thoroughly annoying articles
thoroughly annoying articles
Date: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 10:45 PM
<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1800 -- 12/12/2007 >>>>>
Lots of articles are being published about the H-1B issue, but
unfortunately most of them are nothing but transparent shill plants by the
cheap labor lobby. One of the things you will see in many of them is more
hype about the European blue card (see newsletter "Blue Card, Green Card,
Pink Card, 10/25/2007". The only article in this group that comes close to
being objective is #6 by Thibodeau. Be sure to read the heated comments
being left on #9 and #10.
Article 1:
http://www.forbes.com/2007/11/19/marks-mfg-visas-oped-cx_mem_1120marks.html?partner=email
Speaking Of Competition
So, while many people write and fret over a relatively small number of
autoworkers who strike if their jobs aren't guaranteed, very little is
written about all of the higher value design jobs that go begging in the
U.S. [snipped] While I have stated my bias that global supply chains are
critical to corporate success, it is shameful that our government cannot
sort out how to lower the barriers for companies that want to employ
foreign professionals. To
Article 2:
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/31786-1.html
Senators urge H-1B visa program expansion
Nineteen senators are urging Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff
to expand a program offering temporary work authorizations allowing foreign
students to be employed by information technology companies in the United
States. The Optional Practical Training authorization is a program which,
similarly to H-1B visas, offers foreigners who have attended U.S.
universities an opportunity to gain practical experience working at U.S.
tech firms.
Article 3:
http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/03/magazines/fortune/Battel_brainpower.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007120408
The global fight for top talent
We have similar rules in the United States, such as our skinflint
distribution of H-1B visas and immigration rules that favor family
connections over skills. Why do such rules exist at all? In the Industrial
Age we protected manufacturing workers with tariffs and quotas, but we
can't put duties on bits and bytes, so in the Info Age we protect knowledge
workers by restricting immigration.
Article 4:
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/12/is_the_h1b_visa.html
Is The H-1B Visa Cap Capping U.S. Innovation?
Restrictions on visas for foreign IT pros to work in the United States will
drive more tech jobs and creativity offshore, says a new study released
today. While that argument isn't new, the report has a collection of
government and other stats to help back it up. Opposition to -- and
limitations in the H-1B and L-1 visa programs, especially the annual cap on
H-1B visas -- are largely based on "myths,"
Article 5:
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/IBD-0001-21601556.htm
Europe Wants World's Brightest As America Keeps Limits Tight
Europe is rolling out the blue carpet for foreign-born high-tech workers.
The European Union recently proposed a "blue card" for skilled workers
around the world. In the land of opportunity, the U.S. has stiff limits on
high-skill workers and is moving toward further restrictions. That has U.S.
business groups worried.
Article 6:
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9051378&pageNumber=1
National tech policy battle plays out in Iowa as caucus nears
The top priority of the Technology Association of Iowa is to help increase
the science and technology workforce, Jacobson said, and it's working on
initiatives to encourage secondary school students to consider math and
science. Those efforts include attempts to get more money for paid
internships. It also wants increases in the H-1B cap.
Article 7:
http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/nov/26visa.htm
The visa shortage: Big problem, easy fix
Unlike many of the problems facing the U.S., this one isn't hard to fix.
All we need to do is increase the number of visas that are available for
international students who get job offers from U.S. companies. An even
better solution is to offer these students permanent-resident visas rather
than H-1Bs.
Article 8:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2007-11-30-foreignworkers_N.htm?POE=click-refer
Legal foreign workers caught in immigration stalemate
Foreign workers like software expert Vikas Chowdhry from India and Roberto
Villarauz, a janitor from Mexico, abide by the nation's immigration laws.
They have skills their employers say are necessary to meet industry demands
for highly skilled workers or for jobs Americans don't want. Under current
rules, H-1B workers cannot change jobs easily. They are free to work
anywhere once they receive a green card granting permanent legal status,
which Chowdhry has applied for. Meanwhile, he said, he can't accept a
promotion or start a business and hire Americans.
