14 DAY TRIAL // Continued support for immigration reform that would permit US companies to hire more foreign talent has transformed into a mantra for Microsoft. The Redmond-based company has applauded the recent initiative from Barack Obama for convening a bipartisan meeting at the White House designed to focus on immigration reform. However, the software giant indicated disappointment when it came down to the lack of talks revolving policies for highly-skilled workers from abroad working in the US.
“We remain concerned that a serious discussion of high-skilled immigration policies has not yet begun, and we believe it must be included in any comprehensive reform. If the U.S. is to remain at the cutting edge of innovation, we must ensure that our businesses can attract and hire the best talent from around the globe,” revealed Fred Humphries, Managing Director U.S. Government Affairs.
Microsoft is one of the companies that rely heavily on non-US talent in order to drive innovation. Workers from outside the US are hired with H-1B visas, with only a limited number being actually permitted to remain in the country each year. Humphries, like other Microsoft representatives before him, stressed the fact that highly-skilled foreign workers must be regarded as a critical resource that would ultimately drive job creation and long-term economic growth.
In this regard, while the Redmond-based company also invests consistently into boosting the quality of the local education system in the US, it exercises continued pressure on the Congress to allow it, and other employers in its situation, access to the global pool of talent.
“Last year, when the economy was going strong, demand for H-1B visas to bring highly-skilled workers into the U.S. was about double the supply set by Congress. This year, for the first time in many years, the cap on H-1B visas for 2010 has not yet been reached due to the weak economy. There could be no clearer evidence that the market for highly skilled workers is self-regulating. Market demands, not arbitrary caps, should control our high-skilled immigration policies,” Humphries stated.