On July 3, US President Trump Signed an executive order asking federal agencies to hire Americans, and avoid contracting or subcontracting foreign workers, mainly those with H-1B visas.
On July 4, the industry body, Nasscom, said, “President Trump’s executive order on ‘Aligning Federal Contracting and Hiring Practices with the Interests of American Workers’ appears to have been made based on misperceptions, and misinformation.”
On the other hand, the same day, in the US, a group of influential democratic lawmakers have urged the Trump government to exclude healthcare workers from the temporary suspension of work visas.
Read on to find out more…
US Economy In Grave Threat!
This new executive order by the Trump administration is expected to have a massive impact on the Indian IT professionals especially those aiming for jobs in the US.
A part of the executive order focuses on federal contracting, whereas the other part focuses on the H-1B visa program in general, Nasscom said.
It added, “Both elements of the Executive Order mandate reviews, reports, and development of policy and practice and recommendations rather than mandating any immediate changes.”
Nasscom also cautioned that these restrictions will slow down the recovering US economy, jobs, innovations, research and development.
The executive order mandates all federal agencies to complete an internal audit within 120 days and assess whether they are in compliance with the requirement that only US citizens and nationals are appointed to the competitive service.
6,25,000 Job Positions Empty! US IT Companies Desperate to Fill Them!
Indian IT professionals constitute the maximum H-1B visa holders in the US.
Nasscom also pointed out that the order comes at a time when there is a ‘huge shortage’ of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills in the US. This void of shortage in the US is filled by those workers with visas like H-1B and L-1.
With all the facts in place Nasscom also hit back highlighting the unemployment rate for computer occupations dropped from 3% in January 2020 to 2.5% in May 2020.
It also noted that the unemployment rate for all other occupations grew from 4.1% in January 2020 to 13.5 % in May 2020.
Furthermore, Nasscom said, “Further, in the 30-day period ending 13 May 2020, there were over 6,25,000 active job vacancy postings advertised online for jobs in common computer occupations, including those most common to H-1B visa holders.”
As COVID-19 Cases Rise, Demand For Health Care Workers Rises!
As the US surpasses 4.6 million coronavirus cases with over 154,000 deaths, it is important to consider infections and deaths of health workers and researchers when projecting workforce needs, the top Democratic congressmen said in a letter on July 4.
The letter addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf and Labour Secretary Eugene Scalia, the lawmakers said that the restrictions have massively hit the healthcare secore and particularly for the rural and underserved communities that rely on immigrant physicians.
The restrictions are limiting the supply of healthcare workers during this crisis and hence putting Americans at risk. “Without an adequate health and research workforce, we risk the unnecessary loss of more lives and further obstacles to our economic recovery,” the letter read.
The American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) had noted previously that restricting these gifted international researchers and physicians from entering the US will not help the economy, but will hamper the ability of the country’s medical schools and teaching hospitals to make scientific progress. Ultimately, it will reduce healthcare access across the US, the letter said.
In other words, if health care workers are available to work on other medical issues, more will be available to research and care for COVID-19 patients.
“As such, we urge you to recommend that the President modify Proclamation 10052 to exempt all health workers and researchers from the suspension on entry because they all serve the national interest,” the lawmakers said.
Will this move by the Trump Administration do more harm to their own country than India?
We will keep you updated…