Immigrants make up over half of software developers in Seattle, Silicon Valley

About 143,000 skilled workers in the Seattle area are employed in IT sector. They include system analysts, programmers and software developers, among others.

 

Out of these, 40 percent, or 57,000 skilled workers, were not born in the United States, the 2016 data reveals.

 

If only software developers are taken into consideration, more than 50 percent of those are foreign-born. In fact, software developers make up for more than 50 percent of the IT jobs in and around Seattle.

 

The proportion of foreign-born workers in Silicon Valley (California) is even more. According to a study, out of the total number of IT workers in the San Jose area, 71 percent of them were said to be not American born.

 

On the other hand, the number of foreign-born workers in the other tech hubs of US is less. In Texas, Portland and Minneapolis, their proportion is below 25 percent and only around 16 percent in Denver.

 

Somasegar, managing director at Madrona Venture Group, a Seattle-based venture-capital company, is quoted by the Seattle Times as saying that there are many factors that influence international tech workers in choosing Seattle and Silicon Valley over others.

 

According to him, most people coming to Seattle from various foreign nations do so to study and get a job because they want to be in the thick of the action.

 

Although he accedes that Silicon Valley will continue to attract most, Seattle is not lagging far behind. The presence of Amazon and Microsoft has also added to its appeal.

 

For instance, in 1990, only 11 percent tech professionals in Seattle were foreign-born. Most numbers of foreign IT workers in this city are said to be from India and China, with both the nations accounting for 50 percent of them.

 

If you are looking to migrate to the US, talk to Y-Axis, the world’s largest immigrant and visa company, to apply for a work visa.