• E-mail this page
• |  Print this page
• | 
• | 
• | 

When The American IT Worker Isn't Always An American

InformationWeek, in one of its cover stories this week, reported that more Americans--3.472 million--were employed in IT last quarter than at any other time in the nation's history. We arrived at that figure by analyzing data the government garners by surveying some 60,000 households each month.

"Does your figure...include H-1B and L-1B workers, who are not 'U.S. workers'?" asks Programmers Guild president Kim Berry. "This is significant, since perhaps 500,000 of the IT workers in the U.S. are not 'U.S. workers.'"

Yes, the household survey includes all those who live in the United States, whether a citizen, a resident alien, a visa holder, or an illegal alien employed without permission of the government. A Bureau of Labor Statistics spokeswoman says the government doesn't ask survey takers whether they're here legally or not.

The number of foreign nationals last year employed in all occupations represented 8.8% of workers and 8.7% of the unemployed, according to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Because the sample size would be too small, the bureau doesn't break down citizenship by occupation classification.

Let's assume IT mirrors the overall workforce (it doesn't, but these are the only numbers we have) and do the math: Some 305,000 IT workers within our borders are foreign nationals. Subtract the estimated 7,700 out-of-work IT pros who are foreign nationals, and the number of unemployed American citizens who label themselves as IT managers and staffers just tops 80,000.

Would all IT professionals who are American citizens be employed if we had 80,000 fewer foreign nationals working here? Please share your answer with your fellow readers in the response box below.

« Offshoring Is Your Wal-Mart: Don't Take It Head-On | Main | Google Experiments On Humans »