Microsoft, the computer programming giant, continued its streak of hiring the most foreign workers again this year by importing more than 2,500 foreign workers. Nearly twice as much as the second highest H-1B user, IBM.
With a U.S. unemployment rate at 8.6%, one would expect that many of the high paying job openings available domestically are a positive sign for jobless Americans. However, that has not been the case. According to data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services department, U.S. companies have hired foreign workers at an expeditious pace. U.S. companies have set a three-year record on the amount of time it took to reach the cap of 65,000 H-1B visas.
The H-1B visa program allows skilled immigrants to work in the United States on a supposedly temporary basis. The legal cap on H-1B visas dropped from 195,000 back to its original level of 65,000 on October 1, 2003. However that does not include an additional 20,000/year cap for individuals who fall under the ‘advanced degree’ exemption, or the uncapped admissions to governmental agencies and not-for-profit employers.
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