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Skilled foreign workers are increasingly bypassing the U.S. for brighter opportunities in Canada, Australia, the U.K. and other nations. As a result, American employers face growing shortages of engineers, IT professionals, doctors, nurses and other talented technicians.
Blame some of it on the weak dollar. The greenback's declines mean many workers can do better earning other currencies, which are worth more when they send part of their paychecks home to their families.
Tight visa caps are also a deterrent. The 65,000 annual quota for H-1B visas for skilled workers is usually filled in a day, and political pressure has prevented Congress from boosting it. Canada, Australia and the U.K., in turn, have adopted a far more attractive system that awards points toward citizenship for higher education and work experience. That is a potent draw for migrants from South Asia and the Philippines. Meanwhile, Spain, Portugal and Italy are opening their doors wider to trained migrants from Latin America, building on cultural ties.
Still other foreign workers are heading home, drawn by better prospects in their own economies, which are growing rapidly. Many Indian professionals began the trek while the boom was still on, as the Indian economy blossomed and new opportunities developed there. Now, similar attractions are luring Brazilian immigrants away, drawn by the strong real and propelled by the loss of U.S. building jobs.
On the other side of the ledger, the weak dollar and another visa category are helping attract foreign investors. Congress this year will expand a program allowing visas and a fast-track path to permanent residency and ultimately citizenship for foreign investors willing to open their wallet.
The cap on EB-5, or investor, visas will be raised from 10,000 to 15,000 per year. They are awarded to foreigners who invest at least $1 million in a new or existing venture and create a minimum of 10 direct or indirect jobs as a result. The minimum investment drops to $500,000 if the investment is in an underemployed or distressed area or in an existing business, such as a restaurant or manufacturing firm, which has reduced its workforce due to economic conditions.
The low dollar makes this a good deal for those who invest in businesses that have a lot of exports. The investor visa program, also known as an "employment creation" visa, was started after Canada created similar visas in the 1990s. These visas were aimed at investors from Hong Kong looking to set up shop in Canada as China was preparing to regain control of Hong Kong from Great Britain.
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POSTED BY: Jerome (April 30, 2008 03:13 PM)
This is an outright lie. I have a BS in CS and an MBA and MS in math with 10 years of experience. I received numerous awards at work and am a member of Mensa. My entire group was demoted last year and I can't even get an interview for a "promotion" back to my old level. I blame a lot of this on greedy upper management and the most incompetent group in any company, HR. I've also been looking for a job outside the company and can't even get an interview. Can they please list all these companies that are having trouble finding skilled workers?
POSTED BY: BrucedeleVega (April 30, 2008 06:08 PM)
1. visa "limits" are excessive & overly elastic.
The annual "limit" on H-1B visas, such as it is, is over 85K, not 65K. Reporting it as 65K would be misleading. It is broken down as follows, according to information on the USCIS web site:
1,400 nationals of Chile;
5,400 nationals of Singapore;
20,000 with master's and doctor's degrees from US colleges and universities;
58,200 with "bachelor's degrees or equivalent experience" from any hole-in-the-wall in the world;
unlimited visas for those employed by non-profit research outfits;
unlimited visas for those employed for local, state and federal research;
unlimited visas for those employed by US colleges & universities.
But the numbers of applications approved each year exceed those numbers, according the the USCIS annual report "Characteristics of Specialty Occupation Workers (H-1B)":
year Initial renewed+extended total
1999 134,411 na na
2000 136,787 120,853 257,640
2001 201,079 130,127 331,206
2002 103,584 93,953 197,537
2003 105,314 112,026 217,340
2004 130,497 156,921 287,418
2005 116,927 150,204 267,131
year Initial renewed+extended total
The numbers of visas actually issued, OTOH, is what matters. These numbers are available in the State Department's annual reports:
1996 58,327
1997 80,547
1998 91,360
1999 116,513
2000 133,290
2001 161,643
2002 118,352
2003 107,196
2004 138,977
2005 124,374
2006 135,861
2007 154,690
There are usually a few thousand unclaimed visas each year, primarily from the sub-categories set aside for Chile and Singapore. USCIS says they roll these over, adding them to the 58,200 general allotment for the next year.
Hundreds of H-1B visas go to people without the equivalent of a US high school diploma, and thousands to those without the equivalent of a US bachelor's degree.
POSTED BY: Samir (May 01, 2008 07:54 PM)
While I completely understand feelings of Americans, I hope you guys be a little considerate of people coming in and doing the job. There is a trend of calling anyone and everyone on H1 visa "cheap labor". How about also mentioning in the same breath at the least skilled labor? Surely, if they are unskilled labor they would not be hired even for free!!!
Many people keep getting confused between outsourced work and work performed by people on H1. Sure, outsourcing is way cheaper for companies but not necessarily be H1. No one will hire a guy on H1 visa if he is not skilled (for less or more money). So, at least accept that they are skilled, even if you don't like it. I am on H1 visa and I earn salary close to 110k/year and I am under 30 in age. Don't tell me those on H1 are all cheap labor.
Besides, H1s are also hired full time by employers and their salary cap is same as any other fellow Americans. I challenge anyone if they can prove this wrong. Then there is question of contract jobs - which is where the disparity is. In contract jobs many companies are paying the billing rate that they would pay for any American's service as well. HOWEVER, it is the consulting firm which is biggest culprit that sometimes pay lesser salary and keeps a bigger chunk. Again, not the end client but the consulting firm.
On one end, outsourcing has robbed some very intelligent and efficient folks of their jobs, which is very sad. On the other end, there were (and are) a bunch of inefficient people in companies who always used to hide behind the wall of their knowledge as an excuse to never co-operate in new initiatives or challenges as they knew the companies are too dependent on them to do anything about it. That situation is no more, and many are finding it tough to accept.
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