Ohio sees rise in use of foreign specialists

H-1B visa approvals at highest level in 14 years

An analysis of federal data by The Dispatch reveals that new visa approvals for high-skill foreign workers in Ohio are at their highest in years — and companies in central Ohio are leading the way in bringing in foreign specialists.

The data, which comes from the Department of Homeland Security, show that initial approvals for H-1B visas in 2022 for Ohio firms were at their highest level in at least 14 years (since the public database began in 2009).

In total, nearly 17,000 new visas were issued to Ohio firms over the decade ending in 2022. Ohio State University in Columbus tops the list, with over 800 approvals, followed by Cleveland Clinic Foundation and the Cleveland Clinic, Cincinnati-based tech firm SLK America, and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

The H-1B visa program, which is known for bringing in foreign scientists, engineers and other specialists to meet U.S. shortfalls, is a temporary, nonimmigrant visa category. It allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers with specialized skills to work for a specific period of time. To be eligible, a foreign worker must have a valid job offer from a U.S. employer, hold at least a bachelor’s degree (though many have master’s degrees or Ph.Ds) and the employer must demonstrate a lack of qualified U.S. applicants for the role.

Greater Columbus is home to 42 of the top 100 companies receiving H-1B visas for employees, with most of them located in Columbus or Dublin. Central Ohio firms in professional, scientific and technical services have brought in many of the H-1B workers.

“An H-1B is a bridge for a firm to temporarily get qualified workers right away, to fill a gap,” said Mark Partridge, an urban economist at Ohio State University.

H-1B applications are likely to continue growing as central Ohio gears up to become a regional technology hub, according to Partridge.

“We are going to have at least a shortterm need for those workers, because Ohio hasn’t traditionally provided those kinds of workers,” he said.

STEM, health care and education lead the way

Nationally, Ohio ranks 16th in the nation for the most H-1B approvals over the decade ending in 2022. The top four states — California, Texas, New Jersey and New York — accounted for more than half of all of the visas.

Most of Ohio’s H-1B visas — especially in Greater Columbus — were in the science and technology field, followed by health care and education. However, in the Cleveland area, H-1B visas related to health care led the way.

The data reflect new H-1B approvals only, and are based on where companies are incorporated — not necessarily where employees work. Large, out-ofstate firms that may have H-1B workers in Ohio, like Amazon, are not reflected in the data.

Effects on American workers

Though economic research shows the H-1B program benefits the U.S. economy overall, there has been opposition to the program.

“A potential misconception is that (H-1B workers) suppress wages, but … on average, they probably don’t suppress wages,” said Partridge, noting that employers must attest that they will pay the prevailing wage. “But that doesn’t mean there aren’t (individual) cases where (H-1B workers) were brought in to replace an existing workforce.”

The Trump administration, claiming it was protecting American workers, took steps to dismantle the H-1B program.

However, some research has shown that firms respond to restrictions on H-1B immigration by offshoring jobs.

Other studies show the H-1B program actually benefits American workers. For example, one study from the Journal of Labor Economics showed that foreign science, technology, engineering and math workers provide “fundamental inputs for innovation” that significantly boost the productivity and wages of American workers, especially those who are college-educated.

Canada recently launched a program directly aimed at “poaching” U.S. H-1B visa holders by offering them Canadian work permits. The program quickly reached its cap of 10,000 applicants soon after its launch earlier this year.

“A potential misconception is that (H-1B workers) suppress wages, but … on average, they probably don’t suppress wages. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t (individual) cases where (H-1B workers) were brought in to replace an existing workforce.”

Mark Partridge

An urban economist at Ohio State University