VOA教育报道2024--International Students Face Uncertain Job Market at Home, in US

International students in the United States are concerned that technology job reductions will make it hard to get a good return on their education.

For the last three years, technology companies, including Amazon and Google, have greatly reduced their workforce¹. The Tech Layoffs² Tracker on Crunchbase.com says that 54,000 tech workers in the U.S. have lost jobs in 2024. That is in addition to nearly 300,000 in 2022 and 2023.

As a result, international students are now competing for jobs against experienced workers, including native-born Americans and those who already have work permission in the U.S.

Aniket Bhatt of India is one of those concerned students. He is studying business analytics at LaRoche University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Bhatt also points to another concern - that thousands of Indian students currently studying in the U.S. will need to return to India if they cannot find a job. He wonders if the economy in India can support so many returning students.

Based upon the most recent Open Doors report, there are 268,000 Indian students in the U.S. And a Reuters study in April showed serious concern about unemployment in India.

OPT³ concerns

Bhatt will finish his business program at the end of 2024.

Because his study program is within science, engineering, technology and math, known as STEM, Bhatt hopes to train and work in the U.S. under the Optional Practical Training, or OPT program. If Bhatt can find work, he can stay for three years after his study program ends.

In recent years, the number of students under OPT has also dropped although the number of international students in the U.S. is about the same as it was in 2019.

Sarah Spreitzer is a vice⁴ president for government relations with the American Council on Education. She said, "We are missing about 20,000 OPT positions" despite the overall low unemployment in the U.S.

Bhatt said there is intense competition for internships - work experience programs for students who are still in school - and OPT jobs.

Bhatt said he hopes to get an OPT job and then find work with a company that will sponsor him for an H-1B visa for specially⁵ trained workers. Without a visa, he must return to India or find a job in another country.

"Yes, obviously there is some kind of competition in U.S. as well. But not as intense as India, obviously due to population reasons."

But international education experts like Spreitzer remind students that there is no official pathway for a student to remain in the U.S. after they complete OPT.

"So we do not promise our students, we do not say to them, you know, come here, do your studies, you will get a job. Because that is not the purpose of their visa. And again, if they express that when they're talking to the consular⁶ officer, their visa will be denied."

'Intention to stay'

A study from April 2020 produced by the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University noted⁷ that most students pursuing advanced STEM degrees in the U.S. want to stay after finishing their studies.

Jacob Feldgoise helped write the report. He pointed⁸ out that President Joe Biden in his executive order covering artificial intelligence at the end of 2023 included the need to train and hold on to skilled workers who have "expertise⁹ in critical areas to study, stay and work in the United States."

A concern, Feldgoise noted, for students and workers who would like to see faster progress from the U.S. government on skilled worker permissions, "is that it's a patchwork¹⁰ of systems ... and they're not fully¹¹ aligned¹³ in a variety of ways."

Although ACE¹⁴ centers its work on student concerns, it recently alerted U.S. government officials that some skilled students are choosing Canada and Great Britain for their studies because they have better work opportunities. And that hurts American universities which have fewer students than in the past. Earlier this year, ACE urged the U.S. Department of Labor¹⁵ to make it easier for companies to hire skilled STEM workers.

However, the number of new H-1B visas available for skilled workers is set at 85,000 yearly and unlikely to change.

Rule-following not enough

Just following the rules - such as not mentioning the "intention to stay" during the visa process, and working hard in school - is not enough. Students have to be outstanding and even a little bit lucky.

Megan Mankerian-Stem knows many international students due to her past job as director of international student enrollment¹⁷ at Creighton University in Nebraska. She feels sad for them when they cannot find a job that will permit them to get an H1-B visa.

"It's a struggle for anybody to find a job right now."

Bhatt said he is starting to think that coming to the U.S. and following the rules was the wrong choice.

"If we were in 2011 or 2012, I would definitely suggest that my friends come over here," Bhatt said. "But as we are in 2024, I think it doesn't make any sense, because already companies are outsourcing their work in Mexico, Vietnam and India."

Words in This Story

intense -adj. severe, difficult, requiring extra effort

pathway -n. a route or road from one starting point to a finishing point

consulate¹⁸ -n. a government office in another country

patchwork -adj. different pieces that are put together to make up something whole, for example, a patchwork quilt

align¹² -v. to put something together in an orderly way

opportunity -n. a chance to do something

enroll¹⁶ -v. the process of signing up for something, for example - registering for school

1 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

2 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

3 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

6 consular   

a.领事的

参考例句：

• He has rounded out twenty years in the consular service. 他在领事馆工作已整整20年了。
• Consular invoices are declarations made at the consulate of the importing country. 领事发票是进口国领事馆签发的一种申报书。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

10 patchwork   

n.混杂物；拼缝物

参考例句：

• That proposal is nothing else other than a patchwork.那个建议只是一个大杂烩而已。
• She patched new cloth to the old coat,so It'seemed mere patchwork. 她把新布初到那件旧上衣上，所以那件衣服看上去就象拼凑起来的东西。

11 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

12 align   

vt.使成一线，结盟，调节；vi.成一线，结盟

参考例句：

• Align the ruler and the middle of the paper.使尺子与纸张的中部成一条直线。
• There are signs that the prime minister is aligning himself with the liberals.有迹象表明首相正在与自由党人结盟。

13 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

14 ace   

n.A牌；发球得分；佼佼者；adj.杰出的

参考例句：

• A good negotiator always has more than one ace in the hole.谈判高手总有数张王牌在手。
• He is an ace mechanic.He can repair any cars.他是一流的机械师,什么车都会修。

15 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

16 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

17 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

18 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。