Marketing principles and practices

¶ … 2000, the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act was passed by Congress. This act, which was widely supported by firms in high technology industries, had several impacts on American businesses. The main feature of the Act was to change some of the rules regarding H1-B visas.

The H1-B visa is a category of non-immigrant visa that allows foreign workers with special skills to work in the U.S. It only applies to specific categories of workers, and these workers must only work for the sponsoring company. The new Act increases the quota of H1-B workers who can be allowed into the United States, and it allows them to begin working immediately. The Act does, however, have some provisions for the increase in portability of the H1-B visa, subject to strict terms and conditions.

High tech firms fought so hard for the new rules for several reasons. Many high tech firms are faced with rapid growth prospects due to the rapid development and diffusion of new technologies. However, growth at many high tech firms has been limited by access to qualified workers. The pool of domestic applicants is simply not deep enough to meet demand by companies for these types of workers. Prior to the enactment of the new rules, the H1-B quota for a given year would often be filled by spring, meaning that many high tech firms would be forced to delay work until the following year when they could bring in the qualified talent they needed.

From the perspective of most companies, the H1-B visa and the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act are a boon. They dramatically increase the availability of highly-qualified, specialized workers. These workers bring their skills and education to the U.S., where capital and business infrastructure are strong. The workers add to the American economy by virtue of the fact that without them, the output at high tech companies would be lower.

These immigration acts do have opponents. Some argue that the foreign workers are taking American jobs. There is little evidence to support this contention, but the sentiment exists. The law has a dual intent, meaning that Congress intends for the visa to be both a temporary solution but also a gateway to permanent residency. As a result, opponents characterize American job loss as permanent.

There are other considerations as well. H1-B visa holders are tied to their jobs. Without the job, they must leave the country. This creates a unique situation whereby the worker does not have, de facto, the same rights as American workers. This leaves the worker open to possible exploitation, especially in light of the fact that the worker typically does not have experience with the U.S. legal system.

Several of these issues are important to our firm. The first is that the expansion of the H1-B program allows us more flexibility to import talent from Pomodoro's overseas operations. As a multinational company, Pomodoro can add value to Thompson by virtue of information and technology transfer from such guest workers. The J-1 visa can be used for this purpose as well, on a more short-term basis.

On a practical basis, this law also means that we can staff key positions with guest workers in some of our scientific (product development) and it positions. Because H1-B workers can start immediately, they can essentially compete with domestic workers for the jobs, which expands our applicant pool. There is little oversight of the program to ensure that there are no qualified U.S. applicants.

However, there are negative optics to making too much use of the H1-B visa. Many high tech firms have come under fire for their extensive use of the visa. In our industry, extensive use would be especially visible, to both our employees and our competitors. As we are now foreign-owned, the optics would take a decidedly anti-American slant, which could be bad for both morale and for business.

It is also worth considering that foreign workers face unique challenges. As a human resources department, we need to be aware of the extra costs associated with bringing in H1-B visa holders. They often need extra time to sort out their immigration issues; they have a period of cultural adjustment and many also have a language barrier as well. A full cost-benefit analysis should be undertaken before any H1-B program is put into effect.