Amidst mass layoffs, The US Department of Labor is proposing a rule change that would allow companies to hire Visa Workers without having to prove that they first tried hiring American workers. Please submit comments by the May 13th deadline. The US Department of Labor is proposing a rule change that would add STEM occupations to their list of Schedule A occupations. Schedule A occupations are pre-certified and thus employers do NOT have to prove that they first sought American workers for a green card job. This comes on the heels of massive layoffs from the very people pushing this rule change. From Tech Target: "The proposed exemption could be applied to a broad range of tech occupations including, notably, software engineering -- which represents about 1.8 million U.S. positions, according to U.S. labor statistics data -- and would allow companies to bypass some labor market tests if there's a demonstrated shortage of U.S. workers in an occupation." Currently the comments include heavy support from [right-wing think tank Cato](https://www.cato.org/blog/dol-must-update-its-schedule-shortage-occupation-list-streamline-green-cards), and[ the American Immigration Lawyers Association.](https://www.aila.org/aila-files/04031D46-F246-470F-ABE0-A6ADEAA21342/24042403.pdf?1713977695) The San Francisco Tech scene has been riddled with CEOs whining over labor shortages for the past few months on Twitter/X amidst a sea of layoffs from Amazon, Meta, Google, Tesla, and much more. Now, we know that it's an attempt at influencing the narrative for these rule changes. Stem graduates are having a hard time finding a job, now, with many submitting thousands of applications to no avail. This rule change will only make things worse. If you are affected by this rule change, please submit comments to the DOL's Request for Information by May 13th: Link to Provide Comment: [https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/ETA-2023-0006-0001](https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/ETA-2023-0006-0001) Link to View Current Current Comments: [https://www.regulations.gov/document/ETA-2023-0006-0001/comment](https://www.regulations.gov/document/ETA-2023-0006-0001/comment) Link to Proposed Rule Change via the Federal Register: [https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/12/21/2023-27938/labor-certification-for-permanent-employment-of-foreign-workers-in-the-united-states-modernizing](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/12/21/2023-27938/labor-certification-for-permanent-employment-of-foreign-workers-in-the-united-states-modernizing)
Wrote in a comment thanks
Physicists by education, IT specialists by practice? Anyways, it sounds too good to be true.
Good for visa holders but unfair for citizens. I have already written my Congressional representatives regarding the proposal. There are not enough jobs for SWEs so there is no need to keep importing them. Work visas need to be allocated by profession and country.
Does congress not have to approve this? Or it’s totally in hands of dol? Wonder if just election stunt
I’m in favor. It could bring wages down but opportunities go up. All you with 500k+ comp packages, you could hire four people with comparable skills to yourselves and still live comfortably. Imagine what you could build.
Those $500K salaried employees are already losing their jobs in an over saturated software engineering market. This will drive down wages and flood the US with more unnecessary visa holders.
added a comment. most of the existing comments are obviously by paid shills.
Bye bye Chad!