American employers are struggling to meet their labor requirements and the need to create a diverse and inclusive workplace, according to the Immigration Trends Report 2020 by Envoy Global and The Harris Poll. 

More than 400 HR leaders were surveyed and the report found that 85 percent of the American employers expect that their organization’s headcount of foreign nationals working for them is more likely to increase and/or remain the same in the next year. 

About 93 percent of the employees surveyed highlighted that as a part of their talent acquisition strategy, sourcing foreign nationals was a crucial step and about half of open positions was a factor that drove the rise of immigration work.

However, at the backdrop of tough immigration policies in the US, employers are having a difficult time in filling these positions and companies have resorted to moving their work to other countries, such as Canada. 

“According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 6.8 million unfilled jobs at the end of November 2019, and only 5.8 million US citizens seeking work--a gap that has existed for nearly two consecutive years,” according to the report. 

The visa process has become all the more challenging under the current administration, cited about 38 percent of the employers. At the same time, 71 percent of the employers said that they had sponsored a foreign employee for a green card. About 35 percent of employers said that they had sponsored more green cards over the last year. 

Even though the US continues to experience low unemployment levels, the demand for foreign talent has increased rapidly. The real challenge that employers in the US are facing today is that of recruiting high-skilled talent who are foreign nationals and are unable to secure work authorization in the US. Thus, they are taking their work outside hence giving rise to outbound immigration assignments. 

“Federal immigration scrutiny remained high. Facing increased rates of requests for evidence (RFEs), case denials and policy change, many employers are now exploring alternative destinations for their foreign talent, such as Canada,” according to the report. 

Key takeaway 

In an increasingly competitive world, organizations in the US are in the race of hiring highly-skilled talent from across the globe. Given that the stringent immigration policies are making it difficult for employers to tap into the global highly-skilled talent, they are choosing to move their work and business outside of the US--thus, giving rise to the trend of outbound immigration.