Yesterday marked the close of the five-day filing period when U.S. companies could apply for H-1B visas to bring high-skilled workers from around the world to work here next year. The annual cap was exceeded in those few days, and a lottery will be held to determine which workers will be admitted. This is one of many reasons the United States — long seen as a welcoming environment for the best and brightest from all over the world to innovate, start a new business, and become the next American success story – is falling behind in the global race for talent. A sobering new report released by the Business Roundtable shows how far America has fallen.
In a comparison of the employment-related immigration practices of nine other advanced economies — Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom — the study found that all but one country (Japan) had more competitive immigration policies than the United States. Even countries where immigration remains a divisive political issue, such as France, the United Kingdom, and Germany, all scored higher than the United States.
