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US needs more foreign workers for highly technical jobs: Indian trade leader |
Amidst proposals in the US Congress to limit visas for foreign high-tech
workers, U.S. technology giants have said that the country needs more foreign
workers to tackle highly technical jobs. Senator from Illinois Richard J. Durbin
and Senator from Iowa Charles E. Grassley have proposed a legislation that would
prevent any large company from hiring more foreign high-tech workers if more than
half its work force already consists of visa-holding foreigners. Commenting on
the issue, Som Mittal, President of India's National Association of Software and
Service Cos., said that he was concerned about the legislation sharply restricting
the hiring of foreign workers by domestic and overseas companies operating in
the United States. Mittal also said that such a decision to restrict foreign high-tech
workers would only harm the U.S. economy rather than help it. "It's a business
killer for us. Sixty percent of all technology Ph.D.s are foreign nationals. The
visa requirement could be detrimental to the U.S. economy. You do want to retain
the best and brightest," The Washington Times quoted Mittal, as saying. He further
said that there are not enough Americans to fill the high-tech jobs and claimed
that despite all the efforts there was a shortage of skilled workers last year. Companies
are currently allowed to hire a limited number of skilled foreign workers through
the H-1B and L-1 visa programs, however, critics claim that these programs deny
job opportunities to American workers. Grassley highlights that proposed legislation
would help prevent abuse of the H-1B visa program, and said: "With unemployment
at rates higher than we have seen in some time, there is no shortage of Americans
pounding the pavement looking for jobs." "Theres no question the H-1B program
is important and necessary at times for some employers, but it was never meant
to replace qualified American workers," he added. |
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