In developing countries we frequently hear about a migratory phenomenon that has weakened their economies over time: the brain drain. Well, it seems that what weakens others is strengthening Philadelphia.

According to an article by Philly.com, companies in the city are increasingly importing more of those brains that ran from other latitudes. That's what you can read in the figures of the Department of Labor that places Philadelphia as third, after New York (with 60,000 applications) and Houston (with 30,000), among the cities whose companies apply for more work visas for their foreign employees.

With just over 29,000 applications for H-1B visas filed last year, hundreds of technology companies like Comcats, universities like Temple and UPenn, schools and even yoga studios sought to incorporate skilled workers into their workplaces.

Although not all applications were accepted, the professional profiles that most Philadelphia companies are looking for outside the United States have to do with technology, medicine, and academic industries. Software developers, technicians, researchers, doctors and teachers are some of the profiles of these other immigrants in the city.

The Department of Labor grants on average 80,000 work visas, a small portion compared to the workforce in the interior of the country. For Philly.com, however, it is striking that in some cases the range of remuneration offered by local companies to foreign professionals for specific positions is above the levels even officially recognized by the Department of Labor.

From administrative positions with salaries above $ 600,000 to yoga instructors with salaries greater than 30,000 per year, these are some of the cases reported by the local media.