STEM Occupations Lose 203,200 jobs in 2010

Simple Question: "When an occupational employment level declines, shouldn't the occupation be removed from  DOL Specialty Occupations List for non-immigrant visas?"

Top 2010 H‐1B Visas by North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) Codes, Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Codes, SOC Occupation Titles.
( DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Employment and Training Administration)
This is a partial list of H-1B affected STEM occupations valid for retraining assistance grants
(8/30/11 Corrected data query error: -- see Notes:)



 

SOC Code	SOC Occupation	OES Employment 2010	OES Employment 2009	Growth/Loss
11-1011	Chief Executives	273,500	297,640	(24,140)
11-1021	General and Operations Managers	1,708,080	1,689,680	18,400
11-2022	Sales Managers	319,300	328,980	(9,680)
11-3021	Computer and Information Systems Managers	288,660	287,210	1,450
11-3031	Financial Managers	478,940	495,180	(16,240)
11-3051	Industrial Production Managers	143,310	147,250	(3,940)
11-9111	Medical and Health Services Managers	282,990	271,710	11,280
13-1081	Logisticians	104,800	100,420	4,380
13-1111	Management Analysts	536,310	552,770	(16,460)
13-1111	Management Analysts	536,310	552,770	(16,460)
13-2011	Accountants and Auditors	1,072,490	1,106,980	(34,490)
13-2041	Credit Analysts	62,680	67,950	(5,270)
13-2051	Financial Analysts	220,810	235,240	(14,430)
13-2099	Financial Specialists, All Other	154,640	153,720	920
15-1021	Computer Programmers	333,620	367,880	(34,260)
15-1041	Computer Support Specialists	579,270	540,560	38,710
15-1051	Computer Systems Analysts	495,800	512,720	(16,920)
15-1061	Database Administrators	104,080	108,080	(4,000)
15-2011	Actuaries	18,320	17,940	380
15-2031	Operations Research Analysts	62,210	60,960	1,250
15-2041	Statisticians	22,830	21,370	1,460
17-1011	Architects, Except Landscape and Naval	87,700	101,630	(13,930)
17-2031	Biomedical Engineers	15,280	14,760	520
17-2041	Chemical Engineers	28,720	29,000	(280)
17-2051	Civil Engineers	249,120	259,320	(10,200)
17-2071	Electrical Engineers	148,770	151,660	(2,890)
17-2072	Electronics Engineers, Except Computer	133,660	135,990	(2,330)
17-2112	Industrial Engineers	202,990	209,300	(6,310)
17-2131	Materials Engineers	21,830	22,510	(680)
17-2141	Mechanical Engineers	234,400	232,660	1,740
17-2199	Engineers, All Other	139,610	159,680	(20,070)
19-1021	Biochemists and Biophysicists	22,800	22,860	(60)
19-1021	Biochemists	22,800	22,860	(60)
19-1022	Microbiologists	18,330	16,260	2,070
19-1029	Biological Scientists, All Other	30,430	29,630	800
19-1042	Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists	93,560	101,760	(8,200)
19-1099	Life Scientists, All Other	10,610	12,320	(1,710)
19-2012	Physicists	16,860	13,630	3,230
19-2031	Chemists	80,180	79,910	270
19-2032	Materials Scientists	8,390	8,880	(490)
19-3011	Economists	13,250	13,160	90
19-4021	Biological Technicians	72,940	74,560	(1,620)
25-1011	Business Teachers, Postsecondary	79,070	73,790	5,280
25-1022	Mathematical Science Teachers, Postsecondary	51,980	48,100	3,880
25-1032	Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary	34,400	34,270	130
25-1071	Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary	144,780	133,070	11,710
25-1124	Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Pos	28,100	27,020	1,080
25-2021	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Ed	1,485,600	1,544,300	(58,700)
27-1021	Commercial and Industrial Designers	28,670	29,170	(500)
27-1022	Fashion Designers	15,060	15,780	(720)
27-1024	Graphic Designers	192,240	200,870	(8,630)
27-3031	Public Relations Specialists	225,590	242,670	(17,080)
29-1021	Dentists, General	87,700	86,270	1,430
29-1051	Pharmacists	268,030	267,860	170
29-1062	Family and General Practitioners	97,820	99,000	(1,180)
29-1063	Internists, General	50,070	48,270	1,800
29-1065	Pediatricians, General	30,100	29,460	640
29-1069	Physicians and Surgeons, All Other	293,740	274,160	19,580
29-1122	Occupational Therapists	100,300	97,840	2,460
29-1123	Physical Therapists	180,280	174,490	5,790
29-1127	Speech-Language Pathologists	112,530	111,640	890
29-1199	Health Diagnosing and Treating Practitioners,	31,390	32,960	(1,570)
29-2011	Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists	164,430	166,860	(2,430)
41-9031	Sales Engineers	66,060	71,640	(5,580)

