H-1B ban: Computer jobs on the rise, continued visa restrictions can hurt businesses, says US policy think tank

Job vacancies for computer-related occupations that dominate the H-1B list have increased significantly with nearly a million openings currently and an entry ban on skilled immigration workers will impact US firms and in turn, the American economy, suggested a report by the US policy think tank National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP).

The NFAP report pointed out that job vacancy postings have increased significantly as of March 2021 with a nearly 11 percent jump in overall computer-related positions. There is also improvement in openings for certain other skills. For instance, vacancies for the role of information research scientist and information systems manager have grown 27 percent and 21 percent, respectively as of March 7, 2021, over last year.

These are the roles that typically qualify for H-1B petitions and this number has increased amid the coronavirus pandemic. Indians have been major beneficiaries, cornering the biggest share of the 85,000 H-1B visas issued by the US every year. The report noted that 56,000 of the 85,000 H-1B visas issued every year are for computer-related occupations.

“The unemployment rate in computer occupations is down to 2.3 percent in February 2021, below the level of 3.0 percent in January 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic started,” the report stated.

Mark Regets, a labour economist and a senior fellow at the National Foundation for American Policy, said in the report, “Computer jobs were already fast-growing before the pandemic. This is consistent with the low unemployment rates we see in computer occupations. Firms have needed a lot of IT (information technology) talent to reorganize their businesses during the pandemic, and many of the changes will be long-term.”

There are more job vacancy postings in computer occupations than new H-1B petitions typically used by companies in computer occupations each year, the NFAP report notes. “There are also likely many more openings than publicly posted positions,” it added.

Despite the increasing need for technology professionals, the Joe Biden administration is yet to revoke the H-1B ban imposed by former President Donald Trump last year.

The ban came into effect in June 2021 and was set to expire on December 31, 2020. However, Trump extended it till March 31, 2021.

After Joe Biden was sworn in as the President, those looking to immigrate were hopeful his administration would rescind the ban. However, not only was the ban retained, the report pointed out a potential extension.

Continued delay, the report noted, will impact the US companies and critical services that H-1B workers offer. This will also have the unintended consequence of companies setting up offshore or nearshore centres away from the US, affecting the American economy.