Time for a little flag-waving on President's Day...
I'm not a big political person with this blog, so it stands to reason that I don't talk a lot about
Democrats/Republicans, the policies of either party, or the ongoing presidential race.
One presidential topic that interests me a lot as a HR person is immigration. But my interest in immigration has nothing to with I-9 guidelines, building a wall on the Mexican border or deportation.
My interest is more on the Visa side of things. Doing HR for a software company, we support and sponsor multiple employees in the US Immigration Process. It's a win/win for us - it expands our pool of candidates available for key positions, and it's obvoiusly good for the employees we support in this fashion.
So, with all the negative stories about the ills of immigration, let's focus on a positive, in a knowledge-based economy.
The crazy thing? We get so busy in the day-to-day details of running the business that we often forget that the employees we support in the immigration process are often experiencing things in the U.S. for the first time.
Case in point - this brief conversation I had in our hallway, with an employee whom we sponsor:
KD - Hi, John (name changed to protect the identity). How are things? Thanks for sending that email about your son - he seems pretty sharp!
John - You are welcome.
KD - What else is going on?
John - I'm watching the presidential race with great interest. It's fascinating...
KD - Yes, it makes for great theatre. Looks like the Republican side is basically done, hard to tell what's going to happen with Clinton/Obama
John - The fascinating thing to me is that anybody can emerge and do something like run for president. In my country, the ability to lead is predicated more on family ties and the caste system. Here, it's wide open in comparison.
KD - uh (uncomfortable silence as I realize I can't compare and contrast the US system versus that of his home country) yeah. It's good to hear a perspective from someone who has experienced another system.
KD - (Thinking to self as I walk back to my office - it's pretty cool to live here...)
And that's the strength of immigration into our country. Talent, we don't have enough of, coming to Amercia and loving it. Telling their family of the wide open political system (at least in comparison) and the positives of the U.S. Whether it's war, the economy or political mudslinging, there are countless distractions that cause much handwringing and make us question whether we are going to make it.
Leave it to someone without citizenship rights living among us to put it all in perspective.
As you mentioned, in the US immigration seems to be a good thing for HR (more applicants) and for business (more competition for jobs means either better workers or lower wages; more people within US borders means more potential customers).
Wondering if anyone could see a reason for business to be against immigration (I can understand why an individual might be against, but why would a business)? Is immigration everywhere (within the US) and always good for business?
Posted by: Chris | February 19, 2008 at 11:26 AM