There was a time when H-1B Visas were a bone of contention in the IT community. On the one hand, IT workers complained that too many were granted to foreigners who were taking American jobs. On the other hand, American company CIOs complained that more were needed to fill the talent gap. Congress held hearings; tempers ran high.
Things have changed. H-1B Visas are no longer the hot items they once were.
Over the past three years, the demand for H-1B visas has plummeted. In April of this year, approximately 8,000 petitioners sought H-1B visas from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. That’s down sharply from 16,500 visa requests in 2010 and 45,000 visa requests in 2009.
What’s happening? According to a Berkley study by Vivek Wadhwa and AnnaLee Saxenian, Indian and Chinese tech entrepreneurs no longer need to come to American to find work. Opportunities abound in their own countries.
What’s the result? Wadhwa sees the change as a brain hemorrhage and believes that the US should do more to facilitate green cards that would allow foreign IT professionals to live and work permanently in the States.
Saxenian disagrees, saying that the hemorrhage is really a brain circulation. “These returnees remain well-connected to the U.S.,” she explains. “They travel back often, share information about markets and technology, collaborate, and co-invest with U.S. businesses. They also create new markets and complementary technologies.”
Saxenian does agree that the process of granting green cards needs to be accelerated. But she doubts that it will prevent IT workers from returning to their home countries.
In any case, it seems clear that US colleges and universities need to step up and produce more home-grown IT talent.