Slump sinks H1-B visa program

WSJ.com : The H1-B visa program that feeds skilled workers to top-tier US technology companies and universities is on track to leave thousands of spots unfilled for the first time since 2003, a sign of how the weak economy has eroded employment even among highly trained professionals.Last year, even as the recession began to bite, employers snapped up the 65,000 visas available in just one day. This year, however, as of 25 September—nearly six months after the US government began accepting applications—only 46,700 petitions had been filed.In addition to the weak economy, companies have curbed applications in the face of rising costs associated with hiring foreign-born workers.While the number of visa holders is small compared with the US work force, their contribution is huge, employers say. For example, last year 35% of Microsoft’s patent applications in the US came from new inventions by visa and green-card holders, according to company general counsel Brad Smith.