Article 9:
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/12/tis_the_season_2.html
'Tis The Season For Mudslinging
Nothing gets that holiday season name calling flowing more fluidly than
mentioning H-1B visas.
Article 10:
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/12/is_the_h1b_visa.html
Is The H-1B Visa Cap Capping U.S. Innovation?
Restrictions on visas for foreign IT pros to work in the United States will
drive more tech jobs and creativity offshore, says a new study released
today. While that argument isn't new, the report has a collection of
government and other stats to help back it up.
1. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.forbes.com/2007/11/19/marks-mfg-visas-oped-cx_mem_1120marks.html?partner=email
Speaking Of Competition
Michael E. Marks 11.20.07, 6:00 AM ET
In my last column, I wrote about the problems with the General Motors
contract with the UAW, in that they won some very important concessions,
but they also agreed to guarantee a certain number of jobs in the U.S. That
provision alone insures, in my view, that the UAW workforce will not be
competitive with that of other automakers, which continue to take share
from the Big 3.
Since I wrote that, Chrysler and Ford have also settled with the UAW. Now
that the results are in, we can draw some conclusions and look at the
impacts of these widely reported negotiations on the rest of the economy.
As we now know, GM settled after a very quick two-day walkout, and at
Chrysler the walkout was only six hours. But interestingly, Chrysler, which
gave fewer guarantees of jobs (according to what was reported), had more
trouble getting ratification from its workers than did GM, proving the
point that job guarantees continue to be a focus of the unions.
Unfortunately, that focus is completely misplaced. The world has changed
and U.S. job guarantees just don't work. Let's look at some of the
statistics. In 1978, the UAW membership peaked at just over 1.5 million
workers. Today that figure is just north of 500,000. In 1978, the Big 3
U.S. automakers employed 693,000 UAW workers; at the end of this year that
figure is expected to be just 177,000. Clearly the focus on wages and job
guarantees isn't working.
So does any of this matter to the U.S. economy? You would think so, given
how much reporting there is on the negotiations, strikes, and so on. But
once again, let's look at some statistics: 177,000 jobs in these three
companies. In October alone, the U.S. economy created 166,000 new jobs, or
almost exactly the number of UAW workers employed at the Big 3. One month!
The U.S. economy has also created 1.68 million jobs in the last 12 months,
and 8.31 million jobs since August 2003. And the U.S. economy in total has
146 million jobs. Interestingly, many companies employ far more than any of
the Big 3. Flextronics, for example, has nearly 250,000 employees in a
single company.
So, while many people write and fret over a relatively small number of
autoworkers who strike if their jobs aren't guaranteed, very little is
written about all of the higher value design jobs that go begging in the
U.S. These are the jobs that create innovation and growth, enabling
companies to increase employment around the world, and certainly so in the
U.S. Without the ability to fill design and engineering jobs, U.S. growth
companies are forced to develop overseas options.
While I have stated my bias that global supply chains are critical to
corporate success, it is shameful that our government cannot sort out how
to lower the barriers for companies that want to employ foreign
professionals. To add these workers, potential hires have to apply for an
H-1B visa. These critical visas are limited to just 65,000 per year (again
out of 146 million jobs). On the first day these visas were available in
2007, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service received applications
for 120,000!
There are changes being proposed to the laws governing these visas, by Sen.
Chuck Grassley of Iowa. He wants to increase the cost per visa, while not
increasing the number of visas, as originally proposed. This compares to
the European Union's efforts to streamline their immigration laws to allow
for more skilled workers. Or contrast this to Singapore, where the
government offered immediate citizenship to any engineer wishing to leave
Hong Kong when the Chinese government took over that nation state in 1997.
