Immigration of highly-skilled workers in the U.S. can be a hot button issue, with some fearing these workers “steal” American jobs while others seeing these workers as necessary to a vital economy. However, as the evidence shows, there is a place for these workers in the U.S. workforce.
Why do U.S. employers hire H-1B workers?
H-1B workers are hired for one of three reasons. First, there are some workplaces that highly-skilled American employees simply do not want to work at. Second, some jobs are so specialized occupations in high-skilled fields that necessitate a foreign worker, for example, if the job requires foreign language fluency. Third, employers may find that there simply are not enough highly-skilled American workers to fulfill the demand for highly-skilled workers in the U.S. workforce.
What is the need for H-1B workers?
In 2016 alone, there were 236,000 applications made by U.S. employers for H-1B visas, but only 85,000 H-1B visas were permitted to be issued in that year. A shortage of highly-skilled workers can be exemplified both in the health care industry and technology industry that need H-1B workers to fill the gaps, especially when an aging population is combined with a downturn in the growth rate of the workforce. In addition, many employers would be forced to outsource work if they were unable to hire H-1B workers. Studies have also shown that in cities with greater H-1B denials experience slower wage growth. In addition, it is estimated that each H-1B worker creates 1.83 new jobs in the country over the course of seven years.
Learn more about immigration law
There is a need for H-1B workers in the country. Ultimately, this post is for educational purposes only and does not contain legal advice. Our firm’s webpage on employment based visas may be of use to those who want further information on this topic.