Foreign visa program hurting American graduates, expert says

An information technology company CEO recently warned that the H-1B visa program that allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers for specialty jobs has negatively impacted American college graduates competing for jobs. The CEO’s warning comes as President Donald Trump’s administration is making changes to the H-1B visa program.

In an interview with Fox News, Skillstorm CEO Justin Vianello said one of the “biggest challenges” with the current visa program is the “impact” the program has on job opportunities for graduates with computer engineering or computer science degrees. Vianello explained that the unemployment rate for graduates with computer science and computer engineering degrees is significantly higher than the unemployment rate for graduates with other degrees. 

“So that basically means they didn’t need degrees for the jobs that they’re currently in, being significantly under employed,” Vianello told Fox News. “How does the H-1B visa program impact that? Well, firstly, rough estimates are that there are about 730,000 H-1B holders in the U.S. and about 550,000 dependents. Most of them, in excess of 70% of them, are in IT.”

Vianello told Fox News that H-1B visa workers are paid “significantly less” for information technology jobs, which makes it difficult for American graduates competing for job opportunities. The Skillstorm CEO told Fox News that American graduates are also competing with Optional Practical Training (OPT) visa holders, who are authorized to work for three years in the U.S. following graduation.

“Now, the OPT visa holders don’t pay Social Security or Medicare taxes, so they’re automatically 15% cheaper, and they are typically paid 42% less than their U.S. counterparts. So as a college grad, you’re fighting this three-headed monster,” Vianello stated. “You’re graduating with student debt, you’ve got H-1B visa holders and OPT visa holders who have the ability to take your job and cost an employer significantly less, and then you’re competing with the third one, which is the ability of an employer to simply offshore that work.”

Vianello suggested that while the intention behind bringing skilled students and workers into the United States “was good,” the outcome for American graduates competing for jobs has been “really bad.”

According to Fox News, the Trump administration unveiled a proposal earlier this year to push U.S. employers to reserve H-1B visa petitions for jobs that require advanced skills. Last month, Trump issued an executive order requiring companies to pay a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications as part of the next annual visa lottery.

Addressing the Trump administration’s new H-1B visa program change, Vianello told Fox News, “Certainly I think that the $100,000 fee on any new applications is gonna go a long way toward changing behavior, but that’s focused on H-1B.”