There was a considerable exodus of people leaving the island because of
fear that their freedoms would be limited. And Singapore had the wisdom to
offer to take all of the skilled workers who were willing to start anew in
their country. In the most recent quarter, Singapore unemployment fell to a
10-year low of 1.7%.
The good news here is that somehow, we generally get this right. Despite
job guarantees being negotiated in some industries, despite government
bureaucrats who propose and sometimes pass laws that impede our economy s
ability to create the right kinds of jobs, we still boast a very robust
economy with current unemployment of only 4.7%. When I was a child in the
1950s, unemployment was expected to never go below 6%, for "structural"
reasons. Fortunately, we've found better ways to manage these structural
issues. Now if we would only set Singapore's numbers as our goals, wouldn't
that be something.
One last thing: In lieu of compensation for writing this column, I would
ask that those of you who appreciate any insights I might provide consider
making a contribution to the V Foundation, a charity which endeavors to
fill a funding gap in cancer research, by supporting young researchers who
would otherwise have difficulty pursuing a wide range of promising
technologies. The charity is named for Jimmy Valvano, the legendary
basketball coach. You can learn more at www.jimmyv.org.
Michael E. Marks manages a private equity fund, Bigwood Capital, which
invests in rapidly growing private companies in North America and emerging
markets. He is also interim CEO of Tesla Motors, a Bigwood Capital
investment, which is in the process of launching an all-electric sports
car. After spending a year as a member of KKR, Marks now serves as a senior
adviser to the firm. Earlier, he served as CEO of Flextronics and now sits
on the boards of SanDisk, Crocs, Schlumberger, Sun Microsystems and the V
Foundation for Cancer Research. He also teaches a course in global supply
chain management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
2. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/31786-1.html
Senators urge H-1B visa program expansion
11/09/07 -- 11:52 AM
By Alice Lipowicz
Nineteen senators are urging Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff
to expand a program offering temporary work authorizations allowing foreign
students to be employed by information technology companies in the United
States.
The Optional Practical Training authorization is a program which, similarly
to H-1B visas, offers foreigners who have attended U.S. universities an
opportunity to gain practical experience working at U.S. tech firms.
Expansion of the H-1B visa program is a high-priority issue for U.S.
technology companies that maintain they are experiencing a severe shortage
of skilled workers. Microsoft Corp. s Bill Gates and the Information
Technology Association of America have lobbied for H-1B expansion. However,
many IT employees say that allowing more foreign workers depresses wages of
U.S. workers and costs them jobs.
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Homeland
Security and Government Affairs Committee, and the 18 other senators on
Nov. 8 asked Chertoff to exercise his regulatory authority to extend the
maximum optional training period to 29 months, from 12 months currently.
"Extending the maximum OPT period to 29 months would be an important first
step in addressing the crisis caused by the record shortage of
skilled-worker visas," Lieberman said in a statement. "We must enable our
companies to access the talent they need, which ensures that they will keep
jobs on our shores and that they will continue to grow in this country."
There was high demand for the 65,000 H-1B visas granted for 2007 to foreign
graduates of U.S. universities, according to a news release from
Lieberman s office. The program received 133,000 applications on April 1,
the day the application period opened, and on the following day, it stopped
accepting applications.
Extension of the training period, which applies to foreign students still
attending school at U.S. universities, would have a beneficial impact on
H-1B visa availability as well, Lieberman said. With a longer period of
training eligibility, more students will be eligible for the training
authorizations and more graduates will be eligible for the H-1B visas, the
new release said.
"I commend Senator Lieberman for urging Secretary Chertoff to expand
opportunities for practical training after graduation. These students have
a lot to offer -- it's win-win for students and the U.S. economy," Richard
Levin, president of Yale University, said in a statement released by
Lieberman.
The request is endorsed by the Association of American Universities.
Lieberman also is the sponsor of the Skilled Worker Immigration and
Fairness Act of 2007 (S. 1397) that would increase the annual allotment of
H-1B visas and make more foreign graduates exempt from the allotment cap.
3. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/03/magazines/fortune/Battel_brainpower.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007120408
The global fight for top talent
From the United States to Saudi Arabia, countries are finally recognizing
that human capital is crucial.
By Geoff Colvin, senior editor at large
(Fortune Magazine) -- Three scenes from the new battle for global economic
supremacy:
1. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the country that sits on 25% of the
planet's oil, knows that oil is not his country's future. That's why he's
spending $12.5 billion to found a graduate research university, which he'll
endow with $10 billion - as big an endowment on day one as MIT has built in
142 years. The point of this project, on a grand scale even by Saudi
standards: to attract the best researchers in science and technology.
2. The European Union has proposed new rules to attract the world's most
highly skilled workers. If they can show that they're well educated and
hold an offer of a lucrative job in Europe, they can get a two-year
renewable permit to live there. The problem Europe is trying to solve: 85%
of emigrating unskilled workers from developing countries go to Europe, but
only 5% of skilled workers do so.
3. HCL Technologies, an Indian infotech services firm, has noticed a major
change in its best young employees. Until two or three years ago, few of
them would work for it unless they were promised an overseas assignment.
Now it's just the opposite: They see India as the most compelling source of
excitement and opportunity, and they don't want to be sent away.
We've known for a long time that this day was coming, and now it's here:
Countries are finally realizing that their future prosperity depends not on
natural resources or even on financial capital, but on human capital.
Companies have been battling for years to attract and keep the best people.
Now countries are engaging in the same fight.
The contenders
It wasn't much of a scrap until recently. Only the United States, Western
Europe, and Japan - for a while - were even contenders. They didn't beat up
on one another too badly vying for the best talent because there was enough
to go around. Their economies weren't sufficiently info-based to make
talent as critical an advantage as it has become, and the economy wasn't
sufficiently global for human-capital supremacy to be crucial. Now all
those factors have changed; many countries are in the hunt, and they're all
after the same thing.
Since this is a fundamentally new fight, no one is sure what will win it.
But we can already identify some fairly deep and difficult questions the
fight raises. How countries answer them will help determine national wealth
and power.
How long will any country tolerate Info Age protectionism? Notice that
Europe's new proposal to attract highly skilled workers is pretty pathetic.
It doesn't really offer any attractions; it just scales back rules that
keep those workers out.
We have similar rules in the United States, such as our skinflint
distribution of H-1B visas and immigration rules that favor family
connections over skills. Why do such rules exist at all? In the Industrial
Age we protected manufacturing workers with tariffs and quotas, but we
can't put duties on bits and bytes, so in the Info Age we protect knowledge
workers by restricting immigration.
No country can have world-class workers if it continually protects them
from world-class competition. Cisco CEO John Chambers, who is passionate on
this subject, says, "Anyone with a college degree should be welcome to come
to our country, with appropriate security checks."
The U.S. may be rich, but we hardly have the best education system
Why isn't the United States more serious about the key competitive
advantage of the Info Age, education? How to make human capital more
valuable is no mystery, yet the world's richest country still has nowhere
near the world's best education system. That means trouble that will only
get worse.
Stephen Roach, former chief economist of Morgan Stanley and now head of the
firm's Asian operations, says, "In the U.S. we've squandered our advantage
by not investing in educational reform."
What, ultimately, is a national economy? Is it good for a country if its
companies prosper by offshoring high-value intellectual work? What if a
nation's high-value employees are working in that nation for other nations'
companies? Or if highly skilled immigrants perform high-value work and send
their earnings home? The answers aren't obvious, but they are important.
This international fight for talent will get much more serious. With luck,
it will lead to something new: a free market in brainpower. That may not
come to pass- but wise nations will prepare for it.
4. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/12/is_the_h1b_visa.html
Is The H-1B Visa Cap Capping U.S. Innovation?
