Attracting the Next Generation

[onpatrol98]

(Latest reasoning on increasing the number of H1-B visas)

Bill George

Professor of management practice at Harvard Business School
Posted: May 19, 2010 06:37 PM

America finds itself confronting a host of problems -- from environmental crises to reform on Wall Street, Congress has no shortage of pressing issues to tackle. One issue stands out to me, however, as particularly important in the effort to attract America's next generation of global leaders: America needs immigration reform for legal immigrants.

Ever since September 11, 2001, America has been making life extremely difficult for legal immigrants who want to stay in this country, start companies and contribute to the growth of the U.S. economy. In recent years all the focus has been on the 13 million illegal immigrants currently in the country.

(snip)

Increasing the number of skilled worker visas.
Increasing the ceiling on the number of H-1B visas for skilled workers ensures that America continues to attract the top set of leaders. A 2006 study by Duke University found that immigrant entrepreneurs in the United States founded 25.3% of all engineering and technology firms over the past decade, generating an estimated $52 billion (in 2005 dollars) in sales and creating 450,000 jobs. Today only 65,000 H-1B visas are issued per year, despite some 163,000 applications in 2008. These rejected applications represent almost 100,000 workers every year who could dynamically contribute to our nation's economy and help launch the next generation of entrepreneurial start-ups.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-george/attracting-the-next-gener_b_582595.html