There has been a significant increase in the number of H-1B workers switching employers as per the report by David J. Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute.
From 24,000 in 2005 to Over 1 million in 2023, H-1B Job Switching Soars
The report claims the number to have reached 1 million from the year 2005 to 2023.
There has been more than fivefold increase from 2005’s 24000 job switches to 2022’s 130576 job switches. Though the number saw a dip to 117,153 job switches in fiscal 2023, the trend remains substantial.
This report further underscores that the job shifting among H-1B workers is more prevalent than new H-1B employment initiations. In the year 2023, as many as 61% of all the H-1B workers starting with a new employer were existing H-1B workers recruited from other US employers. This further indicates that there is a preference for hiring H-1B workers amongst American employers.
There are many factors that contribute to the increase in the job switches.
Job mobility has been facilitated by tightening labour market across industries. In addition to this, rapid attainment of H-1B cap every year post 2014 has also incentivized employers to poach H-1B workers from competitors.
Additionally, there have been some regulatory changes since 2017, which include a 60-day grace period for the H-1B workers to find new employment after job loss, have facilitated job transitions.
H-1B Worker Job Mobility on the Rise
There has also been a record high influence of green card applications in the 2021 job switching trends. There is more job flexibility after 180 days of filing green card applications for H-1B workers who have filed green card applications, as they can switch employers without restarting the green card process.
Despite this, there are still challenges in the H-1B workers in the labour market. These include unequal treatment, limited availability of green cards for Indian workers which eventually force them to stick to their current employer to complete the green card process.
To address these challenges, suggesting automatic conversion to green card status as well as extension of 60-day grace period for job searches.
In addition to this, the report further highlights insights to the job transfer process for H-1B holders, detailing the steps involved and associated fees based on employer size and status.
