Former Sen. John Sununu, R-New Hampshire is pushing for Congress to double the number of visas available to high tech workers. Such a move would benefit Houston in particular.

Nearly one in every four jobs produced in Houston is a STEM job – requiring knowledge of science, technology, engineering or math. The number of American graduates in STEM fields falls well short of demand. The H-1B visa program allows foreigners pursuing these fields to study and work in the United States.

There’s an annual limit on H-1-B visas. Former Sen. Sununu says that cap is long out of date.

…

Listen to the interview »

The post Ex-Sen. Sununu, Tech Firms Push House to Raise Visa Cap for STEM Workers appeared first on inSPIRE STEM USA.

Former U.S. Senator John Sununu explained why he is behind inSPIRE STEM USA and how he thinks it will bring more jobs to the Show-Me State.

…

Listen to the interview »

The post TIAM: Will Immigration Reform Mean More Jobs in Missouri? appeared first on inSPIRE STEM USA.

A former U.S. Senator leads a coalition of tech companies and education groups who are advocating for immigration reform in Washington D.C. The coalition, inSPIRE STEM USA, wants immigration reform as a means of boosting the economy through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) careers. inSPIRE STEM USA is urging congress to pass an immigration reform that could add 5,600 STEM related jobs in Michigan in 2014 and 14,100 jobs by 2020.

…

Listen to the interview »

The post Former Senator Pushes for Immigration Reform appeared first on inSPIRE STEM USA.

inSPIRE STEM USA PITCHING HILL ON IMMIGRATION’S TECH, AGRICULTURE BOOSTS – The advocacy group is hosting a briefing this afternoon on the economic benefits of comprehensive immigration reform, and they’re getting a hand from tech. The meeting, open only to congressional staffers, will feature Microsoft’s Bill Kamela, the National Association of Manufacturers’ Christine Scullion, and Hamilton place Strategies’ Tony Fratto. As part of the pitch, attendees can expect to hear plenty about the need for a STEM education fund, which some like inSPIRE had pushed aggressively for as part of the Hill’s immigration work. They got it in the Senate bill, but that measure isn’t getting a vote in the House – and the lower chamber’s skilled-workers bill doesn’t have include a STEM fund. The briefing starts at noon in Rayburn B340.

…

Read the full article »

The post Politico Morning Tech for July 30, 2013 appeared first on inSPIRE STEM USA.

The walls have started to rise in North Austin, forming the shell of HID Global’s new $35 million manufacturing, warehousing, distribution and customer service center.

The company has begun to hire the first handful of the 276 workers it pledged to employ in exchange for $3.5 million in local and state tax incentives, although it won’t start hiring in earnest until later this year.

Yet already – months before the plant has installed its first machine or produced its first security or identity-authentication card – the expectations for its employee base reflect the widespread transformation sweeping through the U.S. workforce.

A Brookings Institution study released Monday reports that the number of jobs that require proficiency in science, technology, engineering or math — the so-called STEM fields — is much larger than previously considered.

Using a new, broader definition of STEM-related occupations, Brookings found that U.S. employers provided 26 million such jobs in 2011 — about 20 percent of the country’s total nonfarm job base that year, the report said.

…

Read the full article »

The post STEM Skills Seeping into More Blue-Collar Jobs appeared first on inSPIRE STEM USA.

Today, the Congressional High Tech Caucus, a bipartisan group of Members of Congress led by Representatives Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Doris Matsui (D-CA), and Compete America, a coalition of the nation’s high tech companies, associations and colleges that supports high-skilled immigration reform, briefed Congressional staff on the results of research from two respected economists on the positive impact of increasing high-skilled immigration.

“Today’s briefing allowed us to show Congressional staffers empirical evidence that more high-skilled immigration means more American jobs,” said Scott Corley, Executive Director of Compete America. “As the House begins to consider immigration reform legislation, it’s important to consider the positive impact that high-skilled immigrants have on our economy.”

The briefing included a presentation from Dr. Gordon Hanson, an economist at the University of California at San Diego, and Dr. Matthew Slaughter, an economist at Dartmouth College.

“For generations, highly skilled labor in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has been a catalyst for innovation, job creation, and rising standards of living in America,” Hanson and Slaughter said.

…

Read the full article »

The post Compete America and Congressional High Tech Caucus Brief Hill Staffers on New Research Highlighting Benefits of High-Skilled Immigration appeared first on inSPIRE STEM USA.

