[bubblethink]

Here's the lay of the land:

1) You can hire temp workers on visas relatively easily and in large numbers. This benefits employers, politicians, economy, etc.

2) These workers need permanent status. US immigration is uniquely regressive in that everything flows through the employer in most cases and visa holders have no agency. So the employer needs to petition for a "permanent" employee.

3) So although these people are already employed, the employer needs to go through a PERM process where they advertise the job and claim to the gov. that they couldn't hire anyone else and this is the most qualified employee for the job.

4) Although it's a farce, DOJ gets mad if there is a perception that the employer tried to make the PERM process more favorable to the employee they already have.

[NovemberWhiskey]

And if this doesn't make it seem farcical enough: you would think that an employee who'd been working at your firm would have lots of unique skills and familiarity with corporate processes, technology etc. that are valuable, and that you could write a job description that required those.

But no - your immigration law firm will tell you that you absolutely can't do that, and that you have to pretend to hire into some kind of imaginary position that reflects the knowledge and skills of someone in the job market who would qualify but for the fact that they don't have skills that could only be acquired at your firm.