How Other Countries Are Luring Workers Trained in U.S. Universities

When Cansu (pronounced “Johnsu”) Deniz Bayrak was deciding where to emigrate from her native Turkey, she first considered San Francisco. Only in her 20s, she had already co-created an e-commerce website that rose to the top of its category in her home country, been snatched up by a tech company, then poached by another tech firm. But she saw more opportunity in the United States, where there is a projected demand for more than 160,000 software developers and related specialists per year, and where tech companies said in a survey that recruiting them is their biggest business challenge. Bayrak quickly learned, however, that to come to the United States, she would need an employer sponsor.