Trump’s America is growing increasingly hostile to hiring foreign talent

Companies in President Donald Trump’s America have become more and more wary of bringing in foreign talent.

The share of US firms that plan to, or are willing to, hire foreign business management graduates in 2018 has dropped to 47% from 55% last year, according to the Corporate Recruiter’s Survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council.

Over half of the American firms surveyed by the market intelligence and research firm said: “We do not hire such candidates.”

The current level of apprehension in the United States is far greater than in other regions of the world, noted the survey, which polled 1,066 employers across 42 countries.

The resistance to hiring foreign talent is reflected in the crackdown on the H-1B programme, which allows high-skilled foreign workers to live and work in the United States for up to six years. Since the Trump administration’s arrival, it has become tougher and burdensome for H-1B applications because of increased paperwork and higher scrutiny.

H-1B visa applications are getting rejected at a higher rate than before, and the growth rate of the optional practical training programme (meant for STEM students) is slowing down. And already fewer foreign students are enrolling in US universities.

While this survey only covered hiring for graduate students, the reluctance to hire foreign talent is visible across all roles. “We see a general dip in demand for H-1Bs,” said Poorvi Chothani, managing partner at immigration law firm LawQuest. Indians, who receive over three-quarters of the H-1B visa, are the worst-hit.

Typically, Indian information technology outsourcing firms have been heavily reliant on the H-1B programme to service clients in the United States – their biggest market. But these companies are now stepping up local hiring. Infosys plans to hire 10,000 Americans by 2019, while Tata Consultancy Services has already become one of the biggest job-creators in the United States information technology sector.

At the same time, firms are struggling with the non-availability of suitable talent in the United States. “We have clients that have posted job openings on various portals for several months and have received almost no applications or highly unsuitable applications,” Chothani said.

Yet, as per Graduate Management Admission Council data, there’s one industry that is still welcoming immigrant talent: technology.

Already, companies like IBM, Google, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft are among the top contenders for the H-1B visa. And in 2018, the sector remains the most accepting of foreign graduate hire.

This article first appeared on Quartz.