H-1B Workers Are Helping to Save Jobs During the COVID-19 Recession

Alex NowrastehThe large increase in unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic, caused byindividual changes in behavior andgovernment policies, have prompted the Trump administration to consider suspending many temporary work visa programs. Among those visa programs on the chopping block is theH-1B visa for skilled foreign workers. In 2019,two ‐​thirds of migrants received the H-1B visa to work in computer ‐​related occupations with many of them employed in the information technology (IT) sector. IT is an important source ofproductivity growth, but it became more obvious how important it was for saving employment opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic.According toresearch by economistAdam Ozimek, “Remote work has risen rapidly as a result of the pandemic, with more than half of the American workforce currently working from home. ” Crucially, hefound that “the ability to work remotely has reduced the risk of job loss early in the crisis by 32 percent to 53 percent.” According to relatedresearch by Ozimek and others, “[S]tates with a higher share of employment in information work … were more likely to shift toward working from home and had fewer people laid off or furloughed.”The supply of IT services has smoothed the shift to remote work for abouthalf of the workforce and saving large numbers of jobs in the process. Even so,problems with technology was the biggest reported issue with shifting to remote work. Imagine how much more difficult su...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs