H1B Visas Decrease By 67% In 2 Years; Thousands Of Jobs Unfilled In USA (Find Out Why?)

As a result of decrease in new temporary foreign workers in the US (including those on H1B visas) has resulted into jobs remaining unfilled, rather than resulting to better labour market conditions.

From almost 190,000 in the fiscal year 2019, the number of H1B specialty occupation has decreased to 125,000 in fiscal year 2020 to mere 62,000 in the fiscal year 2021, according to the study done by a study by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP).

The study revealed that the decline in the availability of temporary high skilled workers did not translate into an increase in demand for American workers with similar qualifications.

Many opponents of H1B visas oppose on the grounds that the H1B visa programme takes away opportunities from local workers and allows companies to bring in foreign workers at a lower salary.

However, is the gap between the eligibility and certain job requirements that make these companies to provide jobs through H1B visa.

70% of H1B Visas Issued To Indians

In the United States, nearly 70% of these visas issued to Indians, are largely given to technology and IT services companies in order to fill the gap for high skilled workers.

To meet the mandated quota of 85,000 new visas, in the fiscal year 2021, US had to conduct two visa lotteries, failing to meet enough applications.

Madeline Zavodny, a research fellow at NFAP, in the report said that there is also no evidence of faster employment growth or lower unemployment rates for college graduate US natives as a result of decreased admissions via the H-1B program.

Instead, labor markets that relied heavily on temporary foreign workers for the H-1B system before the epidemic appeared to have vacant jobs during the violence, the report – the impact of the Covid-19 decline in U.S. migration. labor market – shown.

Decline Does Not Lead To Better Labor Market

“The sharp decline in the number of temporary foreign workers through the H-1B system therefore does not seem to lead to better labor market results for US people who may compete with those workers for jobs,” he said.

The study looked at short-term visa categories and found that the US acquired about 630,000 migrant workers in mid-March 2020 by mid-March 2021 over the same period in 2014-15. Includes data on employer’s need for temporary staff with H-2B, J-1, and H-1B visa programs with employment, unemployment, and job posting data.

“The continuing shortage of workers in many labor markets reflects the need for American employers for more workers from domestic and foreign sources,” Zavodny said.

In addition, there is no evidence of improved employment or unemployment of US citizens with at least bachelor’s degrees in the markets that rely heavily on the H-1B system.