Signs of a slowdown in relocating global talent to the U.S.

Textio finds a dramatic drop in job listings that mention eligibility to work in the U.S. since December

The United States has long been where skilled people from around the world come to start their careers. Elon Musk of SpaceX, Tesla, and The Boring Company (and more) emigrated from South Africa after college and has become one of the most successful entrepreneurs in recent memory (not to mention the inspiration for Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man!?).

The U.S. political climate surrounding immigration policy has been intensifying for years, causing a range of impacts on the employment market. But data from Textio now reveals a curious trend that may not be what you’d expect.

December 2017 saw a peak in the proportion of job posts explicitly asking for candidates to have legal eligibility to work in the U.S. But since then, the percentage of job ads including that language has dropped precipitously.

Since December of last year, the number of job listings saying that people must have eligibility to work in the U.S. has declined by 25%

So what’s happening? There’s a well-documented talent crunch in the U.S. right now.

Employers with multinational locations have stopped assuming that they’re relocating corporate employees to the U.S. in order to take a job.

Instead, companies are building a larger global corporate presence: Hubspot opening a Berlin office, Microsoft opening a Dublin office, and more. This has implications not just for immigration patterns, but for the global economy.

It remains to be seen how long this slowdown in eligibility requirements will continue, but there is no indication that the immigration debate is going to change gears under the current U.S. administration. One has to wonder if the trend will persist beyond November 2020.

Learn more about how language impacts your hiring at textio.com