Suspend OPT program so American college grads can find jobs

[Catalpha]

Suspend OPT program so American college grads can find jobs

On June 22, President Trump signed an executive order suspending most guest worker visas until the end of the year. This unprecedented move will preserve more than 500,000 jobs for U.S. citizens, tens of millions of whom remain unemployed due to the COVID-19 shutdowns.

The president deserves considerable praise for his decision. But there’s more he can — and must — do more to help American jobseekers, especially recent college graduates like me who are entering the worst labor market in nearly a century.

Employers won’t even grant interviews — much less job offers — to many 2020 graduates. Yet they’re still hiring foreign workers in droves.

The reason? A cheap labor program that incentivizes corporations to hire foreigners instead of Americans.

President George W. Bush created the Optional Practical Training, or OPT, program in 2008. The program lets foreign students stay and work in the U. S. for up to three years post-graduation, instead of returning to their home countries when their F-1 student visas expire.

The deal is even sweeter for foreign graduates who complete degrees in science, technology, engineering and math — the “STEM” fields. These folks can extend their OPT employment authorization for an additional two years if they complete a master’s or doctorate.

Corporate lobbyists argue we need these foreign grads to plug gaps in the labor market. They claim there aren’t enough qualified Americans to fill job openings, especially in STEM fields.

That’s patently absurd.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic caused record layoffs and froze hiring at many businesses, American college graduates struggled to find decent jobs. More than four in 10 experienced “underemployment” — taking jobs that don’t require a college degree — after graduation, according to a 2018 report from consultancy Burning Glass Technologies. Think of the classic example of graduates who end up working near-minimum wage jobs as baristas or waiters.

Fifty-one percent of biological and biomedical science degree holders, 40% of physical science majors and 39% of math and statistics majors face underemployment, according to that same report. About half of all STEM graduates don’t take jobs in their fields.

COVID-19 merely exacerbated this problem. And the OPT program makes recent American graduates’ job search even harder.

OPT lets employers circumvent immigration caps and hire foreigners in unlimited numbers — padding their bottom lines and displacing American workers in the process. As the American Worker Coalition has pointed out, employers don’t have to pay Medicare and Social Security contributions for OPT employees, which amounts to a 15.3% tax incentive per foreign employee who’s hired in place of an American. No wonder the OPT program grew 400% between 2008 and 2016.

This perverse tax incentive robbed Social Security, Medicare and federal unemployment funds of $2.4 billion in fiscal 2017 alone.

President Trump’s recent executive order ended the H-1B, H-2B, J-1 and L-1 guest worker programs, which collectively brought in roughly half a million cheaper foreign laborers each year. About 80% of H-1B visa holders make less than their American counterparts for the same job.

But the order didn’t touch the massive OPT program. In 2018 alone, the most recent year for which data is available, over 200,000 F-1 student visa holders had OPT authorization. As long as this cheap labor pipeline exists, American college graduates will remain at a disadvantage in the hiring process.

The blame rests with the Washington insiders who created a guest worker system that destroys young Americans’ career opportunities, all to boost the profits of the world’s richest companies. Joe Biden even recently claimed that guest workers on H-1B visas “built this country.” For context, Congress created the H-1B program in 1990.

President Trump did the right thing by temporarily suspending most guest worker visas. Now it’s time for him to help America’s newly minted college graduates recover from the COVID-19 recession — by ending OPT and other guest worker programs that steal millions of jobs from citizens and dramatically depress wages for American families.

[Anta Assamey]

OPT lekapote ikkada MS cheyatam waster as they will not find time to search for a job .... with few exceptions ...

[Nimmakai]

 em ikuntaro ikkondi

[MiryalgudaMaruthiRao]

[Allarinaresh10]

No one can scratch ofeetea 

[tom bhayya]

Thisunprecedented move will preserve more than 500,000 jobs for U.S. citizens, tens of millions of whom remain unemployed due to the COVID-19 shutdowns.
 

[tom bhayya]

1 hour ago, Anta Assamey said:

OPT lekapote ikkada MS cheyatam waster as they will not find time to search for a job .... with few exceptions ...

lol aina masters lo local vallu Entha mandhi untaaru stem lo? 

 

[Allarinaresh10]

3 minutes ago, tom bhayya said:

lol aina masters lo local vallu Entha mandhi untaaru stem lo? 

 

+1

 

3 minutes ago, tom bhayya said:

lol aina masters lo local vallu Entha mandhi untaaru stem lo? 

