The E.U.'s Blue Cards for Talent

One of the biggest complaints of Pharmaceutical and Biotech companies that I hear as a Recruiter is the shortage of talent in the marketplace. And, at this moment, it appears that the pool of available talent in the U.S. will only get smaller.
One of the main reasons for this shortage is the current attitude towards immigration in the U.S. America, the land of immigrants, has become decidedly anti-immigrant. While there is valid concern over the influx of illegal immigrants, especially in the Southwest, there has been a tendency to lump all immigrants under one big umbrella. Unfortunately, highly educated immigrants who come to the U.S., who attend our universities and get advanced degrees in the Sciences and Engineering, are finding it increasingly difficult to stay in the U.S. And due to the current rules regarding 'Green Cards' etc., Companies are finding it increasingly hard to hire these people. The current U.S. policies on Immigration are incredibly short-sighted.
Unfortunately, the problem could only get worse for the U.S.
In an article that appeared in InformationWeek here, Marianne Kolbasuk McGee writes:

While the United States continues to argue about whether to raise the H-1B visa cap and reform green-card processes to allow more foreign tech workers into the country, the European Union wants to make it much easier for highly skilled workers from abroad to land jobs in the EU's 27 member countries.

The EU, which is predicting a severe workforce crisis over the next several decades as its Baby Boomer generation retires, aims to attract 20 million workers from the outside in the years to come.

The EU hopes that a new proposed "blue card" will help fill that void, providing a more attractive alternative to the U.S. green-card program, which critics say is plagued by backlogs, cumbersome processes, and insufficient quotas.

In the article, Robert Hoffman, VP for Government and Public Affairs at Oracle beautifully sums up the dilemma faced by companies in the U.S.:

"Europe has sent a message. They're aggressively pursuing the professional talent they need to compete on the global stage...The Senate has unfortunately also sent a message, and it doesn't bode well for the U.S. economy."