During a recent Minnesota tech event I was part of a conversation on the topic of H-1B visas.
It evolved as it usually does with sides taken on if the number of visas should be increased, eliminated completely or the door open to anyone who has needed skills.
And as usual the conversation changes a bit depending on the economy.
Flash back to the 90’s and the Dot Com days and companies were begging for the cap to be increased.
Then the post Y2K and 9/11 recession happened and many arguments were made for the cap to be lowered or eliminated so U.S. workers would all have jobs.
We had the uptick from 2003 – 2007 (open the doors), the Great Recession (shut the program down) and the recovery beginning in 2010 that has led once again to a shortage of folks with IT skills.
This is a complicated issue and really depends on your industry, if an employer or worker, location, skill set, etc.
And then add in an election year and the politicians get involved which is usually a recipe for disaster and everyone is left unhappy.
Before I get sucked into a debate with myself on this topic here is an article on Computerworld The top 10 H-1B visa users in the U.S.
If this topic is of interest to you check out the article as it gives a quick update on the current politics of things.
Here is their table on Top H-1B visa approvals by company:
Cognizant 5715
Infosys 4042
Wipro 2817
Tata 1758
Larsen & Toubro 1608
Microsoft 1586
Accenture 1370
HCL America 1128
IBM 1063
Google 615
Not surprising that many, most of them are offshore outsourcing companies.
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