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Biotech New visa policy a boon to biotechs hiring foreigners



Biotech: Legislation Lets More Workers Stay on the Job in U.S.

New legislation that raises the number of foreign workers admitted to the United States through the H-1B visa program and eases restrictions on job transfers is welcome news for the local biotech industry as well as job applicants.

Out of the estimated total 27,000 San Diego biotech work force, 6.5 percent, or 1,755 employees, are H-1B visa holders, according to Biocom, the local industry association.

Legislation to move the national H-1B cap from 115,000 last year to 195,000 this year is good news for local biotech firms whose need for skilled foreign help is estimated to be 25 percent greater this year.

“We can’t fill the jobs here locally,” said Joseph Panetta, Biocom’s president and CEO. “We have an industry that is technical and specific and growing all the time.”

As the industry grows, so does the demand for individuals with unique skills.

Stephen Dahms, executive director for the California State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology, said the local need for experts is greatest in such areas as chemistry, pharmacodynamics, clinical research and affairs, and bioinformatics. Panetta added managers are also in short supply.

Industry Sponsors Visas

Local biotechs will spend tens of thousands of dollars to sponsor H-1B visas.

It can cost more than $10,000 for a single individual to go through the H-1B visa and green card process, Dahms said.

Most of the H-1B’s hired by local biotechs come from U.S. graduate institutions, according to a survey by Biocom and the Biotechnology Industry Workforce Committee.

Paul Maier, CFO of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc., said the San Diego biotech firm regularly receives applications to classified ads by foreigners residing in the United States on a student or H-1B-visa.

Yet, out of Ligand’s 385-person work force, just 3 percent are temporary foreign workers, he said.

While Ligand isn’t actively looking for H-1B candidates, Maier said, the number of talented homegrown chemists is limited.

He identified “time and money” as the biggest drawbacks of hiring an H-1B worker.

Time-Consuming Process

The application process can take up to four months. Permission to stay in the United States is good for up to six years. Then the H-1B visa holder can apply for permanent resident status, or a green card.

It’s a tedious and nerve-wracking process, said Raffaele Mazzei, a German-Italian born engineer at Hauser Inc. Industrial Design & Product Development in Westlake Village.

Mazzei first came to California in 1996.

He has since changed jobs three times, each time depending on his employer’s time, patience and money to process the H-1B visa.

“Even if you have a contract with your employer you can’t start the job until the visa is approved and you are competing with Americans who can start right away,” Mazzei said.

Mazzei said he succeeded, because his American bosses saw his German university education in design, fluency in three foreign languages (German, Italian and French), and understanding of foreign markets as an asset to their companies. He anticipates Hauser, which hired him last September, will spend some $7,000 to get him a green card.

If approved by Immigration and Naturalization Services, Mazzei would enjoy indefinite privileges of living and working in the United States.

He’d also never have to worry about a new company sponsor again , although that process has become a lot easier, too.

Under the new regulation, H-1B visa holders can change jobs during the application process.

“(After the application forms have been turned in) the INS gives you a receipt that allows you to transfer to a new employer right away,” Mazzei explained.

Just recently one of Mazzei’s Swiss co-workers, sponsored by Hauser, said good-bye and moved to a rival company.

But Ligand’s Maier finds the risk of losing a costly H-1B hire isn’t much different than spending money on educating and training employees.

“Generally I don’t see that as a major hurdle,” Maier said about the new regulation. Biotech and high-tech firms may not have much choice in the matter.

There are more than 260,000 unfilled jobs in the U.S. computer industry, costing it $4.5 billion in lost productivity, Dahms wrote in a report.

Comparable data for the U.S. biotech industry, which has 175,000 employees and $25 billion in revenues, is not yet available.

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