Study: H-1Bs Visas Go With Job Creation

Worldwide Hiring

The job creation study also looked at worldwide hiring, not U.S. hiring, when H-1Bs would most closely affect U.S. hiring Hira said. Many major tech companies in the U.S., including top-10 H-1B recipient Intel, have been cutting their workforce, Hira added. "So in Intel's case the numbers would be negative," Hira said. "Few technology companies are growing their workforce rapidly."

Asked if the job creation study looked at whether the tech companies were hiring high-paying tech workers in addition to filling H-1B visa, Anderson said the study looked at total jobs, not just tech jobs.

But AEA's Hansen dismissed criticism that many H-1Bs go to outsourcing companies. NFAP surveyed members of three tech trade groups, and 65 percent of respondents said they have hired people outside of the U.S. because of a lack of H-1B visas, he said. NFAP found nearly 19,000 job openings among 29 members of the TechNet trade group.

"There is a huge, huge demand for these kinds of jobs, and there's a huge competition for them," Hansen said. "There's going to be a major push [for more visas] because there has to be. You have companies that are simply trying to operate, and they need this talent pool to be able to operate."