Pittsburgh attracts H-1Bs

Date: Tuesday, April 08, 2003 12:46 AM

H-1B and JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

This article has some interesting information about the size of the
Indian community in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately it is marred by the usual
inaccuracies about H-1B. It says that most of the Indian workers in
Pittsburgh came here on H-1B visas. Of course that information should
be taken with a grain of salt since there are so many other facts that
are questionable.

Notice the classic myth appears once again: "In order to qualify for
such a visa, the employer must show that the vacancy could not be
filled by an American citizen." The employer is not required to do this
for H-1B or L-1 visas.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/business/s_126691.html

City attracts Indian immigrants

By Lou Ransom
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, April 1, 2003

When Lalit Chordia emigrated to Pittsburgh from India in 1980 to attend
Carnegie Mellon University, he found very little of an Indian community
here.

Chordia, said much has changed in the last two decades.

There are an estimated 10,000 Indian-Americans in Greater Pittsburgh,
most of them in the eastern and southern suburbs, where at least three
temples serve the diverse community. The city of Pittsburgh notes that
the Indian community is the largest and fastest growing immigrant group
in the city.

"The Indian population has gone up a factor of three since 1980, and
doubled since 1990," said Chordia, founder and president of Thar
Technologies, which develops and manufactures supercritical fluid
equipment, used in dry cleaning, spice extraction and other
applications. "It is due to a substantial growth of the businesses that
draw Indian professionals to this area, mostly software and information
technology."

But that growth has slowed in the last three years, with the downturn
in the economy and the collapse of many dot-coms. The information
technology sector has been hard hit with layoffs and bankruptcies
cutting the need for workers, foreign and domestic.

Chordia, who was named Small Business Exporter of the Year by the U.S.
Small Business Administration last year, said Pittsburgh has been
attractive to immigrants from India because of the wealth of
corporations and technology companies.

"Pittsburgh is sort of unique to the Indian community," Chordia said.
"We have the critical mass to support any immigrant coming here. There
is support from a social and cultural point of view."

Chordia's view is echoed by Piyush Seth, a Pittsburgh lawyer who came
to Pittsburgh from New York City to go to law school.

"Pittsburgh is a very strong draw," Seth said. "I think Carnegie-Mellon
is a catalyst, and Pittsburgh has one of the oldest Hindu temples in
America (the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Penn Hills), and there is a lot
going on for an Indian immigrant," he said. "It has a really nice
community, and the education facilities are top-notch. That is a big
thing. And one person can make a difference here, can get involved."

Seth also noted that the three rivers, the confluence of the Allegheny,
Monongahela and Ohio, might be part of the draw. The Triveni Sanga is
the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, in
northern India. It is one of the holy sites in India, and adherents
seek to bathe there.

"That is the reason why we were attracted to this area," he continued.
"Twenty years ago, we had Gulf Oil, Westinghouse, many large banks.
That drew many highly educated and professional workers."

Many of them have come to the city for jobs in the high-tech industry,
and most of those workers came here on H-1B visas short-term visas
that allow the immigration of professional workers in specialty
occupations. In order to qualify for such a visa, the employer must
show that the vacancy could not be filled by an American citizen. Those
controversial visas were instituted to combat a shortage of high-tech
and technical workers in the United States.

In 2000, a government study showed that more than half of the H-1B visa
holders in the United States were information technology professionals,
and 45 percent of those came from India. H-1B visas carry a three-year
limit, and can be extended another three years if the employer refiles.
After six years, the worker would have to leave the country for at
least one year and then could request a new temporary visa.

Seth does about half of his practice in immigration law, and half of
that in H-1B visas, said that practice has dried up considerably in the
last two years.

"I know that there are companies that were doing 100 H-1Bs two years
ago," he said, "that are barely doing five now." He said the downturn
in the economy is the chief reason for the drop in those specialized
visas. "There is less of a demand for services and less of a need for
those types of workers."

"I think it is slowing, because the economy of the whole country is
slowing," Chordia said. "I know a lot of people who have lost their
jobs."

Another reason for the lower numbers is a new tack by some businesses
who have decided that rather than bring Indian workers here, they would
move the business to India to take advantage of an abundance of
cheaper, talented Indian workers.

GreenTree-based iGate Corp. had its India-based Mascot unit purchase
its Pittsburgh-based eJiva unit. Four years ago, iGate, then known as
Mastech Inc., reported 44 percent of its professional employees as H-1B
visa workers.

Pittsburgh-based FreeMarkets Inc. is spending $4.2 million to open an
online auction monitoring center employing 100 workers. The company
said computer programmers and developers would be added to the staffing
in India later.

Companies that employ H-1B workers must pay a $130 filing fee and then
$1,000 per worker into a special training fund, designed to pay for the
education of American workers so they can eventually be qualified to
assume the jobs the temporary workers have assumed.

An expansion of the H-1B visa program in 2000 increased the limit on
the number of aliens that can be brought into the country as temporary
professional workers from 115,000 in 2000 to 195,000 in 2001, 2002 and
2003. After that the limit will roll back to 65,000.

Seth said that the fact the visas are employer-specific means those
employees don't show up on unemployment rolls. If H-1B workers are
terminated, even if their visas haven't expired, they have to leave the
country.

Lou Ransom can be reached at lransom@tribweb.com or 412-320-7886.

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