Confirming Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates’ contention that an arbitrary cap on H-1B visas is forcing them to outsource jobs, the study shows major US technology companies today on an average have more than 470 job openings for skilled positions in the US while defence companies have more than 1,265 each.
A second complementary study by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), after examining H-1B filings and year-by-year job totals for the technology companies in the Standard & Poor (S&P) 500, found that hiring skilled foreign nationals on H-1B visas is associated with increases in employment at US technology companies.
One equal to five
The data collected by the Arlington, Virginia-based policy research group, on “H-1B Visas and Job Creation” show that for every H-1B position requested with the Department of Labour, US technology companies increase their employment by five workers.
This is particularly remarkable since the actual number of people hired on H-1B visas is likely to be much lower than the total number of applications filed with the Department of Labour, said NFAP, focussing on trade, immigration and related issues.
“Combined, these two studies show that US employers continue to need skilled labour, including individuals not born in the United States who, the empirical evidence indicates, are creating new opportunities for US workers,” said NFAP Executive Director Stuart Anderson.
“While every H-1B hired may not necessarily lead to five to seven Americans being hired, the data does strongly imply, at minimum, that new H-1B professionals are complementing other US hires, rather than displacing them, as critics allege.”
Outsourcing problem
An NFAP survey of 120 major US technology companies indicates preventing companies from hiring foreign nationals by maintaining a low limit on H-1B visas is likely to produce the unintended consequence of pushing more work to other countries. Sixty-five per cent companies responding to the survey said lack of H-1B visas has “sent more people outside the US.”
