Most Employers prefer new immigration system to be merit based

May 30, 2007: Despite the growing feeling in North America that immigration cuts the salaries of unskilled workers, most employers are happy with the provisions of proposed immigration bill in US.

Existing immigration system is excessively based on family reunion principles and gives little weight age to merit based system adopted by Canada, Australia. This has given rise to the tendency for the supply of immigrant labor to the United States to be concentrated among low-skilled workers and this has led to depression in the wages of workers engaged in the lowest skill groups. As against, wage of skilled workers have registered an increase on 20% in last decade, leading to magnifying the wage inequality between low-skilled and high-skilled workers in US over the same period.

While the efficacy of so-called border protection draws most of the opponent’s ire, there is relatively little debate about the provisions that may have the most long-term impact: the “merit point” system of scoring that for the first time institutes a bias toward admitting highly skilled, educated and gainfully employable foreigners. According to the bill, points are awarded according to employment, education, English proficiency, civics knowledge and family ties in the US.

In devising this system, the U.S. is following in the path of Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, which reportedly grants work visas to graduates of one of the world’s top 50 business schools. Compared to most other selection systems, points systems appear to avoid the ‘gamesmanship’ between employers and bureaucrats that afflict case-by-case selection systems.

The Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007, if approved, will be recalled as an historic - and rare - compromise between liberals and conservatives. The bill’s co-author, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), recently said, “Our competitiveness in the global economy is at risk when our employers cannot find the able workers they need.”