Business Facilities - March 2008 - (Page 10)

BUSINESS REPORT California rary, or H-1B visas, while also reforming the green card application process. The bill was defeated in June following a heated political debate over what to do with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the country. Gov. Schwarzenegger says the government must increase the limits on H-1B visas, which are capped at 65,000 per year, in order to better match the nation’s workforce needs. He cites U.S. Department of Labor projections that between 2004 and 2014 nearly one million new jobs will be created in math and computer sciences, the fastest-growing professional sectors of the California economy. U.S. companies often recruit highly skilled workers through the H-1B visa program, which is available to individuals whose services are sought by an employer in a specialty occupation. The worker must have a bachelor’s degree and the employer must attest to the Department of Labor that the person will receive a salary commensurate with the prevailing wage of U.S. workers in the same category. In many cases, the visas, which are generally good for six years, go to foreign-born individuals with degrees from U.S. universities. But the H-1B visa cap of 65,000 stops many would-be workers from coming to, or remaining in, America. For fiscal year 2007, the annual quota was exhausted in less than two months. Last April, more than 133,000 H-1B visa applications were submitted on the first day of availability, resulting in a lottery system to determine who would receive them. There has also been a sustained backlog of employment-based green cards that allow individuals to remain in the U.S. permanently. As a result, many professionals wait more than five years to receive a green card. The length of the process prompts many of these workers to give up and return to their native countries. Meanwhile, the U.S. as a whole is dealing with a shrinking labor pool, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This is due in part to the declining fertility rate among women in the United States, which is expected to drop to 1.91 children per woman, and the anticipated retirements of 77 million baby boomers by 2010. College Graduates in California in 2005 and Arriving Between 1995 and 2005, by Country of Origin Country India Philippines China Korea Mexico Russia Japan Canada United Kingdom Iran All other countries Total Number 107,331 76,937 72,834 53,865 42,519 23,790 20,427 15,103 14,411 10,954 153,780 591,951 Percentage of Total 18% 13% 12% 9% 7% 4% 3% 3% 2% 2% 26% 100% SOURCE: PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE OF CALIFORNIA’S CALCULATIONS USING THE 2005 AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY. NOTES: TOTAL DOES NOT SUM TO 100% BECAUSE OF ROUNDING. BASED ON ADULTS AGES 20 AND OVER. Many companies in California (and Silicon Valley in particular) have become active in the push to allow more foreign-born workers to remain. Google, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, and Sun Microsystems are among the businesses in California that have joined the lobbying group Compete America, advocating for immigration reform. The group notes that foreign nations are making efforts to attract international employees with a program that stands in stark contrast to the “broken” U.S. system. The European Union recently introduced a “Blue Card” temporary work visa for highly educated professionals, and will target foreign-born graduates of leading U.S. universities and offer a streamlined application process. Google, which has immigrants from countries like Canada, Iran, and Switzerland leading the company’s business operations, global marketing, global business development, and data infrastructure operations, has urged Congress to pass immigration reform. Laszlo Bock, vice president of people operations at Google, testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration last year about the practical impact that the U.S. immigration system has on the firm, which is headquartered in Mountain View, CA. Bock testified that, due to limits on the number of H-1B visas, Google is regularly unable to pursue highly qualified candidates. Over the last year, the cap on H-1B visas prevented more than 70 Google candidates from being hired, according to Bock. In December, the Bay Area Council, a business-sponsored, public policy advocacy organization, wrote to House Speaker Nancy 10 MARCH 2008

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Business Facilities - March 2008 Contents First Word Snapshots California Seeks Immigration Reform To Spur Economic Growth Outside the Biotechnology Clusters Global Biotech Competition Heats Up Location Is Key To Your Bottom Line New Incentives For New Hampshire Metro Spotlight: Jersey City, NJ Europe's Center For Goods, Real and Virtual Access Your Markets From Pennsylvania Corporate Moves: Illinois Louisiana Upgrades Important Port Road Projects To Accelerate Michigan's Economy Corporate Moves: South Carolina Metro Spotlight: Salt Lake City, UT Advertiser Index Inside LiveXchange

Business Facilities - March 2008

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