CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 5, 2013 | By Cindy Chang, Los Angeles Times
American companies are so eager to hire highly skilled foreign workers that a cap on new visas has been reached within a matter of days. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Friday that it has received more than 85,000 applications from employers seeking visas for computer programmers, engineers, physicians and other educated workers with specialized skills. Of the total visas, 20,000 are set aside for people with graduate degrees from American universities. Because the 85,000 limit was exceeded within five days of the April 1 opening date, a lottery will be held to distribute the visas.
NATIONAL
March 15, 2013 | By Brian Bennett, Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON - An influential Republican senator involved in drafting a bipartisan immigration bill wants to lower the number of family members of U.S. citizens allowed to immigrate each year and instead increase the number of highly skilled workers. Democrats in the group have not agreed to the approach, but Democratic Senate aides concede that it could be part of the give and take of a deal. The proposal would eliminate the current preference for admitting siblings and adult children of U.S. citizens, but leave in place the preference for spouses and minor children.
OPINION
March 10, 2013 | Kevin A. Hasset and Michael R. Strain, Kevin A. Hassett is director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, where Michael R. Strain is a research fellow
In announcing his wrongheaded proposal to increase the minimum wage to $9 an hour, President Obama spoke in lofty terms: "In the wealthiest nation on Earth," he said in his State of the Union address last month, "no one who works full time should have to live in poverty. " If the debate proceeds as it has -- many times -- in the past, then most Democrats will embrace the president's message and back the proposal, while most Republicans will oppose it, on the grounds that higher labor costs will lead to higher unemployment.
BUSINESS
February 2, 2013 | Michael Hiltzik
Ken Rakusin is frustrated. You would be too. Since 2009, the owner of Gordon Brush Manufacturing Co. has been trying to expand his 51,000-square-foot City of Commerce factory by 20,000 square feet. That would mean a larger factory floor, more office space for the engineers who work with customers to design new products, conference rooms, a spacious cafeteria. It would mean room to expand beyond Rakusin's current workforce of 85. More sales. Higher payroll. More property tax, sales tax, income tax. A $1.5-million investment in construction alone.
BUSINESS
October 16, 2012 | By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times
U.S. manufacturing industry executives have bemoaned a skills gap in the nation's workforce, but a new report says the shortfall isn't a big deal - yet. By the end of the decade, the shortage of highly skilled workers could balloon to 875,000 from 80,000 to 100,000 workers now, according to a study from Boston Consulting Group. The current deficiency of workers represents less than 1% of the 11.5 million total factory workers in the country, according to the consulting group.
BUSINESS
October 15, 2012 | By Tiffany Hsu
The skills gap that has the U.S. manufacturing industry panicked isn't a big deal for now, according to a new report from the Boston Consulting Group. But by the end of the decade, the shortage could balloon to 875,000 highly skilled workers from a shortfall of 80,000 to 100,000 now, according to the study . Today, the deficit of workers represents less than 1% of the 11.5 million total factory workers in the country, or less than 8% of the 1.4 million highly skilled employees.