14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is in desperate need of fresh-blood transfusions, with a strong focus on foreign-bred resources. In the United States, employers must obtain H-1B visas for foreign workers, but according to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, the limited number of visas means that companies cannot hire all the high-skilled talent available to them. In early March, Gates warned Congress that U.S. companies are losing their competitive edge in the global economy because of the fact that just 65,000 visas are made available. April brings with it the start of the H-1B season, and Microsoft predicted that it would once again last but one day before all the H-1B visas are exhausted.
"This small window for applications prevents Microsoft and other American high tech companies from hiring many of the most talented science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) graduates of the class of 2008, who will be in the job market in just over a month," stated Jack Krumholtz, Managing Director Federal Government Affairs, Microsoft. "Last year, Microsoft was unable to obtain H-1B visas for one-third of the foreign-born candidates the company wanted to hire because of the overwhelming shortage of visas."
The Redmond company argued that the number of 15,000 graduates that have a bachelor's degree in computer science and engineering, only a part of which are home-bred, is insufficient for the needs of U.S. companies. This is why Microsoft requested that the number of visas be increased. Gates has asked for a reform of the immigration system revealing that for each new H-1B hire, Microsoft takes on approximately four additional American employees.
"There are a number of measures that should be taken to address this problem, including extending the period that foreign students can work here after graduation, increasing the current cap on H-1B visas, creating exemptions for graduates with STEM degrees, creating a clear path to permanent residency for high-skilled foreign-born employees, eliminating per-country green card limits, and significantly increasing the annual number of green cards," Krumholtz added.