'Senseless' flight restriction at Chicago was 'a political decision'
President Trump’s strained relationship with local and state politicians may have been a factor in ...
Changes to the US skilled worker visa scheme may leave the country’s logistics operators drastically understaffed – but there are indications that, in the long run, the changes could pay off.
President Trump signed an executive order late last month enforcing a new $100,000 annual fee for H-1B visa applications. These allow companies to hire foreign workers for skilled occupations, including logistics and IT, where domestic shortages exist.
Forwarding sources told The Loadstar the decision was “another own goal” by the administration, as many SMEs would be unlikely to be able to afford the fee.
“Many companies have used H-1Bs to bring employees over and it’s been very successful. I don’t know the full implications of the new rule, but it will discourage a lot of employers from going down that path, since they’ll need to pay $100,000 per application” one source said, describing it as a “massive investment into unproven talent”.
Enacted by George Bush in 1990, H-1B provided a right to work for three to six years, with some 730,000 currently holders of the visa in the US, alongside more than half-a-million of their dependents.
Prior to President Trump’s amendment, the number of H-1Bs allocated each year was capped at 85,000, companies paying an initial registration fee of $215, plus, if the application proved successful, $1,700-$4,500, depending whether the visa was expedited.
One US forwarder told The Loadstar: “The H-1B visa scheme was developed for a purpose – to bring outside talent in where domestic talent didn’t exist.
“To stop it, or stick a massive price on it, will have a terrible impact on the country. The US depends on this talent because it is better trained and more educated. Yes, the US may have to learn to do that itself, but that is a long-term goal.”
The forwarder warned that “near term”, the change could be “terrible, if not catastrophic”.
Despite this, they did not disagree with the aim but said the failure to enact it in a graduated approach, including efforts to boost domestic qualifications and training would just cost US companies to recruit and to keep up with international competitors.
Kim Winter, group MD of recruitment firm Logistics Executive Group, added that it could “delay investment in the US by international organisations”.
But he told The Loadstar there were obvious benefits to simply stopping the H-1B visa scheme, including that by ending a channel of workers with documented underpayment and abuse, the US could reduce wage suppression in affected roles.
“Employers may invest more in upskilling, apprenticeships, and broader talent pipelines,” Mr Winter continued, before pointing out some of the major drawbacks.
“Winning the H-1B lottery boosted VC funding odds for young firms; removing the channel can chill early-stage scaling. Research ties H-1B growth to a sizeable share of US productivity gains since 1990; a stop risks reversing that.”
Further to which, he noted: Immigrants are disproportionately behind major US companies; shutting a key pathway risks deterring global talent and weakening innovation ecosystems.”
One of the forwarders told The Loadstar noted the timing of the announcement coincided with the US government shutdown, pointing out that “it’s a blessing for Trump that the Bureau of Labour Statistics is closed”, as it would hide potential shortfalls in labour.
Executive director of the Airforwarders Association Brandon Fried added that “no one was thinking about this,” when the decision was made.
He told The Loadstar: “There was an oversimplification that underestimated the level of talent we import each year to keep the country running. There is a lack of time spent on consideration. If you consider it and stop and look, you’ll see it’s not sustainable.”
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