Tucked into immigration reform legislation in both chambers of Congress are little-noticed measures that could pump hundreds of millions of dollars into cultivating a new generation of American students interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (or STEM). Such a move could help shore up what much of corporate America and many lawmakers see as a glaring deficiency in the nation’s long-term economic competitiveness.

The bills offer at least $200 million per year (but perhaps as much as $700 million, advocates say) by channeling fees from high-skilled visas into investments in STEM education and job training.

Specifically, legislators would increase the fee that employers pay to sponsor high-skilled temporary workers (visas known as H-1Bs) and direct $1,000 of that bump toward a special “STEM fund.” The fund would also be supported by an additional $1,000 cost to employers looking to sponsor H-1B workers for permanent residence in the United States.

…

“One of our member companies says that it’s not that there is a small STEM pipeline,” says Beneva Schulte, executive director of inSPIRE STEM USA, an advocacy group pushing for the education fund that is backed by a slew of top technology and manufacturing giants. “There’s just none.”

…

“What is so important about the STEM fund is not” where the money is going specifically, says Ms. Schulte, “but the commitment as a country to the importance of this issue, and the importance of it going forward for the next 30 years.”

…

Read the full article »

The post How Immigration Reform Might Also Spur Young Americans to Study Math, Science appeared first on inSPIRE STEM USA.

Contrary to popular belief, there’s no shortage of U.S. workers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank in Washington D.C.

…

However, Beneva Schulte, exectutive director of inSPIRE STEM USA, a coalition of businesses and educators lobbying for more H-1B visas, disputes the findings. She acknowledges that the overall number of STEM graduates in the U.S. has increased. “But with the growth of technology and IT businesses in the U.S., the increase is not keeping pace with employers’ needs, making the STEM crisis very real and one America cannot afford to ignore,” she explains. She contends the study is flawed because it artificially inflates the pool of STEM workers in the U.S. by including librarians, social scientists and other non-STEM professions as part of “information science.”

…

Read the full article »

The post No Shortage of STEM Workers? appeared first on inSPIRE STEM USA.

Hungarian-born software engineer Peter Lada moved to Queens with plans for an internet startup geared towards restaurant owners.

A year and a half later, EasyPairings.com – which quickly matches eatery managers with job seekers through “one-click hiring” – is growing.

Lada was able to make his dream happen here because he has a green card through marriage – but said he’s seen many fellow immigrant techies leave the U.S. due to visa woes or long waits to become a legal resident.

“A lot of really good people have packed up and moved back. I think that’s a loss for this country,” said Lada.

As Silicon Alleys continue to grow in New York City – from Lada’s Long Island City to Manhattan’s Flatiron District to DUMBO in Brooklyn – politicians, businesses and institutions are calling for laws to make it easier for immigrant tech entrepreneurs and workers to stay put.

“There’s a business value. We cannot hire enough developers and designers to meet the demand here,” said Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who lives in Brooklyn.

“The tech sector continues to grow, continues to create value, continues to create jobs, and there’s not enough people to do them.”

High-tech’s lobbying efforts seem to be working. Last week, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) made the industry’s demands central to his support for the bill, fighting off union leaders and lawmakers who had sought to include more protections for American workers.

…

Read the full article »

The post Local Push to Keep Immigrant Tech Talent in the U.S. appeared first on inSPIRE STEM USA.

Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista on Thursday helped introduce a bill that would grant up to 55,000 green cards each year to qualified foreign-born students who have earned advanced degrees in science, technology, mathematics and engineering in the United States.

The legislation also would boost — from 65,000 to 155,000 — the annual number of visas issued to high-skilled workers from abroad.

Issa joined fellow Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia in introducing the measure in the House Judiciary Committee. The legislation is called the SKILLS Visa Act, short for the Supplying Knowledge-Based Immigrants and Lifting Levels of STEM Visas Act.

“(It) will allow the best and brightest foreign graduates of American universities to stay in the U.S., encourage entrepreneurs and investors to grow our economy, and create American jobs,” Issa said, adding that the bill “will modernize immigration laws to help our growing technology sector.”

…

Industry groups that support the measure include Compete America, inSPIRE STEM USA, the Information Technology Industry Council and the Consumer Electronics Association.

…

Read the full article »

The post Bill Would Boost Number of Green Cards to Students appeared first on inSPIRE STEM USA.