AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS

H-1B visas highly beneficial for US job creation

Wednesday, 12 March 2008

US companies that apply for controversial H-1B visas create additional jobs beyond the positions filled by foreign workers.

This remarkable and positive finding was confirmed by a study released recently by a pro-immigration think tank, called National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP).

"At the minimum, this shows that H-1Bs are complementary to other US workers being hired, not displacing them," said executive director of NFAP, Stuart Anderson.

The study says that for every H-1B position requested, tech companies listed on the S&P 500 stock index increased their employment by five workers in an analysis of 2002 to 2005.

Results showed that each H-1B request corresponded with an average increase of 7.5 workers for tech firms with fewer than 5,000 employees.

In addition, NFAP also looked at the number of US job openings at tech firms and defense contractors.

They've found 140,000 job openings at S&P 500 firms in January, including more than 4,000 job openings at Microsoft, more than 1,600 openings at both IBM and CSC, and more than 1,500 openings at Cisco Systems.

Christopher Hansen, president and CEO of the large trade group, American Electronics Association (AEA), has expressed his concern for the fact that tech companies in particular are currently experiencing huge shortages of qualified workers.

"The reality is that this nation is today the leader in technology and the technology industries," Hansen said. "To be able to maintain that lead, our companies need access to a highly educated workforce."

Anderson stressed that these job shortages could continue without a change in the US government's H-1B visa policy, if current immigration rules continue.

At the moment, the yearly cap on H-1Bs is 65,000. This number doesn't include the additional 20,000 set aside for foreign students with advanced degrees at US universities. But in recent years, the yearly cap has been filled within days after applications became available.

Anderson said that they don't see these types of job openings as a temporary phenomenon: "They really should be seen as a longer-term trend ... of US skill level stagnating, particularly relative to many other countries in the world."

It just so happens that Microsoft chairman Bill Gates is scheduled to testify about innovation and competitiveness before the House of Representatives Science and Technology Committee in Washington, D.C. today, and it is expected that the H-1B issue is most likely to come up.

"There is a huge, huge demand for these kinds of jobs, and there's a huge competition for them," Hansen went on.

"There's going to be a major push [for more visas] because there has to be. You have companies that are simply trying to operate, and they need this talent pool to be able to operate."

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