Over the past year, thousands of employees had been laid off by big corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Meta, Twitter and Amazon, among many others. This further translated to worries among the remaining employees who were unsure of their ability to retain their jobs. These worries were further fueled by the 60-day deadline for the H-1B visas, wherein foreign nationals needed to find another employer to sponsor their visas or leave the country.
However, a report by Envoy Global revealed that 89% of the employers in the USA hired at least one or more foreign nationals that had been laid off by another employer within the last 6 months. The report, 2023 Immigration Trends, stated that US employers were in the process of recruiting and hiring foreign nationals in the country. The survey further highlighted the effects of macroeconomic trends, such as layoffs and hiring freezes, wherein 78% adopted a hiring freeze while 58% laid off foreign nationals.
The survey have been conducted with 504 HR professionals from different industries and companies, wherein a total of 443 responses had been received between 13 to 20 February this year.
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The Envoy Global Immigration Trends report further commented on hiring trends of US employers, stating that the trends should continue into this year as well, where employers expect to submit an increased number of H-1B registrations, compared to 2022’s 483,000 submissions. It also sheds light on the demand for foreign talent, which has grown substantially since 2022 and is backed by the Department of Labour statistics on foreign employee sponsorship.
In the first quarter of 2023, 71% of the companies reported recruiting more foreign nationals compared to the Q1 of 2022. However, the immigration barriers have forced US employers to relocate foreign national employees overseas and even outsource jobs, even though the demand for foreign talent is high.
According to 2023 Immigration Trends, 81% of the companies relocated foreign nationals to offices abroad due to visa-related issues in the US, while, 80% transferred employees to remote working models overseas, as a result of the visa-related challenges.
It had been reported that around 94% of US employers would select foreign nationals provided the immigration barriers were fewer. The report also considered the Biden administration’s employment-based approach to immigration. 51% of US employers felt that the new approach is more difficult for a business than in previous years.
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The Envoy Global report addressed the effects of such immigration barriers, stating that the other countries gained from US’ losses. It stated that 62% of employers preferred to transfer employees to Canada, whereas, 48% relocated them to Mexico or the UK. Countries like Australia and Germany also witnessed the relocation of US foreign national employees within their borders.
The report also highlighted the respondents’ views on the immigration systems employed by other countries. They stated that countries like Canada, the UK, Ireland, Singapore and the European Union had more employer-friendly immigration systems. They further warned of the success of these locations, claiming that the US may lose out on foreign talent, as a result.
The limited number of H-1B visas on offer was considered to be the primary barrier for a US employer, the report revealed. Other reasons included the costs of sponsoring a foreign national, government processes and regulations, and more. The report also highlighted the Department of Labour as the primary source of immigration barriers, followed by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of State.
Speaking on the improvements that need to be made, the business community provided suggestions on possible improvements, even helping pay for the enhancements within the system.
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Among these improvements included paying an additional fee to fast-track the processing of immigration cases (89%), a digital government platform instead of the current paper-based system for immigration cases (93%), increasing the overall number of employment-based green cards on offer per year (58%) and others wanted to remove the per-country green card caps per year.
However, US employers continued to state that they would employ more foreign nationals even though a hike in the government fee for H-1B visas is expected this year. They also added that these immigration barriers are the sole reason behind a company’s inability to sponsor foreign talent.
The Biden administration had previously proposed a hike in the immigration fees for H-1B visas for high-skilled foreign workers, which has been highly popular among Indian tech professionals. The proposed rule, as published by USCIS, is set to increase the H-1B visa fees from USD 460 to USD 780.
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Source: Livemint
