Rush for H-1B visas slows as low wages, protectionism take sheen off US jobs

[OhioChick]

Source: Economic Times of India

4 Jun 2010, 0325 hrs IST,Harsimran Julka,ET Bureau

SILICON VALLEY/NEW DELHI: H-1 B visa, Indian techies’ passport to the American dream, has lost a great part of its sheen in the past year or so after a barrage of sobering news against a darkening political backdrop. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the nodal agency that apportions H-1B visas, has received only 18,000 applications until May for the US financial year beginning October, indicating a repeat of last year when the flow of petitions towards the quota of 65,000 was laboured. Contrast this to three years ago when the quota was exhausted within a day. The USCIS was then flooded with 1.5 lakh applications and had to resort to a lottery system for allotments.

Factors as diverse as the Employ American Workers Act (EAWA), a key legislation that stresses on jobs for US citizens, to dropping wage rates, to limping recovery and high unemployment rates in America are to blame for the free fall in H-1B petitions, say experts, IT professionals and companies. For the first time, H-1B visa holders are being driven back to India, their plans for a longer sojourn in the world’s largest economy coming to an abrupt end. “Many Indian IT companies are not applying for H-1 B visas,” said Avinash Vashishtha, CEO of Tholons, an offshore advisory firm.

Indian companies, IT firms in particular, corner a lion’s share of this classification reserved for foreign workers with skills needed in the US economy, allotted on a first-come-first-served basis. Though it is the same story every year, there has been a drastic fall in numbers.

Last year, Indian IT companies like Infosys Technologies, Wipro Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), or offshoots of US firms like Cognizant and IBM, collected only 4,762 approved visas between them against 20,530 in 2006. And, there were only four Indian companies among the top H-1B applicants last year compared to eight in 2006.



Read more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/travel/visa-power/Rush-for-H-1B-visas-slows-as-low-wages-protectionism-take-sheen-off-US-jobs/articleshow/6009505.cms

[MadMaddie]

1. Why is it protectionism? How many qualified unemployed

workers do we have that can fill these jobs?

The security of the nation is most important and having millions of unemployed Americans because Corporations are raking in billions and at the same time being cheap with their employees doesn't cut it anymore.

[AzDar]

2. +1

:thumbsup:

[Newsjock]

3. Good news, but ...

... the latest U.S. corporate tactic is to simply open an office actually in India, bypassing the whole H-1B process entirely while paying even lower wages to the Indian workforce and ruthlessly terminating the corresponding American jobs.

They're always one step ahead.

[OhioChick]

4. "They're always one step ahead."

Isn't that the truth. :eyes:

[DBoon]

6. capital is international

labor is supposed to respect national borders

[Hydra]

5. Not so much one step ahead

As we're not allowed to do the sane thing by the people in charge.

The big fear is always that these companies will leave "and take their money with them"

...Did I miss something? They're earning money HERE. The demand doesn't go just because they do.