Here we go again. Another policy that lands hardest on the people least able to absorb it: entrepreneurs and small businesses. Last week, the President issued a proclamation requiring a $100,000 payment for each new H-1B visa petition. The intent is to protect American jobs. That’s a worthy goal, but if you subtract out politics and look at this from the ground level, the effect is devastating for smaller, fast-growing companies outside of major metro areas.
For Apple, Microsoft, or Google, $100,000 is peanuts. These companies already pay engineers $200,000 or $300,000 a year. Adding another $100,000 to bring on a skilled worker doesn’t move the needle for them. But if you’re running a small technology company in a city like Raleigh, Austin, Atlanta, or Denver, it’s a completely different story. The average salary for a software engineer in these places is closer to $130,000 to $150,000. Adding another $100,000 is like doubling the cost of an engineer. For a startup, that makes the H-1B untenable. It’s crippling. It’s the difference between hiring and not hiring.
I’ve lived this so I can say with certainty that for smaller, entrepreneurial ventures, every dollar matters. One new tax, one new rule, one new fee could knock these smaller companies out. That’s the daily reality for small business owners all over the country.
