Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Foreign Nationals Starting to Head Home--The Other Side of the Immigration Discussion

I have been in the recruiting business for more than 30 years and for as long as I can recall, the US has been an extremely desirable place to live for foreign workers. The US was a leader in research and, despite the challenges posed by how the H-1b system was implemented (years of indentured servitude to one employer, low wages, less interesting work, an INS that is exceedingly slow to process green cards), this was the country to move to for opportunity.

Recently, I have had several instances that have opened my eyes to the possibility that our skilled immigration problem may become even harder to solve than I thought and that stems from some quick conversations I have had with several people working in the US on H-1b visas.

Each complained about being captive to the US and unable to visit family. They were frustrated with INS delays that caused what is supposed to take a very little amount of time to process dragging on into years.

But there was something new. Several started to talk about how good work was now going overseas and that currency depreciation was starting to make the US far less desirable than a few years ago.

You may have seen the recent articles about how Canadian currency was now at parity with the US dollar for the first time in 25 years. On my recent trip to Singapore, where you received $1.46 for each US dollar, I was surprised to read that it was expected to reach $1.20 by end of year.

That's almost an 18% currency depreciation projected over the next few months!

Couple this with the shortage of university students expected during the next few years (New York schools are being encouraged to recruit foreign students in the face of a 14% shortage of students projected to begin during the next few years) and it begs the question--Where will you be getting your new skilled talent from?

So, as we start to see rising prices for foreign made goods and services, we may see an exodus of H-1b, green card and foreign born US citizen-workers and few people to replace them just as The Baby Boomers start to retire. It suggests looking at F-1 visa employees as replacements for junior staff and examining longer term alternatives.

And the only answer I can see is to increase the number of H-1b employees into the US, sooner, rather than later.

Jeff Altman

The Big Game Hunter
 Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

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