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Nathan over at NPost published a thought provoking article on the H1B visa program and how to fix it (if this is possible). The problem is that the H1B visa program is enormously unpopular right now with people living through the highest unemployment rates since 1982, and companies cutting back on everything that has to do with any form of perk or educational support for the employees they are keeping. The question is, is the H1B visa program viable right now with so many people out of work, or should we scrap it while the economy is bad?

Nathan proposes that to fix the H1B visa program we should:

1. If someone is awarded an H-1B visa they should be allowed to stay indefinitely
2. Once their employment is up for any reason (save gross negligence) with the sponsoring company they should be allowed to work at any company and the new company won’t be required to sponsor them
3. Encourage them to bring their families to the US to live and work as well
4. H-1B visas should not limit individuals to working at the sponsoring company but should be allowed and encouraged to start additional businesses

Source: NPost

One glaring issue with the H1B visa program right now is the amount of fraud (here and here, or Google search here) that is happening in the system. If 20% of all H1B visa contain errors that invalidate the person from employment, or the 27% percent where prevailing local wages are not paid, then people who are claiming that the H1B visa program should be scrapped (seen the comments on Nathans Post) carry some weight. If on the other hand, the people who are arrested for committing fraud and puitting H1B visa workers in positions where they can displace prevailing wages that is also another arguemtn that can carry weight.

There is no doubt though in my mind that the H1B visa program has the potential to be used to do exactly what it was designed to do, bring in brilliant people from around the world to work in American companies, and add to the overall ability of America to compete. I do like Nathans idea that they should be encouraged to stay and start their own companies, rather than going back to their own countries and starting their own technology centers. One of the things that America needs to keep is its technology edge, we have to do this, and there is no choice. Unfortunately we are not doing this, and it shows. Graduation rates for computer science degrees in this country cannot hope to fill the number of computer science positions that are needed, we graduate between 12 and 24 thousand CS degree bachelor students each year, this is not enough to fill the some 60 to 80 thousand jobs that open up every year (even in this down economy). If we really want to compete, we have to (education) provide students with the skills to fill those open positions. Students need to step up to the plate and take the classes required to learn the skills needed to fill those open positions.

There are 241 software engineer jobs open right now in the Seattle area in career builder. These are not just permanent open jobs, but real jobs that really do need to be filled. This is an employer’s market; they can do what they want to do when it comes to hiring people. Employers are cutting back on wage and benefit packages because of the current economy (not because of the H1B Visa Program). They can choose the best and brightest hardest working candidates that they get to apply. The H1B visa program right now simply ups the skills that American employees need to compete, but they can, and they can get jobs, they just have to be the best and brightest in the lot of people who are applying for the job. Something to think about, but competition for open jobs right now and in the future is something that every job seeker needs to look at. Make sure you are the best, and you will never be unemployed for long.