Foreigners Create IT Jobs
March 30th, 2012Research indicates that foreign companies employ hundreds of thousands of Americans. If that’s the case, why do people want to seal our borders from foreigners? Some mistakenly believe that the way to boost the economy is to seal off the country’s borders and by doing so, those who are here will be the only ones competing for the jobs in the country. The problem is, immigrants to the United States have created thousands of jobs and are in fact responsible for helping to rebuild the country.
IT Businesses Stay Out?
Some in the IT industry feel they are being pushed out of their IT jobs as companies outsource the positions to foreign nationals. Some even go as far as to say that companies should only hire Americans and that all foreign nationals should be sent home. Some also say that the special type of work visa known as the H-1B visa be immediately stopped. By doing so, it would block companies from hiring foreigners to do the jobs Americans should be doing. The problem with this logic is that sealing our borders like this would likely create fewer jobs in the IT industry than many realize.
Would Unemployment Be Fixed?
The thought that taking these steps would eliminate the 9 percent unemployment the country is suffering with, other experts warn that a move like this could have lasting consequences. One of the biggest factors is the evidence that indicates that by encouraging highly educated IT professionals to come into the US or to encourage those graduating with technical degrees in the US to stay here; you will actually boost growth and employment in the country. Those who are in these fields are more likely than average professionals to start and build successful businesses.
According to a study from Duke University, one quarter of US science and tech companies founded from 1995 to 2005 were lead by foreign-born individuals. Those companies generated $52 billion in revenue and employed 450,000 people in 2005. In addition to this, if you look a Silicon Valley specifically, 52 percent of all startups are begun by foreign-born individuals. Companies like eBay, Intel, Oracle and even Google were all founded by immigrants. There’s more data to back this up, too. 25.6 percent of patent applications filed in 2006 listed foreign nationals as the inventors.
Another report this time from the Partnership for a New American Economy indicates that immigrants or their children founded more than 40 percent of the Fortune 500 companies listed in 2011.
It is important to note the numerous abuses of some types of work visas. Yes, foreign nationals are taking the jobs of Americans who could do the work in some situations. However, by and large, the number of jobs foreign nationals and immigrants create in the United States is far more. Therefore, sealing the borders could actually do more harm than good.