The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced changes in the H-2B temporary worker program, which allows workers from overseas into the United States whenever qualified Americans are unavailable to fulfill a specific role and when the employment of those foreign workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers. The program enables employers “to hire foreign workers, usually for less than a year, to come to the U.S. for non-agriculture jobs”.
Every year up to 66,000 visas of this kind are issued, which in the current job market gets many Americans furious.
The new regulations seem to try its best to make it easier for jobless Americans to get a temporary work, rather than giving these jobs away to foreign workers. This means tighter restrictions for overseas workers who wish to snag the same jobs but also strengthens worker protections for them.
Employers will also have to follow stricter guidelines to make sure that all possibilities of U.S. workers have been explored before giving away a job to a foreign worker.
