Dive Brief:

• Foreign interest in U.S. tech jobs held steady with a slight uptick in 2019, Indeed job postings data showed. Clicks on U.S. tech job postings rose from 9.3% in the first quarter of 2018 to 9.6% in Q1 2019. The openings were largely for software developers and engineers and interest was largely led by professionals in India.
• According to Indeed's data, India accounted for 3.7% of foreign clicks for U.S. tech jobs from April 2018-2019, followed by Canada at 0.6%. Germany, France and Russia had the largest increases in clicks, but the number of clicks from India slipped by 8%, while clicks from Pakistan and the U.K. declined by 37% and 12%, respectively. The top two job postings from abroad were for Salesforce developer and senior Java developer.
• Technician and tech support jobs received the lowest number of clicks, such as entry-level IT technician (1.6% of click share) and information specialist (1.7%). Analyst and manager positions also received fewer clicks, most likely because these roles require less education and fewer technical skills, Indeed noted.

Dive Insight:

Supply and demand for workers is still a sticking point for some employers and politics have only complicated that further. Often, foreign nationals have the needed skills for employers, thus prompting the demand — which in recent years has reached a fever pitch. Employers that want to attract these workers, however, face federal policies that have made this pipeline more challenging to manage.

U.S. Customs and Immigration Services recently had to delay fast-track processing due to the massive volume of petitions it has received in recent years (fast-track processing has since been restored). At the same time, H-1B visa denials and requests for evidence have both jumped, likely stemming from Trump administration policies, the nonprofit National Foundation for American Policy has observed, creating a difficult situation for employers that may rely on foreign talent to fill skills gaps.

Despite the consistent struggles for American employers — and potentially more rules that could complicate the process — demand for immigrant workers remains high. Last month, President Trump announced a desire to introduce a merit-based visa that would rely on a points system; however, such a shift may not happen anytime soon, Susan Cohen recently wrote for Workforce magazine, and employers may need to prepare for longer H-1B processing overall.