It’s hard to overstate the significance — and complexity — of the H-1B visa system in the U.S. It is the country’s largest guest worker visa program, and an important channel for high-skilled immigration. It allows companies to hire foreign workers for specialized jobs that can be challenging to fill. It has benefited the tech industry enormously, and other sectors, including health care, science, and finance, have also used it to fill gaps in their workforces.
The H-1B Visa Debate, Explained
It’s partly about outsourcing, partly about the skills shortage.
May 04, 2017, Updated May 04, 2017
Summary.
There has been a long-running debate over how companies use the H-1B visa program and how it affects American workers. Much of the dispute surrounds whether companies take advantage of the system to hire foreign workers for lower pay, displacing Americans from those jobs. But it’s important to understand the underlying elements of the debate: one level rests on the heavy use of H-1B visas by outsourcing firms; another rests on the disagreement over whether the program increases companies’ access to scarce skills or merely helps them minimize costs.
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