{"id":23673,"date":"2020-09-30T13:54:57","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T17:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/?p=23673"},"modified":"2020-09-30T13:54:59","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T17:54:59","slug":"h1b-visas-workforce-training-fail-immigrationreform-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2020\/09\/30\/h1b-visas-workforce-training-fail-immigrationreform-com\/","title":{"rendered":"The Scam of Federal Workforce Training Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
An article<\/a> headline in the tech industry magazine Dice Insights sounds like great news for unemployed or underemployed Americans \u2013 a Department of Labor (DOL) \u201cworkforce grant program could eliminate H-1B workers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Described by the writer as \u201cdesigned to replace H-1B\nworkers sourced from overseas with homegrown equivalents,\u201d the H-1B One\nWorkforce Grant Program sales pitch might be better than its future performance\nrecord. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur goal is to create seamless community partnerships to build career pathways for local job seekers to enter middle- to high-skilled occupations in cyber security, advanced manufacturing, and transportation sectors,\u201d said John Pallasch, Assistant Secretary for DOL\u2019s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) in announcing<\/a> last week that $150 million would be made available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The One Workforce Grant program is part of the larger H-1B Skills Training Grants<\/a> that were authorized by Section 414(c) of the American Competitiveness and Improvement Act of 1998. The mere fact that the funding is still needed more than two decades later is the most obvious sign that these retraining initiatives should be subject to far greater scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The aim of the One Workforce program is to \u201cupskill the\npresent workforce and train a new generation of workers to grow the future\nworkforce,\u201d particularly in H-1B occupations. At first blush, it makes sense,\nbut upon closer examination, several weaknesses become visible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n First, the effort feeds the ongoing myth<\/a> of a skills shortage<\/a> that necessitates importing foreign labor. Certainly, workers in industries like hospitality<\/a> are facing long-term layoffs, but retraining will only help if the flow of H-1B and other foreign workers is stopped. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Second, the funding comes from H-1B user fees, so financing\nis directly tied to the much-abused visa program\u2019s survival. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly, the DOL\u2019s own Office of Inspector General (OIG) has\nissued several reports documenting poor results for workers and little success\nreducing reliance on H-1B visa holders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n