Demand for STEM experts exceeds supply, says KPCB.
By Global India Newswire
WASHINGTON, DC: A new report by the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) calls for an increase in H-1B visa quota, arguing that there is “clear evidence” that the United States needs “a higher cap” on visas for foreign” science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workers.
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The report, titled “Immigration in America and the Growing Shortage of High-Skilled Workers,” points out that demand for STEM “experts exceeds supply,” with job vacancy rate three to four times “higher than that of other sectors.”
Stating that the percentage of native-born American STEM graduates at U.S. universities has declined from 74 percent in 1985 to 54 percent in 2006, the report, which was released May 29, makes a strong case for allowing tech companies to hire more foreign workers.
The United States is producing fewer than 52,000 graduates with bachelor’s degree in computer science a year, while it needs more than 122,000 graduates in the field annually. Therefore, to remain competitive, the tech industry should be allowed to hire “the best and brightest from around the world,” the KPCB report says.
At the moment U.S. firms are “constrained by caps on H-1B visa” (which is roughly 85,000 a year), while “there is demand for at least 15,000,” the report states. Five U.S. tech companies — IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle and Qualcomm — alone have a total of 10,000 job vacancies at the moment, it adds.
“We should make a greater effort to retain the large number of non-Americans getting advanced degrees (especially in STEM areas) from U.S. universities, while making sure that the system does not simply become a short-cut to getting an easy Green Card,” the report says.
Three other recommendations the report makes are:
- Create a new visa for the entrepreneurs, as Canada does, for those launching new tech companies;
- Reduce the backlog in issuing visas and Green Cards by streamlining and “increasing efficiency across government agencies related to immigration”; and
- Ensure wage and job protection in the United States by adopting the measures suggested by the bill approved by a Senate panel.
The report was coauthored by two KPCB partners of the firm, Mary Meeker and Liang Wu. KPCB, founded in 1972, has invested in a number of tech companies, including AOL, Amazon, Compaq, Google, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Twitter, Waza, and Zynga, according to its website.
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