High Skilled Labor
The Important Role of Immigrants in America’s Innovation Economy
This week, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation weighed in on immigration reform with a hearing on the role of immigrants in America’s innovation economy. Remarks from Sens. Rockefeller (D-WV) and Thune (R-SD) noted the contributions of immigrant innovators and entrepreneurs. Immigrants in the United States were named as inventors or co-inventors on 25.6 percent of international patent applications filed from the U.S. in 2006. Furthermore, temporary workers and permanent residents made contributions to over half of the international patents filed by several large, multi-national companies. Temporary and permanent foreign-born workers represent at least 24 percent of the nation’s scientists and 47 percent of engineers with doctoral degrees. Read More
Keeping U.S. High-Skilled Temporary Worker Visa Programs Workable
When analyzing higher-skilled guest worker visa programs, such as the H-1B and L-1 programs, critics often fail to acknowledge the very different and important purposes that these programs were designed to serve, and the complicated requirements already in place to protect against abuse or exploitation. There is no denying that we can and should improve these programs and the strategies used to enforce them. However, given the well-established economic benefits of these programs, and the challenges employers face finding highly skilled workers, particularly in technical fields, it is essential that any proposed reforms not impose restrictions that may make these programs completely unworkable. Read More
Why There Are Not Enough STEM Workers in the U.S. Labor Market
Occasional research, such as a report released last week by the Economic Policy Institute, suggests the U.S. has a sufficient supply of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates and workers. However, these conclusions are at odds with a growing number of expert analyses that find the U.S. does in fact face significant challenges in meeting the growing needs of our expanding knowledge-based economy. Here is a sampling of the evidence: Read More
Why There Are Not Enough STEM Workers in the U.S. Labor Market
Occasional research, such as a report released last week by the Economic Policy Institute, suggests the U.S. has a sufficient supply of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates and workers. However, these conclusions are at odds with a growing number of expert analyses that find the U.S. does in fact face significant challenges in meeting the growing needs of our expanding knowledge-based economy. Here is a sampling of the evidence: Read More
High-Skilled Immigration and Entrepreneurship in the Senate’s Immigration Bill
On the road to reform, the Senate’s Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act contains several changes and new provisions for skilled immigration and entrepreneurship. Specifically, the bill provides balanced reforms to the H-1B nonimmigrant visa for high-skilled individuals, various provisions for highly skilled individuals through permanent employment-based immigration, and a new INVEST visa for entrepreneurs. Read More
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