H-1B visa cut may starve US firms of tech talent

Tech industry’s eyes are on President-elect Donald Trump whose hardline stance on H-1B visa programme, which admits 65,000 workers and 20,000 graduate students to the US each year, could spark a major conflict.

The tech world is by far the biggest beneficiary of the programme, taking more than 64% of the 3,15,000+ H-1B petitions in 2014. Though Trump’s nationalist rhetoric will likely result in some adjustment, he may be missing the more existential threat to American labour:
automation.