The new 21st century
economy is an increasingly globalized one, and multinational companies must be
able to operate seamlessly across borders as a single global entity, rather
than as a collection of separate subsidiaries. In addition, the fast pace of innovation in a
knowledge-based economy calls for the quick and efficient allocation of human
resources across the globe.
The technology industry is both
an enabler and a beneficiary of the global knowledge-based economy, and CCIA
has strongly supported the elimination of undue administrative burdens for
multinational corporations and enabling the timely transfer of employees
wherever they are needed.
One example of such
counterproductive administrative burdens can be found in the current EU system
for the admission of intra-corporate transferees. Intra-corporate transferees
are managers, specialists or trainees that multinational companies seek to
temporarily transfer to their branches within the EU, and who will return to
their home countries upon completion of their assignment. This roughly equates to the L visa
system here in the U.S.
The current EU system has no
harmonized set of rules and procedures for admission among different EU Member
States. Companies must deal with
different documentary requirements and eligibility criteria for each country
they seek to post their transferees to, and even have to go through separate
application processes if the transferee is to work at branches in different
countries.
The European Commission has
proposed a Directive that calls for a single application for a combined work
and residence permit with a common set of required documentation and procedures
across all EU Member States, and intra-EU mobility. This is a very positive and common-sense first step in
improving the workforce flexibility and mobility that is absolutely critical to
operating in today’s global business environment. The EU was established with the goal of ensuring the free
movement of goods, services, capital and people, so the reforms in the proposed
Directive would rectify a patchwork of rules that are undermining the pursuit
of that goal.
The U.S. should follow the EU’s
lead and examine ways to make it easier for companies to compete for and
utilize the increasingly global and borderless talent pool. Technology companies in particular face
the challenge of competing in a fast-paced environment requiring continuous
innovation to survive. We look
forward to U.S. policymakers also taking steps to enable companies to secure as
well as allocate the skilled human resources essential to that innovation.
