Eric Thomas or Frances Cox 202/822-9491 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 31, 2009

Highly Educated Workers Will Continue to Drive America’s Innovation Economy

American Companies Will Likely File Fewer H-1B Visa Applications for 2010

Washington, D.C. – While it is likely that American companies will file fewer H-1B visa applications for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 as a result of the recession, there will still be demand for the talent that has historically helped drive America’s innovation economy.  Just how many H-1B visa applications will ultimately be filed on April 1 – when the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services begins accepting applications for FY 2010 – remains unknown, but it is almost certain that all 85,000 visas will be utilized before the fiscal year begins on October 1, 2009. 

A significant number of H-1B visas sought by Compete America member companies will be for foreign nationals who received advanced degrees from U.S. universities and who, in most cases, are already working for an American company as part of their one-year, post graduation “optional practical training” (OPT) period. The H-1B visa is the only option for these employees, as there is currently no other direct path from graduate student to green card and permanent residency.  The workers not chosen in this year’s H-1B lottery will likely be forced to return to their home country or go to another nation that welcomes highly educated and skilled workers.

“A very high percentage of H-1B visa applications from Compete America companies are for highly educated employees that graduated from U.S. universities, and are already living and working in America,” said Robert Hoffman, Vice President for Government and Public Affairs at Oracle and Co-Chair of Compete America.  “It is completely counterproductive to educate them, train them in our companies and then release them to competitor nations at a time when we need to lay the groundwork for economic growth.”

Hoffman noted that while layoffs are happening in many sectors, high-skilled jobs are still being created.

“Despite the economic downturn and layoffs that have impacted many sectors of the U.S. economy, highly skilled
talent – whether American or foreign born – in fields that include health care, energy, math, and engineering are still in demand,” Hoffman stated.   “Unfortunately, until the pipeline of American students graduating with certain technical degrees increases, U.S. employers must continue to seek the best and brightest from a labor pool that includes a high percentage of foreign nationals.”  

According to a 2008 study by the National Foundation for American Policy, for every H-1B position requested, U.S. technology companies showed an increase in employment of five workers. For technology firms with fewer than 5,000 employees, each H-1B position requested was associated with an increase in employment of 7.5 workers.

“President Obama has called for the creation of five million new jobs over the next 10 years.  To rise to this challenge and drive America’s bold new initiatives in energy, health care and education, the U.S. economy needs continued access to the talent that has historically created businesses, jobs, economic growth and spurred new innovations and new industries,” Hoffman continued.  “The United States has no monopoly on brainpower.  If we are educating the world’s top scientists and engineers, we should be putting them to work here in the U.S. for American companies which benefits U.S. competiveness and job creation.

For more information on how highly educated immigration benefits America, please visit www.competeamerica.org. 

Compete America (www.competeamerica.org) is a coalition of corporations, educators, research institutions and trade associations concerned about legal, employment-based immigration and committed to ensuring that the United States has the highly educated workforce necessary to ensure continued innovation, job creation and leadership in a worldwide economy.

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