Texas Spectator

from indian to human in 3 minutes

Meet Saicharan Suryadevara, a Spring Hill resident who works as a senior assembly process engineer for the North American division of Schneider Electric. Part of his duties include designing, optimizing, and maintaining manufacturing lines at the company’s plant in Smyrna, Tennessee. His pathway to Schneider Electric is similar to millions of others from India. He graduated in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Kakatiya Institute of Technology and Science before moving to the U.S. on an F-1 student visa to attend Clemson University, where he obtained a master’s degree in automotive engineering. Instead of returning home, he took advantage of incentives offered to international students majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math that allow them to remain for up to 36 months in the U.S. as part of the optional practical training program. This path led him to a launch process engineering role at General Motors in Spring Hill, contracted through the recruiting firm Actalent. To continue working in the U.S. longer than three years, an employer must sponsor an H-1B specialty occupation visa. Given his career timeline, Schneider Electric likely took over his sponsorship from General Motors to secure the authorization he needs to remain in the country legally. Yet, a senior assembly process engineering role requires no rare credentials. Any American with an engineering degree and standard workforce experience would qualify. Notably, while senior positions in this field typically demand five to eight years of hands-on experience, Schneider Electric hired Suryadevara into the role after just one year in the industry. In order to remain with the company, Schneider Electric will eventually need to sponsor him for an employment-based green card. Once he obtains lawful permanent residency and completes the five-year residency requirement, he will be eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship through naturalization. Why should Americans care about Schneider Electric’s hiring practices? Over the last decade, it has directly secured more than $7.65 million in Tennessee taxpayer funds. It also continuously benefits from lucrative statutory incentives, including reduced utility rates. It also benefits indirectly from taxpayers through partnerships with organizations like the Tennessee Titans. In March 2025, Schneider Electric finalized a five-year contract with the Titans as the official energy management partner for the new Nissan Stadium, scheduled to open in 2027. The $2.1 billion project is backed by one of the largest public sports subsidies in U.S. history. More than $1.25 billion is being funded publicly by Tennessee taxpayers. Politicians routinely cite domestic job growth to justify corporate handouts, but federal labor data shows Schneider Electric consistently leverages international workforce pipelines. Currently, the company sponsors more than 140 active H-1B applications nationwide annually alongside its extensive L-1 visa usage. Suryadevara is one of several H-1B employees who works at the Smyrna plant. While his exact compensation package remains private, industry benchmarks estimate his salary to be about $130,000. By contrast, a local Tennessean hired to work frontline production and logistics at the same plant averages roughly $40,000 a year — a wage that falls $12,000 below the average cost of living in the state. Ultimately, this changing workforce highlights who truly benefits from corporate welfare. When state politicians pledge billions in taxpayer-funded subsidies to conglomerates like Schneider Electric, they do so under the banner of investing in the community. In reality, Tennesseans are forced to watch while companies bypass domestic candidates in favor of foreign workers. Until local leadership ties public incentives directly to the protection of natural-born citizens, taxpayers will continue to fund their own displacement.

Meet Pinky Thakkar, a Williamson County resident who is the director of customer experience for the Global Supply Chain North America Engineered-to-Order Cluster division at Schneider Electric. As director, she is responsible for aligning supply chain operations with customer satisfaction for custom-built infrastructure projects. Thakkar, who is originally from Gujarat, India, is a longtime employee of Schneider Electric. Prior to moving to Tennessee six years ago, she relocated to Canada from India for the company. She likely moved to the U.S. using an L-1 visa, a nonimmigrant pathway allowing multinational corporations to transfer employees with specialized knowledge. This mechanism conveniently allows companies to bypass limitations associated with the H-1B visa program. Thakkar graduated from Maharaja Sayajirao University with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. Her current role as the director of customer experience, however, does not require a specialized degree. An American with a bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, management information systems, or business administration who has accumulated relevant industry experience would meet the standard job requirements. To add insult to injury, Schneider Electric acts as a primary corporate partner for Vanderbilt University, regularly funneling its mid- and senior-level managers through the university’s executive education pipelines. For director-level employees and executives, this six-figure tuition bill is typically covered entirely by the company. Thakkar is currently scheduled to graduate from the program next year — leveraging a corporate-sponsored education to cement an executive pathway that many local, qualified professionals are forced to finance entirely out of pocket. The perks extend to her entire family as well. Under the L-1 visa program, spouses and unmarried children younger than 21 automatically receive L-2 status. In 2023, her daughter graduated from the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program at Franklin High School. While there is no specific cap on how many students are accepted into the program, individual class sizes are restricted based on other factors, such as the teacher-to-student ratio. Why should Tennesseans care about Schneider Electric’s hiring practices? Over the last decade, the company has directly secured more than $7.65 million in Tennessee taxpayer funds and continuously benefits from lucrative statutory incentives, including reduced utility rates and full sales tax exemptions on industrial machinery. It also benefits indirectly from taxpayers through partnerships with organizations like the Tennessee Titans. In March 2025, Schneider Electric finalized a five-year contract with the Titans as the official energy management partner for the new Nissan Stadium. More than $1.25 billion of the project is being funded Tennessee taxpayers. Currently, the company sponsors more than 140 active H-1B applications nationwide annually, a figure that excludes the number of L-1 visa employees, such as Thakkar. As corporate subsidies and tax exemptions continue to flow into the pockets of global enterprises, Tennessee taxpayers are left to foot the bill under the promise of local economic growth. Yet, when the high-paying corporate roles created by these investments are routinely filled through international visa pipelines, that promise rings hollow. Until the General Assembly ties public incentives to strict requirements for hiring Americans, Tennesseans will continue to subsidize a global workforce at the expense of their own community's future.