H1-B Controversy; Issues, Problems & Solutions

A debate exploded with the American First crowd after Elon Musk and David Sacks posted on X the need to support H1-B quotas for highly skilled workers.

How it All Started Today

Alex Stapp posted a tweet stating “Only 14% of US residents are immigrants. But immigrants are responsible for 36% of aggregate innovation. Two-thirds of this contribution is due to making their native-born collaborators better." In his post, he attached the below abstract backing up his statement.

Elon Musk followed up with a tweet that said “The immigration hot-button topic is the biggest DKE situation I’ve ever seen.”

After a flurry of backlash on X including posts and Space livestreams, Elon posted a clarification:

“Maybe this is a helpful clarification: I am referring to bringing in via legal immigration the top ~0.1% of engineering talent as being essential for America to keep winning.”

This is like bringing in the Jokic’s or Wemby’s of the world to help your whole team (which is mostly Americans!) win the NBA. Thinking of America as a pro sports team that has been winning for a long time and wants to keep winning is the right mental construct.”

With my position in biotech, telecommunications, CT and MRI medical imaging fields, my responsibility was developing talent, recruiting, and retaining highly skilled individuals since 1995. Do I want to hire American workers first, absolutely.

There are many reasons why companies rely on the H1-B program to fill gaps in their talent pool. The reason why companies rely on a small amount of H1-B hires is multi-faceted, including our public school system not preparing the youth for STEM positions, and family dynamics that have been deteriorating for decades.

Pro-Active Hiring Americans First Candidates

As a person responsible for multiple corporations top STEM positions, my teams employed a multi-prong approach to develop, recruit and retain our top talent including:

1.) Working with high school and university professors to identify and support future American STEM workers: Corporate programs should include internships, co-ops, and scholarships for the youngest and brightest inspiring minds starting in high school.

2.) Providing scholarships for employees who's children meet certain criteria is a sure way to cultivate a new American generation of STEM workers. We did have a nepotism policy so there were situations where the employee's university graduate was ineligible for hire at the company. With that being said, employing a scholarship program for a company is still a success for American students.

3.) Developing current highly performing employees for future skilled STEM positions is a must. Once a company has identified a diamond in the rough, providing development programs to help them expand their skills is a win-win situation for both the company and the employee. By providing skills uptraining policies whether through tuition reimbursement programs, and/or internal training programs is a sure way to retain talent. These programs typically inspires the employee and develops strong loyality. Not to mention training programs offer the opportunity for the high performing employee to further accelerate at the company.

Current Issues & Problems Today

Starting from the beginning of my career, it was a real challenge to fill all positions with American workers for a multiple of reasons including:

1.) Technology moves at a rapid speed and even STEM positions have to continue to upskill their talent toolbox in order to stay current. Many of the highly productive STEM employees are busy with a full-time job and family obligations. Even a very dedicated employee may not have the personal resources to continue learning. For companies to survive in a high tech environment, they have to be nible and constantly adapt with the newest technology. In order to continue to be a leader in their respective sector, a company has to hire the few who are versed with the emerging technologies in order to remain competitive. Thus, this means hiring Americans and yes, foreigners sometimes who have already acquired the technical skills which support the strategy of the company.

2.) Thus, a nible company must develop an organizational talent program that encourages current employees to upskill their talents that includes financial incentives and personal rewards for accomplishments that meet the company's strategic goals.

3.) Our country has had a public school quality problem that has not delivered results for decades ever since we nationalized public education. Over the last 30 years, America's education rating has declined substantially. In fact, America ranks 28th among a list of 37 industrialized countries measured as part of the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).

• A Pew Research paper states “Just 28% of U.S. adults say America is the best in the world or above average in K-12 science, technology, engineering and math education compared with other wealthy nations. A third say the U.S. is average, while another 32% think the U.S. is below average or the worst in K-12 STEM education.”

4.) Finally, the apathy of parental involvement in their childrens education has declined significantly over decades for multiple reasons. The University of Chicago measured parent involvement in 104 schools. Among those weak in parent involvement, just 10 percent showed substantial improvement in reading, and just 4 percent showed substantial improvement in math. Among those strong in parent involvement, 40 percent showed substantial improvement in reading, and 42 percent showed substantial improvement in math. That is a 30 to 38 percent jump, just because parents are more involved!

In essence, while the H1-B visa program helps fill immediate skill gaps, the root issues involve educational reform and increased parental engagement. Immediate solutions must focus on proactive recruitment and development strategies aimed at cultivating and retaining American STEM talent. A longer term solution is to develop policies that encourage and support changes in family dynamics that positively influence children's education, thereby enhancing their academic success.