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GAO to study impact of H-1B program on hiring
By PATRICK THIBODEAU
SEPTEMBER 11, 2002

WASHINGTON -- There's no shortage of anecdotal reports from
U.S. workers that the H-1B visa program is costing Americans jobs. But
proving it has been elusive because companies don't disclose who they
hire or lay off.  That's a problem facing the U.S. General Accounting
Office as it embarks on a study to answer a question posed by two
Democrats on the U.S. House Science Committee: Do companies show a
preference for retaining H-1B workers, and if so, why?

The GAO study, due out sometime next year, is expected to arrive
during a congressional debate on whether the cap on the controversial
program should be allowed to shrink from 195,000, its level for the
past two fiscal years, to 65,000 after the next fiscal year ends on
Sept. 30, 2003.  The H-1B program is a contentious issue in the
technology community. Critics charge that in many cases, foreign
workers are hired because of their willingness to work for lower wages
and fewer benefits. Industry groups counter that the U.S. doesn't
supply enough workers with technical skills to meet demand. H-1B
employees, hired for certain technical skills, can work in the
U.S. for six years through the visa program, and possibly longer under
some exceptions.

The value of the upcoming report will rest on the strength of its
data. But GAO officials have not determined how to research the H-1B
program's impact, and agency officials are now planning to meet with
House Science Committee staff members to discuss a research
methodology, according to agency and congressional staff members.

The plan is already drawing criticism from one H-1B advocate. Harris
Miller, who heads the Information Technology Association of America in
Arlington, Va., said he believes that the latest H-1B usage data is
proof enough that the program isn't being abused.

The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service recently reported that
it granted 60,500 H-1B visas in the nine-month period that ended June
30, representing a 54% drop from the same period last year.  "The
numbers speak for themselves," said Miller. The downturn shows that
H-1B's critics are wrong about the visa program serving as a supply of
cheap labor, he said.

"If they [the H-1B opponents] were right, which they are not, there
would just be as many H-1Bs today as a year ago," said Miller. Given
the pressure on companies to cut payroll, he said, wouldn't they use
"more H-1Bs rather than less H-1Bs during an economic downturn?"

But George McClure, who heads the career policy committee of the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. , points to
rising unemployment numbers for computer and electronics engineers,
along with reports from IEEE members who say they have lost jobs to
H-1B workers.

"We've got lots of unemployed members ... who can do the jobs that
they are bringing in H-1Bs for," said McClure. He said he has heard
from engineers who were instructed to train H-1B visa holders and were
then laid off.  But McClure said he doesn't know how the GAO can
accurately assess the situation, other than to talk to affected
workers and hear their stories.  "If the concern is with unemployment,
then they ought to be talking to some of the people who are
unemployed," said McClure.

U.S. Reps. James Barcia and Lynn Rivers, both Michigan Democrats and
House Science Committee members, requested the GAO study a year
ago. The GAO divided their request into two parts, starting with a
study on the effectiveness of a training program that has been funded
through H-1B fees. That report is due in a matter of weeks.

The H-1B training program, which has collected $138 million fees paid
by employers who sponsor H-1B visa holders, has been called
"ineffective" by the Bush administration because it isn't providing
training that would lessen demand for H-1B workers.

These visa holders typically have bachelor's and, in many cases,
advanced degrees. But a lot of the training programs are being used to
prepare workers for low-tech jobs such as installing cable, the
administration said.  The Bush administration's position was
determined before anyone had evaluated the training program, said one
congressional staff member familiar with the GAO study. That study may
yet find some value in the program, he said.