Posted on 10/06/2004 2:27:43 PM PDT by JesseHousman
The U.S. used up its supply of 65,000 temporary visas for skilled foreign workers in a single day. Advocates for raising the quota said that bolstered their case.
South Florida businesses that rely on talented foreign workers to fill technical positions are out of luck until next October -- unless they have an applicant already in the pipeline.
Federal officials closed the 2005 application window for highly coveted foreign professional visas just hours after it opened.
The unprecedented rush for temporary visas for those skilled foreign workers demonstrates U.S. companies' pent-up demand for candidates in such technical fields as engineering, mathematics and research. And, South Florida experts say, it increases the likelihood that companies will outsource jobs overseas.
''It means, unfortunately, that employers here will have less options in terms of hiring,'' Deborah Vazquez, chief executive of the Miami-Dade and Broward County recruiting firm Protech, told The Herald. ``We will have fewer candidates, [less] talent in a situation in which demand very much outstrips supply.''
The quota of 65,000 ''H-1B'' visas was filled Friday, the first day of the 2005 fiscal year, meaning that U.S. companies must wait until October 2005 to hire more foreign workers under the visas.
Until two years ago, the government issued 195,000 of the visas annually. The allotment was slashed because of increased restrictions on immigration following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Job losses in the computer and high-tech sectors have made legislators reluctant to reinstate the bigger quota, even though U.S. companies have argued that most of the jobs filled are outside those sectors.
''It was a real wake-up call when these numbers were issued,'' said Sandra Boyd, who chairs Compete America, a corporate coalition pushing for more H-1B visas. ``I don't think anyone believes it's acceptable that a whole year can now go by without any access to these people.''
The H-1B visas have been popular with U.S. companies, which maintain that they cannot find enough American workers with advanced scientific and engineering degrees to fill critical jobs. Last year, the 65,000-worker cap was hit in February 2004, about five months into the fiscal year.
Tammy Fox-Isicoff, a Miami immigration attorney who helps foreign professionals get H-1Bs, said lawmakers must raise the visa cap again or ''carve out exceptions'' for disaster areas like Florida after the hurricanes or for professions with employee shortages such as teachers or healthcare professionals.
''This situation is terrible that when the doors open to H-1Bs, it swings shut on the same day,'' Fox-Isicoff said in an interview with The Herald. ``It's not good for American business.''
Companies were allowed to submit applications against this year's quota in April.
Theodore Ruthizer, who heads the business immigration practice at Kramer Levin, a New York law firm, predicted that the scarcity of slots will worsen unless Congress expands the program.
''It just proves the numbers are inadequate,'' he told The Financial Times.
U.S. companies have been urging Congress to adopt an interim measure by exempting from the quota any foreign national holding an advanced degree from a U.S. school. That would add about 20,000 positions a year.
About two-thirds of students taking advanced mathematics and engineering degrees at U.S. schools are foreign born. U.S. companies say they will be at a disadvantage should those students go to work for overseas competitors.
And immigrant-rich South Florida has a large share of that talent.
''We have so many universities here with foreign students who come and graduate and look for jobs in the area,'' Andrew Koerner, a partner with the Leaf Koerner law firm in Miami, told The Herald. ``It's just sad to see these small-business owners suddenly stopped from being able to grow their businesses.''
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© 2004 Herald.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.miami.com
Yo hablo espanol. Y Usted?
I went to a job fair today and there were lots of employers looking to hire and even more looking for work. For me it's a second job and I'm already taking a CNA class where there are no Americans in the class. In fact, since the home care agency opened no American has applied. I guess taking care of old people is not glory enough for some but there are jobs out there, just not what people want half the time.
Sometimes people do have to retrain. There's no market at all for people who have outdated skills - buggy whip makers, auto mechanics who specialize in carburator repair, programmers who are adept at COBOL, etc.
And sometimes people have to re-locate. Companies often relocate to where the taxes benefit the company more. For example, all of the companies that left CA.
Those of us who want to be employees rather than business owners have to adapt to what the business owners want and need.
And, BTW, I don't think that any engineering job pays just $10/hr. I think that's whining.
an adendum to your statement should be and work for 1/3 the pay of a US worker
This is not individual company demand.
LTS
Our employees sure don't work for "almost nothing". They are paid in the $12 to $13 range with time and a half for overtime. They pay $50 a month for health insurance, we pick up the rest. They are provided with paid vacation, monthly paperwork performance bonuses, quarterly performance and safety bonuses and Christmas bonuses. Every now and then after a busy month we give them all gift certificates in the $100 range. Last year at Thanksgiving we gave them all a $50 grocery store gift certificate. We will be starting a 401K within the next 6 months...
Nothing, huh? Maybe to some people.
GOOD point!
"This is such a crock. There is no demand - pent-up or otherwise - for engineers in the United States right now, and hasn't been for about fifteen years."
Like most things, depends what you do, who you do it for, and how good you are when you do it. I have more work than time.
"I already know more than I will ever be able to use"
Check the attitude, it's probably most of your problem.
"No, the real disgrace is that America has become SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BARREN AND INFERTILE BECAUSE OF PROTECTION OF LIBERALISM and SOCIALIST POLICIES of BORROWING OR TAKING OTHER PEOPLE's TALENTS."
Completely disagree. Free Trade is a conservative idea, not a liberal one. Free trade benefits everyone. This falls under trade: trade in ideas, trade in skills, trade in knoweledge.
sorry to hear about your problems....but I traveled 7000 miles for a job....
sometimes moving will expand your horizons and you never know what you will find...
giving a blanket statement about a $10 an hour job is BS....
If twelve to thirteen dollars an hour won't attract drivers, what does that tell you?
Well, it tells me a few things. One, that in the tri-county area that I have been advertising, at any given time there are probably 15 to 20 ads of the same nature for the same type of jobs at pretty much the same pay and benefits.
Two, we are a relatively new company, so name recognition is not in our favor, yet.
Three, some people want a living, but don't want to work for it.
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_100604/content/institute.guest.html
http://www.showmenews.com/2004/Sep/20040902Busi012.asp
Actually, one of the biggest demands for H1-B's is in the healthcare field. Most major medical facilities as well as many of the rural hospitals now depend on the H1-B Registered Nurse from India or the Philipines to fill unfilled openings. Additionally, most of the rural areas now depend on the H1-B physician to meet the medical needs of the community. To assume all H1-B's go to the IT industry is a misnomer.
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