Partially solve 3 biggest SME staffing headaches in 3 minutes
Minute 1 - Necessities
For Small and Midsize Enterprise (SME) owners and HR managers, finding the right talent for a job opening is not easy. When there is a job description written for a technical position, they must advertise quickly and hope for more than a few applicants. Retention can be even more difficult as experienced technical staff want to leave for larger, more well known companies that offer better “perks”.
Access to a larger talent pool, more qualified applicants, along with long-term retention, are integral to the survival of SMEs.
Minute 2 - Multiplier
Suppose you were to learn that one “small” improvement alone to an existing SME’s HR practices can dramatically increase qualified talent pool by 200%, increase job applicants by 500%, and increase staff retention by 300%, would you think it is just too good to be true?
According to the Center for Security and Emerging Technologies (CSET) at Georgetown University, 54% of America’s STEM Master’s degrees and over 44% of STEM Ph.D. degrees were issued to F-1 international students. [1] Qualified, trained talent are already in the U.S., and recruiting from the F-1 talent pool gives SMEs an edge when it comes to hiring.
Based on F1StemJob’s (FSJ) job opening database analysis, a review of 650,000 job openings found that less than 4% of job posts clearly state sponsor F-1 and over 48% state outright that they will not offer F-1 sponsorship. Hiring F-1 applicants provides SMEs more applicants over competitors who do not hire from this pool.
According to the same report by CSET [1], close to 90% of the Chinese and Indian STEM Ph.D. degree holders hope to live in the U.S. after receiving their U.S. degrees. This talent pool wants to stay in the U.S. and it can take up to a decade to obtain a green card; during this lengthy process, residency status is prioritized over higher salaries and larger companies’ “perks”. It would therefore appear that managing an immigration sponsorship would provide SMEs better retention.
Minute 3 - Sponsorship
Yes, the keyword is sponsorship.
Sponsoring F-1 international talent indicates an SME is willing to take the extra steps to help technical talent work, and potentially live, for the long term in the United States. The company owner(s) and HR department effectively becomes part of the international talents’ “American Dream”. In return, more will send in their application, and more will be willing to work for the company for longer years.
Sponsoring STEM talent is both legal and effective. SMEs’ larger competitors are already aware of this and taking advantage of this talent pool; most large corporations such Microsoft, P&G, hire hundreds, if not thousands, of sponsored international talent. They compete with SMEs also, with lower cost, and longer employee retention.
What conclusion can we draw from this information, then? It is certainly worthwhile for SME owners and HR managers to look into the sponsorship process as a means of growing their qualified staff, and compete with other SMEs as well as large corporations.
In the next 3-minute guide, we will convince you that with guidance from those experienced in hiring such talent pool, the sponsorship is both accessible and fiscally prudent in the long term.
[1] The Long-Term Stay Rates of International STEM PhD Graduates https://cset.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/CSET-The-Long-Term-Stay-Rates-of-International-STEM-PhD-Graduates.pdf