Trump may find work visas [for foreign] tech companies with plans to establish US ties

By Mark Hendrikman, Monday, January 30, 2017 21:04 [15:04 EST]

According to Bloomberg, US President Trump plans to adjust regulations on work visas. The Presidential Decree may affect the import of foreign workers by tech companies.

Bloomberg US has seen the concept of the presidential order. As a result of the order, US companies are compelled to first try to fill a vacancy with an American applicant before they can look across the border for a suitable candidate. When they can take a candidate from abroad, a work visa is only granted to 85,000 "highly paid" workers in a year. Trump wants to protect the US labor market with the decree.

Large tech companies use so-called H-1B visas for skilled personnel from abroad to work in the US, but so-called outsourcers make even more use of it than Silicon Valley. According to Bloomberg, the top five recipients of H-1B visas are the kind of outsourcing companies that seek personnel at comparatively lower skilled jobs. In those rankings, technology only places lower.

Although it may hamper the well-known US tech companies to look first in the US to fill their job openings before they can look across the border, this salary arrangement for a work visa is probably once again a boon for the companies. Bloomberg writes that outsourcing [agencies] pay an average of less than $70,000 per year to their employees, while tech companies pay more than $100,000. Silicon Valley would therefore be a priority.

The White House did not respond to a request from Bloomberg for comment. Whether, and possibly when, the presidential order is to be given, is not clear.

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