The slowdown in the high-tech sector—with massive layoffs becoming all too commonplace in Silicon Valley—has reversed a trend of yearly dramatic increases in the hiring of skilled foreign artisans. That previous trend had made specialty work visas—known as H-1Bs—highly coveted by American companies looking to fill key staff positions with talent recruited from other countries. In fact, the demand for foreign workers was so great that it fueled last year’s passage into law of a bill that increased the annual U.S. allotment of H-1B visas by 70 percent to 195,000 for this and each of the next two years (SHOOT, 11/3/00, p. 1).
But at press time, word from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was that American companies are nowhere near reaching that visa limit. In fact, according to the INS, the requests for H-1Bs aren’t even approaching the previous annual quota of 115,000.
As chronicled in SHOOT, the H-1B visa bill was vigorously lobbied for and supported by U.S. high-tech firms—including many visual effects and computer animation studios—that have been dependent on foreign talent to help offset what they’ve contended is a shortage of qualified American workers.
Last year, the INS ran out of its annual 115,000 H-1B visa allotment in March (SHOOT, 3/21/00, p. 1). That allocation, which lasted six months, was supposed to cover a full year (Oct. 1, 1999 through Sept. ’00). Also in ’99, the limit of 115,000 was reached prematurely in mid-June, nine months into that fiscal year (SHOOT, 6/25/99, p. 1). The run on H-1Bs was primarily generated by Silicon Valley-type businesses which, as dramatically evidenced by NASDAQ’s decline, are now in a belt-tightening mode.
That new-found austerity could very well have a ripple effect on the H-1B market for American visual effects and computer animation studios. Indeed, H-1Bs have become more readily available, without the time pressure of past years. Chances are that the effects community will be able to access H-1Bs through September (the end of the current fiscal year for visas), not having to worry that the allotment will soon be tapped out by computer, software and telecommunications firms in the high-tech sector. Also, amidst all the layoffs, there may be some more homegrown design and animation talent looking for work in the U.S. marketplace. This might offer visual effects and CG studios some viable domestic alternatives to automatically having to look outside the country for staffing help.
Requesting anonymity, an executive at a leading visual effects studio contended that the advantage is limited to those companies with deeper pockets. "The recession is also hurting the advertising business—and with strikes [by the Writers Guild of America and/or the Screen Actors Guild] a distinct possibility—many effects and CG houses won’t exactly be in a position to aggressively staff up," he observed. "But there’s some interesting talent overseas that our company has been eyeing and maybe can get a jump on to help us over the long-term, looking ahead to when business returns to normal. By recruiting now, we could gain a leg up on our competition."
Despite the current lessening demand for H-1Bs, the legislation that raised the allocation could still prove valuable. Several supporters of the original bill—including representatives of the Information Technology Association of America —think that some companies are biding their time. They contend that in prior years, the application wave was front-loaded because businesses knew the existing cap would not last the full 12 months. But now the filing schedule has become more reasonable, with applications being filled out when the need actually arises. And the increased allocation applies not only through Sept. ’01, but also the following two fiscal years when both business and the demand for foreign talent figure to again heat up.
The legislation additionally contains a provision that establishes a program to train U.S. workers for high-tech jobs. Both supporters and opponents of the H-1B legislation seem to agree that the long-term solution isn’t visa based, but rather is dependent on stateside training. The idea behind the original bill was that it would buy more time for positive reform in the U.S. educational system to take hold. Ideally, more funding and resources will be committed to arts and high-tech education in order to help produce more homegrown talent with the necessary technological and artistic skills called for in the new-millennium job market.
