It’s Friday, March 16, we’re 17 days shy of the initial filing date for the H1B season for the fiscal year 2013, which this year happens to be Monday April 2nd. Everything points to a high demand for the h1b visa which is the very sought-after work permit that allows professional workers with advanced degrees and knowledge, to get employment in the US, mostly in the Tech field, specifically here in the Silicon Valley.
After 3 years of economic struggles and low hiring numbers, all signs point to a massive demand of software engineers and professionals in the tech field. The last couple years, the H1B (FY 2011 and FY 2012) seasons took up to 9 or 10 months to fill the 65,000 available visas for advanced professionals and 20,000 visas available for foreigners with Masters degrees obtained in the US.
Now, with the Dow Jones index well over 13,000 points and NASDAQ over 3,000; things are looking much brighter for the tech industry and the economy in general. Apple just briefly hit $600 a share a couple days ago. The so much expected Facebook IPO among with Yelp’s successful debut in the market, can only predict an avalanche of hiring in the San Francisco Bay area.
Traditionally, when the economy is doing good, all the 65,000 H1B visas were all taken in one single day. Could this year repeat that scenario?
