- Reaction score
- 1,732
Amid a series of layoffs, tech companies are finding it increasingly difficult to sponsor foreign workers for employment-based green cards due to stringent labor rules designed to protect U.S. workers. The process, governed by the Program Electronic Review Management system, mandates job advertising to ensure U.S. workers are not adversely affected.
However, President Joe Biden's administration is considering a green card rule change that could significantly alter this landscape. The proposed exemption could be applied to a broad range of tech occupations including, notably, software engineering -- which represents about 1.8 million U.S. positions, according to U.S. labor statistics data -- and would allow companies to bypass some labor market tests if there's a demonstrated shortage of U.S. workers in an occupation.
Specifically, the Biden administration is looking to update the Department of Labor's Schedule A Shortage Occupation List to include STEM occupations. This list, which hasn't been updated in decades and is focused primarily on healthcare, exempts listed occupations from Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) requirements such as advertising job openings in newspapers, on the employer's website, at jobs fairs and other steps. Tech companies have latched on to the Schedule A list as a means to cut green card processing time and government regulation.
Microsoft, one of the tech leaders in Washington seeking tech-related immigration reforms, is lobbying for the inclusion of tech roles on this list. Citing its own research from LinkedIn, a business it owns, Microsoft anticipates significant labor shortages in fields such as software engineering, cybersecurity and data science.
www.techtarget.com
However, President Joe Biden's administration is considering a green card rule change that could significantly alter this landscape. The proposed exemption could be applied to a broad range of tech occupations including, notably, software engineering -- which represents about 1.8 million U.S. positions, according to U.S. labor statistics data -- and would allow companies to bypass some labor market tests if there's a demonstrated shortage of U.S. workers in an occupation.
Specifically, the Biden administration is looking to update the Department of Labor's Schedule A Shortage Occupation List to include STEM occupations. This list, which hasn't been updated in decades and is focused primarily on healthcare, exempts listed occupations from Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) requirements such as advertising job openings in newspapers, on the employer's website, at jobs fairs and other steps. Tech companies have latched on to the Schedule A list as a means to cut green card processing time and government regulation.
Microsoft, one of the tech leaders in Washington seeking tech-related immigration reforms, is lobbying for the inclusion of tech roles on this list. Citing its own research from LinkedIn, a business it owns, Microsoft anticipates significant labor shortages in fields such as software engineering, cybersecurity and data science.
Microsoft, Google seek green card rule change | TechTarget
The Biden administration could alter a green card rule, potentially easing the process for tech roles by exempting them from some labor market tests.
