In New Hampshire, Companies Use Temporary Visas to Displace Skilled Workers; Many Jobs Lost for Good

WASHINGTON, June 6, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than two-thirds of H-1B temporary work visas authorized for use in New Hampshire last year were issued to companies whose business model specializes in shipping American jobs overseas.

According to IEEE-USA research and data from the U.S. Department of Labor, 65 percent of H-1B authorizations in New Hampshire went to just nine companies – all offshore outsourcing companies or companies heavily involved with offshoring. These include the top three outsourcing companies in the country, according to an analysis last year by Computerworld magazine (http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9236732/The_data_shows_Top_H_1B_users_are_offshore_outsourcers).

Other, smaller outsourcing companies bring the total number of approved temporary visas past 67 percent. Rising players in the offshore outsourcing world were also among the companies dominating the H-1B list in New Hampshire.

"Our legislators should be focusing on ways to create jobs in New Hampshire, not make it easier to replace us," said James Henderson, chair of the IEEE New Hampshire Section. "Most H-1B visas are not being used to fill vacant jobs, but to replace American workers to save corporations money. The fact that Congress allows this to happen is beyond belief."

H-1B visas are short-term work permits that are popular in high-tech fields such as engineering and information technology. Companies frequently use them to hire inexpensive foreign workers to replace their more expensive American workforce. In some cases, the jobs being done by H-1B workers will eventually be sent overseas. In others, the job remains in the United States but will never again be done by an American.

H-1B employees are not immigrants, do not hold their own visas, may not petition for citizenship and cannot start their own companies.

Rather than relying on H-1B visas, Congress should expand the employment-based green card program. Green card holders are free agents in the marketplace and can start their own businesses. The program increases job opportunities in New Hampshire by allowing top graduates from Dartmouth, UNH and other schools to become Americans after graduation.

IEEE-USA serves the public good and promotes the careers and public policy interests of more than 200,000 engineering, computing and technology professionals who are U.S. members of IEEE. New Hampshire has 1,595 members.

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SOURCE IEEE-USA