Employers' use of H-1B visas will come under federal microscope - HR update: News that Works - Brief Article

HR Magazine, Nov, 2002 by Bill Leonard

Have employers been using the H-1B visa program fairly in their hiring of information technology (IT) workers? The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) intends to find out.

Agency researchers plan to conduct a study next year on how employers are using the work visas and if IT professionals brought in through the H-1B program are hired, retained and laid off at rates comparable to those of their American counterparts.

The H-1B program allows U.S. employers to sponsor and hire skilled workers from other countries for specialty jobs. In 1999, Congress raised the number of H-1B visas available each year to 195,000, largely because of an acute shortage of highly skilled IT workers at that time. But the IT shortage has eased considerably over the past year for several reasons, including layoffs and business failures. The ceiling on H-1B visas is scheduled to fall back to 65,000 per year starting with the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, 2003.

The H-1B program is a touchy subject among IT professionals. The program's critics argue that employers prefer to hire foreign workers because they work for lower wages.

Industry groups counter that the United States doesn't produce enough workers with the required technical skills to meet industry demands.

H-1B employees can work in the United States for six years through the visa program, and some are granted exceptions to work longer.