There are a staggering number of skilled guest workers in the U.S.; estimates are as high as one million. This estimate includes recent graduates who receive work authorization under the OPT program. In computer-related occupations, there are 470,000 non-U.S. citizens employed (or 12.7 percent of the workforce). That concentration of non-citizens is above average for the workforce as a whole.
Proponents argue that H-1B beneficiaries actually create jobs for U.S. workers because H-1B beneficiaries are the “best and the brightest.” However, there is no evidence that jobs are created by H-1B beneficiaries. In fact, there is no system for ensuring that the guest workers are only employed when no qualified U.S. worker is available.

H-1B Visa Workforce

• USCIS approved 269,653 H-1B petitions in fiscal year (FY) 2011, a 28 percent increase over FY2010.[23] There are an estimated 700,000 to 900,000 H-1B beneficiaries currently working in the U.S.[24]

• In 2011, among all H-1B beneficiaries, for 42 percent the highest degree held was a Bachelor’s degree, 42 percent held a Master’s degree, and 16 percent held a doctorate or professional degree.[25]

• Of the 269,653 H-1B visas certified in 2011, 134,873 worked in computer-related occupations; 29,695 worked in architecture, engineering, and surveying occupations; 18,704 worked in medicine and health; 17,859 worked in college and university education; 8,750 worked in accounting, auditing, and related occupations; and 5,043 worked in pre-kindergarten through secondary education.[26]
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The “Best and the Brightest” Myth
Many supporters of guest worker visas justify the programs by arguing that the H-1B helps the U.S. to recruit and retain the best and brightest workers. However, there is little support for this claim.

• Fifty-four percent, 130,528, of the H-1B visas in FY2010 went to non-immigrants for “entry level” positions.[27] Entry level positions require a “basic understanding of duties and perform routine tasks requiring limited judgment.”[28]

• Only six percent of the H-1B visa holders in FY2010 received compensation in the top pay grade (level IV), a reflection of highly specialized skills.[29]

• Employers have the option of sponsoring H-1B beneficiaries for permanent status, but less than 10 percent of firms actually sponsor workers for permanent status.[30] If a skilled worker is exceptionally talented, a company should be motivated to keep the worker longer than the six years allowed under visa rules. Instead the lack of sponsorships has fueled speculation that guest workers are used as cheap temporary labor.
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Body Shops

• “Body shop” is the term used to describe staffing companies that hire H-1B beneficiaries, who are then placed with a third-party employer.[31]

• Many of the body shops are Indian-owned companies that provide information technology services to U.S. customers. Of the top 10 H-1B employers in FY 2011, at least five were body shops headquartered in India.[32]

• Body shops are also an abundant source of Department of Labor (DOL) complaints. According to the DOL, a large majority of the wage and hour complaints it receives are related to activities at body shops.[33] In the Northeast region, where body shops predominate, “nearly all of the complaints [DOL] receive involve staffing companies and that the number of complaints are growing.”[34]

• The use of body shops makes it difficult to enforce H-1B laws. Body shops may contract out H-1B workers to a third-party employer who then contracts out the H-1B worker to a different employer. “[O]nly the staffing company, as the employer who has petitioned for the visa and made the attestations to comply, is technically accountable and ultimately liable for complying with program requirements.”[35]