The Silicon Valley tech firms are really open about the fact that every year they apply for a huge number of H-1 B visas. This visa allows the companies to recruit and bring guest workers for their firms with higher degrees.
Why Silicon Valley Tech Firms Hire Foreign Talent: An Analysis
Though the former President of the United States of America tried to bring some restrictions on this law, most of the owners of the well-known tech companies stood against this.
Most of the tech companies also have an immigration attorney in order to assist them in this task. And there are several reasons behind this, why tech companies hire immigrants or foreign workers.
How Silicon Valley Tech Firms Rely On Foreign Talent
Before we directly jump to the main topic, that is why Silicon Valley tech firms hire foreign talents. It is important to know why it can be a concern.
Here is a chart with the number of applications that were submitted by top tech firms of Silicon valley for H -1 B Visa in the year 2019.
Tech Company Names | Applications For H -1 B Visa | Average Salary |
Intel | 1,683 | $124,116 |
Apple | 1,708 | $150,548 |
Amazon Web Services | 1,711 | $129,888 |
3,212 | $166,068 | |
Microsoft | 6,041 | $142,132 |
IBM | 7,237 | $107,449 |
Amazon | 9,416 | $134,117 |
10,577 | $143,373 |
From this chart, it should be clear how much silicon valley tech firms rely on foreign talent. And it is now important to know the reason behind it.
Why Silicon Valley Tech Firms Hire Foreign Talent
Here are some of the common reasons why most of the technology firms in Silicon Valley hire foreign talent at a huge rate.
However, different companies have different opinions about this. But there are some common reasons that can go for most of the tech firms.
Hiring Talented Individuals For the Company
Every company wants to get the best talents that are available in the market. For them, geographical boundaries do not matter. And when they are getting the options or chances to hire some individuals with excellent talent, they do not want to lose them.
Apart from this, according to them, they are utilizing the scope that they are provided in the right way.
When they have the leverage to hire foreign talent and bring them here to the United States of America with the help of H -1B Visa, they are using it to enhance the economy of their nation.
Hiring From Trusted Partners
Most of the large corporates have their trusted partners, and they only run the hiring process through these partners. This eliminates a bunch of risks for the corporate body. As tech companies need most of the companies, they mostly hire through their only trusted partners.
This eliminates the extra effort of documents and background verifications. This is another reason behind the huge number of foreign talents that are being hired by the tech firms of Silicon Valley.
To Take The Business On The Global Level
Recruiting foreign talents also helps to take the business on a global level. There is no doubt that the global presence of any business helps its owner to earn more. It also opens the path for several other opportunities.
And every business person will always want to grab those opportunities. When Silicon Valley tech firms hire foreign talents, they are opening their door for talent from different parts of the world. And this always helps them to take their business to a global level.
Lack Of Trained Professional In The Nation
The shortage of highly skilled workers is always the issue that most of the tech firms in Silicon valley pointed out. As per them, not enough students in the United States of America are graduating with a STEM degree or Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math degree.
And generally, tech companies need these types of talents obviously more than any other kinds of specialization. And due to this, those companies need to find alternate solutions from foreign countries.
Getting A Better Option At A Lower Pay
From the above point, it is clear that foreign workers are far more talented than the options that technical companies of Silicon Valley have within the United States of America. So, when the options are more, it is also obvious that the selection also can be more.
But there is another benefit that these tech companies get when they hire foreign talents. Foreign workers generally agree to work for lower pay.
So, at the same time, those tech companies are getting more talented individuals and also saving the cost.
The Never-Ending Debate
Though the owners of Silicon Valley technical firms always said in support of hiring foreign talents more than America-native workers. And they stated the above mentioned five reasons in most of the cases.
But most of the companies do not agree with the last point. Most of the time, most technology firms simply deny that they are hiring foreign talents because they are getting them on lower pay.
But the group who are opposing this massive amount of hiring foreign workers always pointed out this reason. This group also stated that as per several studies, there is no lack of trained professionals in the United States of America.
In the past few years, many big companies have replaced American-native workers with foreign talents. And some of those employees also had to train their replacements. There is another fact that this group has pointed out.
Not all foreign workers have STEM degrees. Only around 30% of the total hired foreigners have a Stem degree. But it is true that these foreign talents are the backbone of Silicon Valley.
The tech companies also have stated that in place of reducing the number of H -1B visas, it is necessary to increase the number, and this will be beneficial for the U.S. economy.
Conclusion
So, here is the scenario of the Silicon Valley tech firms hiring foreign talents. No one can deny this fact. But this does not mean that all Silicon Valley tech companies hire mostly foreign talents. There are also some tech giants whose employee lists have mostly American-native names.