Visa Restrictions and the need for Information Technology (IT) workers

I want a strong America, for everybody.

I apologize for the following rant, but I’m a numbers guy. It’s important for people to understand our current need for skilled people in the technology arena at the present time. We can’t let politics stand in the way of progress.  As people who’ve read my blog know, I’m not a democrat or a republican. I’m one of many people who want to improve the lives of all Americans.
 
Visa restrictions are understandable, but it can’t be a blanket policy.
 
The United States is limiting visas in order to maintain jobs for our citizens in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic. This seems logical on the surface.  But we need to be careful of the impact blanket policies have on our future.  At the present time, there is a need for college graduates in the technology industry. Today, there are over 120,000 job openings in the tech sector in the U.S., which is as many as when the whole pandemic started. We simply don’t have the people to fill these positions. Students come from all over the world to attend college in the U.S., and stay here to work in our tech companies.  By eliminating visa programs, they will return to their home countries, mostly China, and start their own companies.  China and India produce hundreds of thousands of tech graduates every year. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Tesla have all complained about blanket visa restrictions and have reported they may have to move more of their technology business out of the U.S. to fill the demands for their work.  For example, Canada allows these visas.  A financial analyst pointed out this week that the restrictions on visas hurt the U.S. and benefit all of competitors:
 
“This may be a Canadian jobs creation act.  You can go to Toronto and hire people to work there quite effectively.” Chuck Robbins, The Financial Times on July 23, 2020. STEM occupations refer to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.  The need for skilled workers in these jobs in the U.S is growing at a more rapid pace than our population growth. To put it in perspective, Information Technology (basically anything to do with computer technology) employed 110,800 managers in 2010.  That number has now tripled.
 
The new restrictions of the H-1B visa category restrict the visa for highly skilled workers such as software engineers and programmers.  Last year, we issued 188,000 of these visas in the U.S., and the U.S. tech companies say those workers are crucial to their competitiveness with companies from other countries throughout the world. 
 
Visa exemptions will be made for H-2B food service industry workers, such as cannery workers and agricultural labor.  I’m not saying we shouldn’t do this—but think about the implications.  We are exporting high tech jobs in exchange for basic labor jobs. One classic exemption in the visa policy is exemptions for an “au pair” (typically a young immigrant woman who provides childcare) if your au pair works in the best interest of national security.  In other words, you can have an immigrant childcare worker if you’re a politician, but not if you’re an average American. It it’s right or wrong, shouldn’t it apply to everyone?
 
Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, spoke of the need for people in the technology industry before his death, reporting he needed to take Apple out of the U.S. because they simply couldn’t fill positions.  Visas provide a way of keeping jobs in the U.S., and recruit people who can contribute significantly to our economy, tax base, etc. 
 
We have unemployment in the U.S.  The problem is that the vast majority of these people can’t step into technology jobs, and either aren’t able, or aren’t willing, to be trained to do so. Don’t get me wrong—we have great tech people in the U.S.  We simply aren’t keeping up with the increased demand, and we are at risk of losing more American jobs if we don’t fill them with educated immigrants. A permanent solution would involve revamping our educational systems to better address the need for technological expertise in the future. It’s not like it’s difficult to get a child to sit at a computer.  We need to be more assertive in educating our youth, rather than simply using technology for entertainment. With that said, can America handle crisis?  Yes.  We’re in crisis—right now—and we’re handling it.  We are in the middle of the worst pandemic America has seen in a century, and everyone is a little more on edge.  We have hate crimes and racial riots that have destroyed families and communities. But we’re getting back on our feet, and we find something to enjoy every day. Every person at my past week’s events respected the space and dignity of others.  I swim with my grandchildren (in an above ground pool) every day, and we find the moon before bedtime. My work goes on. My writing goes on. I’m anxious to see the bridge cover shots of Kloe Kapsner, when Trisha Spencer has them done. I’ll share them online for feedback on the cover.
 
​Thanks for listening,
  
Frank