TNB Tech Minute: Trump Administration Proposes Requiring Higher Wages for H-1B Visa Holders

0:00OutSystems is an outstanding way to quickly deploy apps and AI agents in the river results. A top US bank deployed apps for customers to open new accounts, while a global brewer developed an app to automate tasks worldwide. OutSystems, build your agentic future. Here's your afternoon TNB Tech Minute for Friday, March 27th. I'm Danny Lewis for the Wall Street Journal. In its latest move to discourage companies from hiring foreign workers instead of Americans, the Trump administration plans to require that companies pay higher wages for people who come to the US on visas for high skilled employees, a popular tool for tech companies. A new rule proposed by the Labor Department this week would lift the minimum pay for software developers and other workers who come to the US on some visas, including the H1B program. Pay floors could rise as high as 33% according to the Labor Department's proposal. Tech companies have long used H1B visas to hire foreign nationals, a tool they say is needed to offset worker shortages for high skilled professionals.

1:00Novartis says it agreed to purchase biotech firm Accelergy for up to $2 billion. The deal would add a new approach to treating allergic diseases to the Swiss pharmaceutical company's immunology pipeline, including a drug candidate in early stage trials. Accelergy also recently launched a new drug called Rapsido for chronic hives with no known trigger. It's the latest in a series of acquisitions by Novartis in recent months, as the company turns to deal making to fill its drug pipeline and offset patent explorations. And in stock markets today, gaming software company Unity raised its first quarter revenue guidance and said it would exit the non-strategic advertising business and divest from its game publishing business, supersonic. Shares were up about 13.5% this afternoon. And Shares in Lumentum Holdings rose 2% this afternoon after the laser maker said it would establish a new manufacturing plant in North Carolina. The facility will produce advanced indium-phosphide-based optical devices, which serve as critical components in AI data centers.

2:01And that's a wrap on your TNB tech minutes. For a deeper dive into what's happening in tech, check out our Tech News Briefing podcast on Tuesdays and Fridays. So many organizations choose out systems. Because it's an outstanding way to quickly deploy apps in AI agents and deliver results. A top US bank deployed apps for their customers to easily open new accounts on any device. We helped a leading global insurer quickly deliver a portal and app for their employees, while a global brewer developed an app to automate tasks to clear bottlenecks, out systems. Build your agentic future. To learn more, visit outsystems.com slash WSJ.