Posted by Marianne Kolbasuk McGee, Dec 6, 2007 02:57 PM ; E-Mail
Restrictions on visas for foreign IT pros to work in the United States will
drive more tech jobs and creativity offshore, says a new study released
today. While that argument isn't new, the report has a collection of
government and other stats to help back it up.
Opposition to -- and limitations in the H-1B and L-1 visa programs,
especially the annual cap on H-1B visas -- are largely based on "myths,"
says study by the National Foundation for American Policy, a nonpartisan,
nonprofit public policy research organization that focuses on immigration
and trade issues.
According to the key findings in the report,"Driving Jobs and Innovation
Offshore: The Impact of High Skill Immigration Restrictions on America,"
most legit American companies do not hire H-1B visa workers as a means to
get cheap labor.
In fact, the report says "in examining all Department of Labor agency
actions between 1992 and 2004" related to allegations of underpayment of
wages, "the average amount of back wages owed to an H-1B employee was only
$5,919." Not exactly the tens of thousands of dollars H-1B critics often
allege.
The report also finds that while opponents to raising the H-1B visa cap
often warn of serious American tech job losses by opening the "floodgates"
to more foreigners, "new H-1B professionals accounted for only 0.07% of the
U.S. labor force in 2006."
The 37-page study also highlights a number of other point/counterpoint
arguments in the debate about H-1B and L-1 visas and green cards. But the
report's conclusion is clearly stated.
"Further restricting the conditions under which companies can obtain H-1B
and L-1 visas for skilled foreign nationals, even if done in exchange for a
higher annual limit on H-1Bs, is likely to result in less innovation and
job creation in the U.S. as companies are encouraged to hire more
individuals outside the country."
5. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/IBD-0001-21601556.htm
Europe Wants World's Brightest As America Keeps Limits Tight
December 11, 2007: 08:05 PM EST
Dec. 12, 2007 (Investor's Business Daily delivered by Newstex) --
Europe is rolling out the blue carpet for foreign-born high-tech workers.
The European Union recently proposed a "blue card" for skilled workers
around the world.
In the land of opportunity, the U.S. has stiff limits on high-skill workers
and is moving toward further restrictions.
That has U.S. business groups worried.
Companies, especially high-tech ones, rely heavily on immigration to bring
them the best and brightest talent. They look to immigrants for new ideas
and sometimes to start companies. Loss of this source of talent could hurt
U.S. industry.
Still, immigration, especially illegal immigration, is a hot button.
According to a recent Pew Research Center report, while expressing strong
support for global trade, 75% of Americans surveyed agreed with the
statement "We should further restrict and control immigration." Only 23%
disagreed.
Even more so than the U.S., Europe has a rapidly aging population. By 2050,
analysts say, two working people will have to support one retired worker in
the EU, compared with a four-to-one ratio today. Europe sees immigration as
one way to get skilled workers.
Bringing in driven foreigners also might encourage more entrepreneurial
activity in Europe, which has relatively few startups compared with
America.
U.S. tech firms have struggled to find qualified engineers for years. The
blue card could make the situation much worse, says analyst Will Strauss.
"There are only so many brains available," Strauss said. "And either
they're going to get them or we are." Strauss is president of Forward
Concepts, a Tempe, Ariz., high-tech market research firm.
All 27 EU members have to agree to any major policy changes. So analysts
don't expect action on the proposed blue card until 2009.
Keeping The Best
But if the U.S. doesn't act quickly, it could lose the lead in high tech,
say government and industry officials.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., says the U.S. has always done a good job of
attracting bright people. That's not the problem.
"Where we fall down is keeping those people," said Lofgren, whose district
covers most of Silicon Valley. That's not because they don't want to stay,
but because there's a thicket of red tape that often prevents them from
staying, she says.
U.S. universities attract tens of thousands of students from China, India
and other countries studying for advanced degrees.
Foreign nationals account for a majority of U.S. doctoral degrees in math,
computer science and engineering.
Traditionally, many have stayed here to work.
