TM - August 2008 - (Page 33)

work in the U.S. for three years, with an optional extension for an additional three years. The number of visas was capped by the Immigration Act of 1990, and Congress has since considered further restrictions. This year, the cap of 85,000 visas was met within hours of applications being opened, leaving many businesses high and dry, according to a March report by the Partnership for New York City. Additionally, in 2007, more than 150,000 applications were received on the ﬁrst day alone. The number of visas clearly is not enough to cope with demand, said the business advocacy group. “Companies are ﬁnding it difﬁcult to hire for particular positions,” said Diana Torres, vice president of global competitiveness for the partnership. “They obviously are looking domestically ﬁrst. But if they’re ﬁnding those positions [difﬁcult to ﬁll], they want to be able to hire from outside the U.S.,” she said. “Getting visas for those positions is particularly problematic with the H-1B visa quota application expiring on the ﬁrst day applications are accepted.” The mission of the Partnership for New York City is to maintain the city as a global business and ﬁnancial capital. The group’s report, “Winning the Race for Global Talent,” examined the city’s competitiveness and detailed the challenges facing American businesses as a result of immigration restrictions. Torres said the report revealed the high-skilled professional visa sys- tem needs an overhaul and re-evaluation to make sure the city and the nation remain competitive. Other ﬁndings from the report indicate the impact of immigration restriction has grown beyond the traditional high-tech talent centers in California to industries as varied as ﬁnancial services, energy, retail and architecture in areas throughout the country. “The H-1B visa issue is causing something of a talent crisis,” Torres said. “This is actually impacting business across the board, large and small.” According to the report, only 11 percent of H-1B visas in New York City went to the city’s Fortune 1000 companies. “That means nearly 90 percent went to small- and medium-sized businesses,” Torres said. “Talent is needed at every stage of business growth, and smaller businesses need to connect to the global marketplace in the same way large businesses do. H-1B visas help them to achieve that.” A recent global report on talent conducted by executive search ﬁrm Heidrick & Struggles placed the United States as the No. 1 market for talent in 2007 and projected it to remain in that position through 2012. Torres said immigration restrictions put that position in jeopardy. “There’s no question, going forward, if New York and the U.S. want to remain competitive, Congress needs to act on this particular issue of high-skilled professional immigration,” Torres said. August 2008 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com 33 http://www.talentmgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TM - August 2008

TM - August 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Foundations Global Background Screening Does Global Assessment Work? Global Total Renumeration: Creat One Organization Border Insecurity: Immigration Reform and Talent Management The Global Workforce: Communication Across Cultures Around the World in How Many Days? Insight: Exelon: Performance Under Pressure Special Report: Perspectives on Managing People Application: Reinventing Sales Rewards at Motorola Dashboard: Mideast Meets West Dashboard: Mergers and Acquisitions 2008 - Don’t Leave Employees Behind Editorial Resources Advertisers' Index Full Potential

TM - August 2008

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