Notes:

NAICS-SOC Occupational Classifications were revised in 2010, some employment counts were moved within Major Occupational titles. The overall employment level count will be accurate, but individuals may have been moved from one occupation to another making individual occupations appear have gains or losses that were not new hires or separations.

Revised 8/30/11

Removed 2 double counted occupations -- In blue strikethrough
Revised title from "STEM Occupations Lose 219,720 jobs in 2010" to current.

Source Data:

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration
Notice of Availability of Funds and Solicitation for Grant Applications for H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants

Announcement Type: Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA)
Funding Opportunity Number: SGA/DFA PY-10-13
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 17.268

Appendix A
Top 2010 H‐1B Visas by North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) Codes, Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Codes, SOC Occupation Titles, and Annual Median Wage


BLS -- Office Employment Statistics
2009 - 2010
http://www.bls.gov/oes

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program produces employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations. These are estimates of the number of people employed in certain occupations, and estimates of the wages paid to them. Self-employed persons are not included in the estimates. These estimates are available for the nation as a whole, for individual States, and for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas; national occupational estimates for specific industries are also available.

College Graduate Underutilization 20.2% (5.059 million Americans)

(Correction made on 8/28/11 see Notes:)

In 2006, the number of underemployed, native-born, college educated Americans (5.059 million) was roughly the same as the total number of foreign-born college-educated immigrants employed in the workforce (5.099 million). In this case, underemployed is defined as working as babysitters, telemarketers, dishwashers, cab drivers, and in other unskilled jobs.

A study created by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) in 2008, draws attention to the underemployed, foreign-born, college degreed persons employed in the United States. I could not find any reference in the text about the plight of underemployed, native-born college graduates, but the data tables in the study allowed me to extract some numbers for this article.

MPI focused this study on comparing the percentages of native-born (17.7%) and foreign-born (22.0%) working in unskilled occupations, stressing the need to avoid a condition of “brain waste” of the foreign-born -- without equal concern for the native-born. Displaying the percentage of underemployed in each group seems a bit dishonest without displaying the total underemployed of each educated group -- here are those figures:

Underemployed Level and percentage of each respective labor force:

Underemployed native-born = 5,099,094 (17.7% of employed)
Underemployed foreign-born = 1,121,263 (20.0% of employed)

MPI was kind enough to provide unemployment estimates of the native-born graduates 893,134 (2.6%) and the foreign-born graduates 223,031 (3.7%). For the purpose of this article let’s add these underemployed and unemployed figures and call it an Underutilization Level

Underutilization Level and percentage of each respective labor force:

Underutilization Level: native-born college graduates = 5,952,275 (20.2%)
Underutilization Level: foreign-born college graduates = 1,344,294 (25.3%)

Over the years that I’ve been researching the H-1B visa debate, I’ve had to read more economic papers than anybody should have to. The near identical number of underemployed native-born and the number of employed foreign-born graduates bring a couple of economic terms to mind. The first term is “Economic equilibrium” and the second is “Shocking the economy with immigration.”

