New Research Finds Foreign-Born H-1B Professionals Are Well Paid, Do Not Harm the Employment Prospects of Natives
http://www.nfap.com/researchactivities/articles/NFAPPolicyBriefH1BProfessionalsAndWages0306.pdf
March 01, 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Stuart Anderson 703-351-5042;
New Research Finds Foreign-Born H-1B Professionals Are Well Paid, Do Not Harm the Employment Prospects of Natives
ARLINGTON, VA
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U.S. companies hire and recruit globally. In some cases, this means hiring foreign-born individuals on H-1B temporary visas, many times off U.S. college campuses as part of the normal recruitment process. As the NFAP analysis points out, critics assert the only reason a U.S. employer would ever hire someone on an H-1B visa is because he or she will work cheaper than Americans, implying that only people born in the United States possess desirable skills. “The story that a veritable conspiracy exists in America to hire foreign-born professionals so they can work cheaply is unsupported by the evidence,” said Stuart Anderson, Executive Director of NFAP. “It runs contrary to any serious analysis of how the U.S. labor market functions.”
In recent years, Congress has failed to increase sufficiently the annual limit on H-1B visas for foreign-born professionals, regularly leaving U.S. companies unable to hire key personnel for many months. A key reason for Congress failing to act is the perception that the entry of skilled professionals on H-1B visas harms the employment prospects of natives. This perception is misguided and the result of several myths, concludes NFAP.
KJ
– New research from the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), an Arlington, Va.-based public policy group, shows foreign-born professionals are not underpaid nor likely to harm the employment prospects of their native counterparts. These are important findings as the Senate Judiciary Committee considers immigration reform measures that include liberalized quotas for foreign-born professionals sponsored for H-1B visas and green cards. (A complete copy of H-1B Professionals and Wages: Setting the Record Straight is available