 

 

[Warangalbidda]

1 hour ago, Catalpha said:

Suspend OPT program so American college grads can find jobs

On June 22, President Trump signed an executive order suspending most guest worker visas until the end of the year. This unprecedented move will preserve more than 500,000 jobs for U.S. citizens, tens of millions of whom remain unemployed due to the COVID-19 shutdowns.

The president deserves considerable praise for his decision. But there’s more he can — and must — do more to help American jobseekers, especially recent college graduates like me who are entering the worst labor market in nearly a century.

Employers won’t even grant interviews — much less job offers — to many 2020 graduates. Yet they’re still hiring foreign workers in droves.

The reason? A cheap labor program that incentivizes corporations to hire foreigners instead of Americans.

President George W. Bush created the Optional Practical Training, or OPT, program in 2008. The program lets foreign students stay and work in the U. S. for up to three years post-graduation, instead of returning to their home countries when their F-1 student visas expire.

The deal is even sweeter for foreign graduates who complete degrees in science, technology, engineering and math — the “STEM” fields. These folks can extend their OPT employment authorization for an additional two years if they complete a master’s or doctorate.

Corporate lobbyists argue we need these foreign grads to plug gaps in the labor market. They claim there aren’t enough qualified Americans to fill job openings, especially in STEM fields.

That’s patently absurd.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic caused record layoffs and froze hiring at many businesses, American college graduates struggled to find decent jobs. More than four in 10 experienced “underemployment” — taking jobs that don’t require a college degree — after graduation, according to a 2018 report from consultancy Burning Glass Technologies. Think of the classic example of graduates who end up working near-minimum wage jobs as baristas or waiters.

Fifty-one percent of biological and biomedical science degree holders, 40% of physical science majors and 39% of math and statistics majors face underemployment, according to that same report. About half of all STEM graduates don’t take jobs in their fields.

COVID-19 merely exacerbated this problem. And the OPT program makes recent American graduates’ job search even harder.

OPT lets employers circumvent immigration caps and hire foreigners in unlimited numbers — padding their bottom lines and displacing American workers in the process. As the American Worker Coalition has pointed out, employers don’t have to pay Medicare and Social Security contributions for OPT employees, which amounts to a 15.3% tax incentive per foreign employee who’s hired in place of an American. No wonder the OPT program grew 400% between 2008 and 2016.

This perverse tax incentive robbed Social Security, Medicare and federal unemployment funds of $2.4 billion in fiscal 2017 alone.

President Trump’s recent executive order ended the H-1B, H-2B, J-1 and L-1 guest worker programs, which collectively brought in roughly half a million cheaper foreign laborers each year. About 80% of H-1B visa holders make less than their American counterparts for the same job.

But the order didn’t touch the massive OPT program. In 2018 alone, the most recent year for which data is available, over 200,000 F-1 student visa holders had OPT authorization. As long as this cheap labor pipeline exists, American college graduates will remain at a disadvantage in the hiring process.

The blame rests with the Washington insiders who created a guest worker system that destroys young Americans’ career opportunities, all to boost the profits of the world’s richest companies. Joe Biden even recently claimed that guest workers on H-1B visas “built this country.” For context, Congress created the H-1B program in 1990.

President Trump did the right thing by temporarily suspending most guest worker visas. Now it’s time for him to help America’s newly minted college graduates recover from the COVID-19 recession — by ending OPT and other guest worker programs that steal millions of jobs from citizens and dramatically depress wages for American families.

2,00,000 students paid avg 10k chesina economy ki revenue generate chesindi count lo ki radha bhayya

[Peter123]

mega

[OreyPandhi]

Skilled workers kavali kavali antunnee edho thedaga chesthunadu anipsithundi thathaya

[bhaigan]

12 minutes ago, OreyPandhi said:

Skilled workers kavali kavali antunnee edho thedaga chesthunadu anipsithundi thathaya

@OreyPandhi

[Anta Assamey]

16 hours ago, tom bhayya said:

lol aina masters lo local vallu Entha mandhi untaaru stem lo? 

 

OPT lekapote masters avvagane trying to time ekkada untundi... Or else masters meda masters chestu undali H1b pick ayye varaku 

[Nimmakai]

Just now, Anta Assamey said:

OPT lekapote masters avvagane trying to time ekkada untundi... Or else masters meda masters chestu undali H1b pick ayye varaku 

yes 

[jefferson1]

Opt enduku cancel ....just stop giving f1 visas for like 10 years no