US tech firms mop up more no. of H-1B visas

Firms with higher R&D spend likely to get more approval

Washington, April 27: Four out of the six highprofile US tech companies were among the top 10 employers for approved H-1B petitions for initial employment in fiscal 2017, a US think-tank has said in its latest report, reflecting the strong demand for high-skilled talent in the US economy.

The National Foundation for American Policy in its latest report on work visa popular among Indian IT workers said four of six high-profile US tech firms — Amazon (2,515), Microsoft (1,479), Intel (1,230), and Google (1,213) — were among the top 10 employers for approved H-1B petitions for initial employment in FY2017. Facebook, with 720 new H-1B initial petitions approved in FY2017, an increase of 248, or 53 per cent, and Apple, with 673, a 7 per cent increase, were 14th and 15th on the list.

According to the report, Amazon had the second most number of H-1B petitions approved for initial employment in FY2017, with an increase from 1,416 in FY2016 to 2,515 in FY2017.

Amazon’s use of H-1Bs reflects its increased growth in the US, particularly in research and development.

Also, the top H-1B employers among highprofile tech companies match up with the US companies that spend the most on research and development.

In 2017, Amazon spent almost $23 billion on R&D, followed by Alphabet with $16.6 billion, Intel with $13.1 billion, Microsoft with $12.3 billion, Apple with $11.6 billion and Facebook with $7.8 billion.

Research and development is important to a country’s economic growth. It is possible some of the larger tech companies had more success gaining approvals with fewer overall applications submitted for the fiscal 2018 H-1B cap (and subsequent random selection once USCIS received more applications than the annual limit), the report said.