Immigration Policy and the Search for Skilled Workers

Immigration Policy and the Search for Skilled Workers
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 155
Release: 2015-12-29
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0309337852

The market for high-skilled workers is becoming increasingly global, as are the markets for knowledge and ideas. While high-skilled immigrants in the United States represent a much smaller proportion of the workforce than they do in countries such as Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, these immigrants have an important role in spurring innovation and economic growth in all countries and filling shortages in the domestic labor supply. This report summarizes the proceedings of a Fall 2014 workshop that focused on how immigration policy can be used to attract and retain foreign talent. Participants compared policies on encouraging migration and retention of skilled workers, attracting qualified foreign students and retaining them post-graduation, and input by states or provinces in immigration policies to add flexibility in countries with regional employment differences, among other topics. They also discussed how immigration policies have changed over time in response to undesired labor market outcomes and whether there was sufficient data to measure those outcomes.

Building a Workforce for the Information Economy

Building a Workforce for the Information Economy
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 399
Release: 2001-03-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0309172004

A look at any newspaper's employment section suggests that competition for qualified workers in information technology (IT) is intense. Yet even experts disagree on not only the actual supply versus demand for IT workers but also on whether the nation should take any action on this economically important issue. Building a Workforce for the Information Economy offers an in-depth look at IT. workers-where they work and what they do-and the policy issues they inspire. It also illuminates numerous areas that have been questioned in political debates: Where do people in IT jobs come from, and what kind of education and training matter most for them? Are employers' and workers' experiences similar or different in various parts of the country? How do citizens of other countries factor into the U.S. IT workforce? What do we know about IT career paths, and what does that imply for IT workers as they age? And can we measure what matters? The committee identifies characteristics that differentiate IT work from other categories of high-tech work, including an informative contrast with biotechnology. The book also looks at the capacity of the U.S. educational system and of employer training programs to produce qualified workers.

The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration

The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 643
Release: 2017-07-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0309444454

The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration finds that the long-term impact of immigration on the wages and employment of native-born workers overall is very small, and that any negative impacts are most likely to be found for prior immigrants or native-born high school dropouts. First-generation immigrants are more costly to governments than are the native-born, but the second generation are among the strongest fiscal and economic contributors in the U.S. This report concludes that immigration has an overall positive impact on long-run economic growth in the U.S. More than 40 million people living in the United States were born in other countries, and almost an equal number have at least one foreign-born parent. Together, the first generation (foreign-born) and second generation (children of the foreign-born) comprise almost one in four Americans. It comes as little surprise, then, that many U.S. residents view immigration as a major policy issue facing the nation. Not only does immigration affect the environment in which everyone lives, learns, and works, but it also interacts with nearly every policy area of concern, from jobs and the economy, education, and health care, to federal, state, and local government budgets. The changing patterns of immigration and the evolving consequences for American society, institutions, and the economy continue to fuel public policy debate that plays out at the national, state, and local levels. The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration assesses the impact of dynamic immigration processes on economic and fiscal outcomes for the United States, a major destination of world population movements. This report will be a fundamental resource for policy makers and law makers at the federal, state, and local levels but extends to the general public, nongovernmental organizations, the business community, educational institutions, and the research community.

High-Tech Housewives

High-Tech Housewives
Author: Amy Bhatt
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2018-05-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0295743565

Tech companies such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft promote the free flow of data worldwide, while relying on foreign temporary IT workers to build, deliver, and support their products. However, even as IT companies use technology and commerce to transcend national barriers, their transnational employees face significant migration and visa constraints. In this revealing ethnography, Amy Bhatt shines a spotlight on Indian IT migrants and their struggles to navigate career paths, citizenship, and belonging as they move between South Asia and the United States. Through in-depth interviews, Bhatt explores the complex factors that shape IT transmigration and settlement, looking at Indian cultural norms, kinship obligations, friendship networks, gendered and racialized discrimination in the workplace, and inflexible and unstable visa regimes that create worker vulnerability. In particular, Bhatt highlights women’s experiences as workers and dependent spouses who move as part of temporary worker programs. Many of the women interviewed were professional peers to their husbands in India but found themselves “housewives” stateside, unable to secure employment because of visa restrictions. Through her focus on the unpaid and feminized placemaking and caregiving labor these women provide, Bhatt shows how women’s labor within the household is vital to the functioning of the flexible and transnational system of IT itself.

The HR Immigration Pocket Reference

The HR Immigration Pocket Reference
Author: Peter F. Asaad
Publisher: Immigration Solutions Group
Total Pages: 420
Release: 2010-01-01
Genre: Immigrants
ISBN: 9780615331683

Business/Management "This book understands the specific needs of the HR professional, and will serve as a valuable quick reference guide." Michael T. Dougherty, Former USCIS Ombudsman Written specifically for human resource professionals, The HR Immigration Pocket ReferenceTM is a quick reference tool that helps HR professionals navigate everyday immigration issues in HR management including compliance with rules requiring verification of employee work authorization as well as eligibility for employment of foreign nationals to ensure access and retention of the best and brightest global workforce.

The Gift of Global Talent

The Gift of Global Talent
Author: William R. Kerr
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2018-10-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1503607364

The global race for talent is on, with countries and businesses competing for the best and brightest. Talented individuals migrate much more frequently than the general population, and the United States has received exceptional inflows of human capital. This foreign talent has transformed U.S. science and engineering, reshaped the economy, and influenced society at large. But America is bogged down in thorny debates on immigration policy, and the world around the United States is rapidly catching up, especially China and India. The future is quite uncertain, and the global talent puzzle deserves close examination. To do this, William R. Kerr uniquely combines insights and lessons from business practice, government policy, and individual decision making. Examining popular ideas that have taken hold and synthesizing rigorous research across fields such as entrepreneurship and innovation, regional advantage, and economic policy, Kerr gives voice to data and ideas that should drive the next wave of policy and business practice. The Gift of Global Talent deftly transports readers from joyous celebrations at the Nobel Prize ceremony to angry airport protests against the Trump administration's travel ban. It explores why talented migration drives the knowledge economy, describes how universities and firms govern skilled admissions, explains the controversies of the H-1B visa used by firms like Google and Apple, and discusses the economic inequalities and superstar firms that global talent flows produce. The United States has been the steward of a global gift, and this book explains the huge leadership decision it now faces and how it can become even more competitive for attracting tomorrow's talent. Please visit www.hbs.edu/managing-the-future-of-work/research/Pages/default.aspx to learn more about the book.

The Accelerating Decline in America's High-skilled Workforce

The Accelerating Decline in America's High-skilled Workforce
Author: Jacob F. Kirkegaard
Publisher: Peterson Institute
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2007
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

"As a result, in the coming decade, America could face broad and substantial skill shortages and will increasingly need foreign high-skilled workers. Meanwhile, as America debates the merits of immigration reform, other rich nations have rapidly revamped their high-skilled immigration systems, making the United States one of many destinations for high-skilled immigrants. For America to regain its leadership in global talent, it must urgently reform its high skilled immigration programs, particularly the H-1B work visa and legal permanent resident (green card) programs. US policymakers should in the face of accelerating global economic integration make high-skilled immigration an essential component of their broader foreign economic policies. The aim must be to ensure a continuous inflow of required high-skilled workers to the United States in a manner that enjoys broad domestic political support."--BOOK JACKET.