Li Chiao-wen, a Taiwanese graduate student at George Washington University, noticed the slight recovery in the US job market last August and early September. Job openings had definitely increased. Unfortuately, the tragedy of Sept. 11 greatly changed all that.
Many companies, forced to cope with the subsequent economic downturn started laying off workers and people with jobs began to worry about job security. The job hunt for graduate students like Li became much more difficult.
"To save recruiting expenses, companies would rather hire experienced people than inexperienced ones," Li said. Job opportunities for recent graduates, especially foreign students, have been greatly reduced since the tragedy, putting Li's hopes, and those of many students like him, into jeopardy.
"The situation in Washington is completely different from last year," said Jenny Yie, a Chinese graduate student at George Washington University. "Many students had been offered great positions in well-known companies by graduation last year. Besides airfare and accommodations for an interview, some companies also promised assistance with applications for H1 visas and green cards," Yie said. All this has suddenly vanished after Sept. 11.
The declining economy and the shrinking employment market made Yie hesitant about leaving school. "I would rather wait for a while than jump into a stagnant employment market right now," Yie said.
Deepak Upadhyay mentioned the current policy of human resource management in the computer industry. "In spite of operational demands, my company shows little tendency to take in new recruits now. It's common for me to perform multiple tasks belonging to different positions."
Originally from India, Upadhyay received his masters degree from the department of computer science at the University of Maryland in January.
"If a company decides to hire foreign employees, it has to pay an additional application fee for the H1 visa," Kuo Nai-chi said. Because of the additional expense in hiring overseas workers, the economic stagnation has forced many enterprises to hire locally.
Other difficulties have long existed. Kuo thinks US regulations on foreign employment are a contributing factor to job-hunting difficulties.
"In Washington, most job opportunities related to the government are only open to US citizens or permanent residents," said Kuo, a graduate student at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. "Even some NGO's regard citizenship as a requirement for employment."
Shawna Chen, a graduate from American University, talked about the recruiting policy of the company she has worked for since May. Although the company is still expanding, it has implemented a hiring freeze on full-time employees to decrease personnel expenses.
"To expand in the Asian market, the company needs to hire a high percentage of foreigners," Chen said. During the past three months, the company has brought in 20 new recruits, but only as parttimers or interns, said Chen.
Ahmad Abdullah Shinwari, a devout Muslim from Pakistan, also felt the deterioration in the job market after Sept. 11.
"As foreign students from the Muslim world, all of my friends graduating in May have had a hard time getting jobs," Shinwari said. "The stagnant economy and the increasingly restrictive US policies contribute to the difficulties," Shinwari said.
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