If unemployment is so high, Why are work visas still being issued?

Because the type of jobs being filled by people who are granted work visas are still, even given the current economy, the kind of jobs that American’s don’t like to do for themselves.

Once a company announces layoffs, they cannot add staff via H1B visas for a period of time so it isn’t as though American workers are being let go in favor of foreign ones.

In some cases, no one in the U.S. has the particular skill needed, or the desire to perform that service. Thus to get the job done, you need to get someone in on a work visa.

And while I know a lot of folks who have been laid off, I still see hiring signs all over town. If someone is hurting for rent money I suggest getting a food handlers card and go apply for a position in a restaurant.

Where did you see that they are still being issued? I though I heard the other day they were cut off.

I sure hope they don’t stop issuing visas. We need a lot of people with significant experience.

@DrasticDreamer, you mean like…software engineering?

And does the exclusion on H1Bs extend to direct outsourcing overseas? In my work group American workers are being let go in favor of foreign ones. We were told last October that by June our group would be 50% in India and that that would be accomplished by staffing up in Bangalore and staffing down (pardon me, “restructuring”) here. Is that direct enough?

@Jeruba As I understand it, companies can still outsource legally.
H1B status allows a foreign employee to work in the US. Outsourcing is another issue.

USCIS is still accepting applications for the 2010 Fiscal year, until the cap of 65,000 jobs is reached.

Overall unemployment doesn’t accurately reflect the different levels of unemployment in different regions and sectors of the economy. A lot of the jobs require specialized training: you can’t offer a six-week training course to turn a laid-off steelworker into a database administrator (or at least not a very good one), and if there’s a shortage of mechanical engineers in the Boston area, it’s probably easier to get people from overseas to move there than people from Indiana.

To go along with @cwilbur, one of the problems with the housing crisis is that it also immobilized the work force. It is difficult to move to a region where there are jobs if you own a house that you can’t sell.

Isn’t telecommuting easier than ever?

@Jeruba: telecommuting is easy, but managing telecommuting workers is an order of magnitude more difficult and labor-intensive than managing on-site workers. The average mediocre manager isn’t capable of doing it competently.

I just saw a news report where a businessman claimed that he would have to close his business without the H1B workers, in spite of the fact that the unemployment rate is over 15% in his area. It’s just plain nonsense. There is no reason he couldn’t hire workers at minimum wage. The real reason is that the government give the employer tax and other breaks to hire foreign workers.

My 1/2 Chinese Grandson was hired at a restaurant, because the owner thought he would be eligible for hiring an employee who would fall under one of the government funded programs. When he discovered my grandson wasn’t eligible, he was let go.

@YARNLADY You need to understand what an H1-B visa is for. It isn’t for hiring people for landscaping or fast-food jobs. It is for people who have specialty training. Clearly, the education system in the US is defunct (just ask Bill Gates), and this businessman realizes that he needs H1-B workers. I believe him. I work in science, and I can see how few Americans get PhDs in the sciences, whereas we have lots of people on visas from China and India.

I am sorry but the number of individuals I have came in contact with that were here on a work visa, were not PhDs or in most cases not even college graduates. Many are seasonal workers and move from area to area. I have seen out of work Americans try to get these same jobs but were turned down as OVERQUALIFIED. If I am hungry and I can do the job let me decide if I am overqualified.

That isn’t what an H1-B visa is for, it just isn’t. You are confused.

@shilolo This man on the news was talking about needing H1B workers for a manual labor job working in his shellfish business, paying minimum wage. There is absolutely no way this is a job that could not be done by local labor.

The H1B workers I am familiar with work for the National Park system, through an outside workforce provider, doing food service, housekeeping, and maintenance.

@shilolo I may not know the exact number on the visas but i do know that they are work visas and more of them are processed everyday because they show up for work in our area with recent dates on them. That I am NOT confused about. But just to be sure, tomorrow I will look and see what the number is on the new batch coming in. I do not hire. I investigate. Just because a job is min wage makes it no less desireable to a hungry American as to anyone else.