to significantly more positions than before. At Yale University, Kelly McSergi reported similar reluctance among employers, with some citing the long wait (up to nine months) between job offers and actual start dates for new graduates as a deterrent to sponsorship.
The Trump administration’s rationale, as articulated by White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers, is that the fee hike prevents system exploitation and protects American wage levels, while giving legitimate businesses greater certainty in recruitment. Yet, industry groups and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have filed legal proceedings against the fee hike, labeling it unlawful and urging the courts to intervene. Major technology firms—Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta—are considered especially vulnerable to these regulatory shifts, given their reliance on skilled international hires.
Ironically, research from the Manhattan Institute, cited by The Times of India, paints a very different picture of Indian immigrants’ impact on the U.S. economy. According to their study, each Indian immigrant contributes, on average, to a $1.6 million reduction in U.S. national debt over three decades, while generating the highest GDP impact among all immigrant groups. Chinese immigrants follow, with an $800,000 reduction in national debt over the same period. These findings challenge the narrative that skilled immigration is an economic burden, suggesting instead that groups like Indians are precisely the kind of immigrants the U.S. economy needs.
Meanwhile, the Bengaluru Skill Summit pressed forward with its vision for a future-ready workforce. Day two saw E.V. Ramana Reddy, Chairman of the Karnataka Skill Development Authority, outline the state’s progress, followed by a keynote from Ravi Venkatesan on adapting to the age of AI. Panel discussions explored sustainability, education, technology, and the trillion-dollar economy Karnataka aims to build by 2032. Winners of the Karnataka Skill Competition and Skillathon were felicitated, and the Kaushalya Karnataka Awards honored outstanding Self-Help Groups, Government Tool Room & Training Centres, and Industrial Training Institutes.
The summit’s exhibition showcased innovative solutions from organizations such as Labournet Foundation, MeritTrac, ISACA, SuprMentr, and Smartail, providing ample networking opportunities for attendees. Subroto Bagchi, Co-Founder of Mindtree, detailed his efforts to strengthen vocational education, while roundtable sessions delved into the intersection of technology, education, and skilling.
As Karnataka doubles down on building an inclusive, globally competitive workforce, the challenges faced by Indian students in the U.S. highlight the unpredictable terrain of international mobility. For many, the road ahead may be fraught with uncertainty—but the drive for skills, adaptability, and opportunity remains undiminished.
