US manufacturers look to fill skills shortages with immigrant workers

US manufacturers are experiencing a shortage of skilled American factory workers and, in turn, have been going abroad to find workers to immigrate to the US.

Following a recent increase in factory business, there has been a growing demand for machinists, tool and die makers, computer-controlled machine programmers and operators.

"These jobs are the backbone of manufacturing," said Gardner Carrick, senior director with the Manufacturing Institute. "These are good quality middle-class jobs that Americans should be training for."

James Wall, deputy director of the National Institute for Metalworking Skills sympathized with Carrick adding that the US is experiencing a steady decrease of manufacturing talent and said "It's been in the making for years."

Unfortunately the US visa system makes it difficult to bring in factory workers from abroad. Typically, visas are only available for professional and management level staff. For example the popular H-1B visa normally requires you to work in a specialty occupation and have at least a bachelors degree.

It is likely that the only suitable positions in a factory that meets the requirements for an H-1B visa are professional graduate level engineers, IT staff, management level staff and other high level staff. It may be worth considering the H-2B visa which are available for any type of non-agricultural occupation as long as there is a proven shortage; However, the H-2B visa is difficult to obtain and is granted for a maximum period of one year at a time.

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