As we approach another H-1B filing season this April, we thought it would be interesting to look at the types of occupations and employers that take advantage of both the H-1B visa and permanent residence process. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently released data shedding light on who is taking advantage of our lawful immigration process.
To hire an H-1B employee, a company must promise the DOL, in a labor condition application, that it will pay the H-1B employee wages that will not undercut the wages of U.S. workers. The labor condition application identifies the name of the employer, the work location, and the occupation in question.
Between October and December 31, 2016, the Department of Labor received 83,167 labor condition applications. The most common occupations:
- Computer Systems Analysts,
- Software Developer (Applications),
- Computer Programmers,
- Computer Occupations (All Other), and
- Software Developers (System Software).
These five occupational categories accounted for 68% of the labor condition applications filed during the quarter. California led the way with 23.9% of the applications. Florida placed tenth, with 3.2% of the applications.
The top ten H-1B employers were primarily consulting companies. They included: Cognizant Technology Solutions, Deloitte Consulting, Deloitte & Touche, Nvidia, Cisco, Infosys, IBM India Private Limited, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Mphasis.
During the same October to December timeframe, the DOL received 35,281 applications for a prevailing wage determination as part of the permanent residence process. The most common occupations were-you guessed it- computer related. They were:
- Software Developers (Applications),
- Software Developers (System Software),
- Computer Systems Analysts,
- Electronic Engineers (Except Computer), and
- Computer Occupations (All Other).
The top five employers filing applications for a permanent residence prevailing wage determination were all tech companies – Microsoft, Intel, Qualcomm, Google, and Apple — although collectively they comprised less than eight percent of the applications for a prevailing wage filed in the quarter.
