Seattle may be missing out on cash for workforce training
Jul 18, 2012, 2:18 PM | Updated: 4:44 pm
Although Seattle companies are near the top when it comes to H-1B visas, and paying the associated fees, the area is missing out on the return of millions of those dollars that could be used to train the local workforce. (AP Photo)
(AP Photo)
On the same day the state released jobs numbers that show
Washington unemployment rate is flat at 8.3 percent,
another report shows we are missing out on millions of
dollars that could help train people for in-demand jobs in
the technology sector.
“One of our hopes in publishing this report is that we can
provide this data. This is the first time that anybody
has looked at this data at the local level,” says Senior
Research Analyst Jill Wilson at the Brookings Institution.
H-1B visas allow non-citizens to come to America to fill
positions employers are unable to fill through the current
workforce. Part of the fees associated with the visas are
granted back to communities to train American workers for
job that are in demand.
The group at Brookings analyzed the number of H-1B visas
requested by U.S. companies in more than 100 metro
areas.
Brookings says Microsoft requests more H-1B visas than any
other company in the country. The Seattle area is near the
top when examining geographic data. The Seattle-metro area
comes in 10th overall for H-1B visa requests.
“[In Seattle] the number one group by far are computer
occupations, those make up 68 percent of all the requests.
Nationally, computer occupations are also the highest, but
they make up about 48 percent. So, Seattle is over
represented as far as computer occupations,” says Wilson.
But, Wilson says, Seattle is only reaping a small portion
of what we are putting into the pool. We rank 60th in the
Brookings report for the amount of grant money we receive
to train our local workforce.
“This is a competitive grant process. Areas, first of
all, need to know about it. And, second of all, need to
be able to have local data on the workforce needs and
employer needs in their area so they can make a good case
when they apply for these grants,” Wilson says.
The Brookings report analyzed how many H-1B visas have
been requested and how much grant money is returning to
each metro area. It did not look at information on grant
applications. Wilson says she doesn’t know whether
Seattle is getting less money because organizations are
not applying or because their applications are being
turned down.
