Trump administration plans to raise cost of hiring H-1B workers by 30% | Immigration News – Business Standard

Clipped from: https://www.business-standard.com/immigration/trump-administration-plans-to-raise-cost-of-hiring-h-1b-workers-by-30-126050801640_1.html

The new thresholds are ultimately likely to shrink opportunities for young talent as employers balk at paying more

Listen to This Article

An entry-level software engineer in San Francisco would need to be paid $162,000 a year to qualify for an H-1B visa under a Trump administration proposal — almost 30 per cent more than today. In Dallas, the minimum would jump by a similar rate to $113,000 and in New York to $132,000.

Those are the types of pay increases potentially in store for immigrants using the most popular path for white-collar workers to enter or stay in the US. It’s part of changes to the H-1B program that the Trump administration says will help prevent foreigners from undercutting Americans’ wages.

The plan to boost minimum salaries would cost the biggest employers of white-collar foreign talent at least $18 billion in the first 12 months, according to an analysis by immigration data companies Lawfully and Threshold. Within three years — when most existing H-1B visas will have to be renewed at the higher level — the annual cost could reach as high as $43 billion, the study found. The financial hit for employers is only half the story. The new thresholds are ultimately likely to shrink opportunities for young talent as employers balk at spending the extra money.

US President Donald Trump campaigned for his second term on a promise to crack down on all types of immigration, and his most high-profile efforts have focused on rounding up and deporting those who crossed the southern border illegally. But he’s also worked to clamp down on opportunities for professionals to come to the US, saying that the system was rife with abuse and exploitation.

In its notice earlier this year proposing the salary requirements, which awaits final approval from the Labor Department, the administration said H-1B visa holders are generally offered about $10,000 less a year than their US counterparts.

Backers see Trump’s proposal as a way to level the playing field for Americans and ensure the visas are being used for their stated purpose – to bring in exceptional talent in sectors where there’s a shortage of highly-skilled workers.

Employers are already cutting back on H-1B visas for entry-level and less experienced workers because of the increased expense, easing the path for the most lucrative employees. The affects go beyond tech, of course, to other sectors that use H-1Bs including finance, medicine, civil engineering, research and education.