The MPI data suggests that the High-skill employment sector has been shocked with immigration and that the U.S. and Global economies are not in a state of equilibrium. Most of the "pro" High-skill (H-1B) immigration articles I read now have a protectionist slant; we need to employ “them” so they won’t compete against us. The MPI study also mentions this pirating of foreign educational resources, claiming benefit to America because 54.3% of immigrants are educated elsewhere, at no expense to the United States.

It is completely naive to suggest there is no expense to the United States concerning High-skill immigration, these immigrants have displaced, or eliminated opportunities for, native-born individuals whom are most likely to be mortgage holders and student-loan obligees. Additionally, the suggestion that the housing market can be improved by increasing High-skill immigration in an economy where employment growth is negative in relation to increases in the workforce is absurd. Many U.S. employers seem to prefer temporary non-immigrants because they are mobile and do not have a salary-requirement that include a mortgage and student loan. Moreover, travel Per-Diem and moving expenses are trivial for employees with no ties to a specific community.

A second focal point of the MPI report observes that with the exception of Europe, foreign-born graduates of foreign colleges do not fare as well as the foreign-born graduates of U.S. colleges. A case in point is that Asian born immigrants represented 50% of the employed foreign-born (2,555,014); moreover, Asian immigrants generally represent about 50% of H-1B visas granted yearly.

The MPI study disaggregates employed immigrants in the following categories.

Foreign educated by place of birth: Recent arrivals (less than 10 years)
Foreign educated by place of birth: Long term (more than 10 years)
U.S. educated by place of birth

An observation of the Asian immigrant population suggests that as years go by, employers become disenchanted with the Bachelors degreed, Asian-born whom were educated abroad. MPI suggests that Asian colleges have improved in recent years and the movement of these graduates toward lower skill positions is not a trend. However, the MPI supposition does not take into account aging technical specialties, or consider that some immigrants leave the United States because they have found themselves working in unskilled occupation.

Bachelors Degree, Born in Asia

Foreign Educated: Recent Arrivals: (370,424)

Percent employed in high skilled 43.2%
Percent employed in skilled technical 26,7%
Percent employed in unskilled 30.1%

Foreign Educated: Long Term: (365,916)

Percent employed in high skilled 32.6%
Percent employed in skilled technical 32.8%
Percent employed in unskilled 34.6%

U.S. Educated, Born in Asia (685,970)

Percent employed in high skilled 53.5%
Percent employed in skilled technical 23.4%
Percent employed in unskilled 21.0%

The table above indicates that foreign-educated Asian immigrants are more likely to experience underemployment as they leave temporary immigrant status for permanent residency.

The policy implications of "shocking" High-skill occupations with immigration is not without risk, many Science and Technology degrees become obsolete within a decade. Loose High-skill immigration policy, which allows a foreign-born underutilization rate of 26.4%, removes the employer’s motivation to invest in the technical expertise of their human-capital (employees).

The U.S. is granting permanent residence for Science and Technology skills that are temporary. It is rather obvious that the minimum educational requirement for business-immigration to the United States needs to be raised to the postgraduate level.


Source:

UNEVEN PROGRESS

The Employment Pathways of Skilled Immigrants in the United States
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/BrainWasteOct08.pdf

Notes: Underutilization Levels were incorrectly divided by the number of employed.  Corrected levels are the divided by the number of employed plus the number of unemployed. 

Corrected:
Underutilization Level and percentage of each respective labor force:


Underutilization Level: native-born college graduates = 5,952,275 (20.2%)
Underutilization Level: foreign-born college graduates = 1,344,294 (25.3%)




Incorrect:
Underutilization Level and percentage of each respective labor force:


Underutilization Level: native-born college graduates = 5,952,275 (20.8%)
Underutilization Level: foreign-born college graduates = 1,344,294 (26.4%)