Bloomberg has created a visualization that breaks down what types of companies obtained work visas for foreign workers between 2020 and 2023 using new immigration data the media company obtained from the U.S. government through a lawsuit. Each year, the U.S. government allocates 85,000 H-1B visas for high-skilled foreigners to work in the United States using a lottery system, and thousands of companies compete for these limited spots to sponsor new employees. According to the visualization, half of all available visas for H-1Bs go to two types of companies: a small group of multinational outsourcing companies (denoted by yellow circles) and IT staffing firms (denoted by red circles), which are firms that act as intermediaries between the job market and potential employees rather than being the end employers themselves (denoted by grey circles).
Martin Makaryan
Martin Makaryan is a research assistant specializing in digital policy. Makaryan is a current master's student at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University where he specializes in security and strategy, with a focus on the intersection of security, policy, and emerging technologies. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and Global Studies from UCLA and previously worked in government affairs and policy research in California both in the non-profit and government sectors. His academic and professional interests include the impact of innovation and technology on foreign policy and national security policy, as well as automation and AI, cybersecurity, and digital policy.
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