But with emerging markets surging and developing their own tech markets,
going home is a lot more attractive now, especially compared with going
through the hoops to stay in the U.S.
Immigrants have played a key role in developing the tech hub.
Sergey Brin, born in Russia, co-founded Google while getting his master's
degree at Stanford.
Andy Grove was Intel's (NASDAQ:INTC) third employee and later became CEO
and chairman. He was born in Hungary but studied in the U.S.
The EU's blue card would compete against a type of U.S. temporary work visa
called the H-1B. Despite its name, the blue card isn't like the green card
(or U.S. Permanent Resident card).
The H-1B visa lets U.S. employers file a request with immigration services
on behalf of prospective workers. Most H-1B candidates must have at least a
bachelor's degree and work in a "specialty occupation." Visas last for
three years and can be extended for three more.
Legal Supply Limit
There's a cap of 65,000 H-1B visa workers allowed in the U.S. today. After
pressure from industry, Congress has temporarily allowed an extra 20,000,
raising the limit to 85,000 H-1Bs a year.
By law, the first Monday in April is the first day companies can apply on
behalf of workers for the next fiscal year.
This year, there were a record 125,000 applications on that first day, says
Robert Hoffman, co-chairman of Compete America, which has lobbied Congress
to raise the H-1B cap.
Hoffman is also vice president for government affairs at software maker
Oracle. While Europe is trying to streamline the process to bring in
foreign engineers, Hoffman says, Congress has been trying to throw up
roadblocks in the U.S.
For example, today it costs $1,500 for a company to apply for an H-1B visa
on behalf of a worker. In October the Senate passed a fee hike of $3,500,
on top of the $1,500, as part of a larger spending bill.
"We're open to paying a little more if that's what's needed," Hoffman said.
"But to more than triple the fee is ludicrous."
After pressure from Compete America and others, the Senate killed the fee
increase.
One problem with the H-1B program is that it's too broad. It not only
covers engineers and scientists, but also other specialty jobs such as
"fashion models of national or international acclaim," the immigration
service says.
"The H-1B is a real mishmash," Lofgren said. "The refinement of that
program would be appropriate."
Earlier this year, tech firms had hoped Congress would increase the number
of H-1B visas as part of comprehensive immigration reform.
But that overall bill spawned a backlash, as critics tagged the bill a de
facto amnesty for illegal immigrants. The momentum now is for stiffer
restrictions on immigration.
So advocates of highly skilled foreign workers now say that issue should be
separated from questions of low-skill illegal immigrants.
The U.S. needs to make it easier for people who are educated in the U.S. in
basic science, tech and engineering to stay here, says Lofgren, who chairs
a House immigration subcommittee.
The U.S. needs to focus on K-12 education and getting a level playing field
in terms of tax breaks, says George Scalise, president of the Semiconductor
Industry Association. But the H-1B program is the top priority. It must be
fixed now, he says.
"It's urgent in the sense that we're already losing people" because they go
elsewhere rather than wade through red tape, Scalise said. "It's
unfortunate that Congress has truly failed us" in dealing with reform, he
added.
The SIA wants to see the cap on visas for families of skilled workers
raised, too. That way, once foreign- born students get a degree and H-1B
visa job, they'll be able to stay here with their families and become
citizens.
The SIA is one of 32 companies and trade groups working under the Compete
America alliance to revise H-1B rules.
Compete America also includes the Business Roundtable, Business Software
Alliance, National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce.
Companies that have joined include Boeing (NYSE:BA) BA, Coca-Cola KO, Intel
INTC, Oracle ORCL, Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ:JAVAD) JAVAD, Motorola
(NYSE:MEU) (NYSE:MOT) MOT and Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN) TXN.
Newstex ID: IBD-0001-21601556
Originally published in the December 12, 2007 version of Investor's
Business Daily.
6. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9051378&pageNumber=1
National tech policy battle plays out in Iowa as caucus nears
Patrick Thibodeau
December 06, 2007 (Computerworld) Gary Scholten, a senior vice president
and CIO at Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, has met with several
presidential candidates who are running in Iowa's Jan. 3 caucus. Principal
is one of the largest companies in the state, and candidates often stop by
its offices, giving Scholten the opportunity to relate his IT workforce
concerns directly to three Democratic candidates: New Mexico Gov. Bill
Richardson and Sens. Barack Obama and Christopher Dodd.
Scholten wants to see improvements in science and technology education and
changes in immigration policy. While his company has hired H-1B workers in
the past, it has not done so recently, because of competition for the visas
from other companies. This year's allotment of 65,000 visas, plus 20,000
for graduate-degree holders, was claimed in a day.
Scholten said Principal employs 2,000 IT workers in Iowa and about 400 to
500 overseas, but he said he is more concerned about the impact that visa
restrictions have on smaller companies.
"The smaller companies, the entrepreneurial companies, are going to be hurt
first, and that's where a lot of the economic growth comes from," Scholten
said.
The Republican and Democrat candidates have almost a month remaining until
the Jan. 3 caucus, and any tech themes that come up during the campaign
will be a microcosm of the national debate.
Also in Des Moines is Dante Vignaroli, a mainframe developer for more than
30 years who lost his job to an H-1B worker. Vignaroli was laid off in 1999
and has earned a living doing mostly contract work since then. The
candidates aren't knocking on his door, but that isn't stopping him from
trying to meet them.
Vignaroli has talked to Sen. Joseph Biden, a Democrat, about H-1B visas,
and he has twice discussed the issue with an Obama aide. He has tried to
raise the issue with Sen. Hillary Clinton, but his health won't allow him
to stand in line long enough to meet her. However, he says he has no
intention of giving up on his mission to warn the candidates about H-1B
visas.
"You don't just lose your job, it's like your whole country betrays you,"
Vignaroli said.
There are some sharp feelings about H-1B visas in Iowa, which is also home
to Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who has emerged as leading critic of the
H-1B program. Grassley has used his power to investigate the use of the
visas. He recently asked the National Institutes of Health, a federal
entity, why it has hired more than 300 H-1B workers.
But Iowa is also counting on technology to help boost its economy, said
Leann Jacobson, president of the Technology Association of Iowa. IT
companies employ 46,350 people in the state and contribute $2.5 billion
annually in wages. The actual number of IT workers may be three times that
figure when tech workers at companies such as Principal are counted, she
said.
The top priority of the association is to help increase the science and
technology workforce, Jacobson said, and it's working on initiatives to
encourage secondary school students to consider math and science. Those
efforts include attempts to get more money for paid internships. It also
wants increases in the H-1B cap.
In an association survey conducted last May that received 54 responses from
IT executives, 86% of those polled said they that have had trouble finding
qualified employees among Iowa residents. In total, the respondents said
they had 1,332 job openings this year. Jacobson said that when that number
is extrapolated to include all of the state's tech job openings, it could
be as high as 10,000 and growing.
Moreover, 59% of the survey respondents said they required a four-year
degree for at least 75% of their available jobs. But as in other areas of
the country, the number of college graduates in Iowa with computer science
degrees is declining.
Doug Jacobson, an Iowa State University professor of electrical and
computer engineering, said the number of students enrolled in computer
science and computer engineering programs has dropped about 50% over the
past few years, with enrollments in those programs currently at about 600
to 700 students.
Jacobson (who's no relation to Leann Jacobson) said that surveys of high
school students show that their interest in enrolling in a college computer
science and engineering program has declined by 40% in recent years. The
reasons have to do with the lingering impact of the dot-com crash, concerns
about offshoring and fears that there are no jobs, even though program
graduates are being hired, he said. But high school students are also
seeking careers that help make society better, "and they don't feel that IT
is a field that does that," said
Doug Jacobson is involved with a new program called the IT Olympics.
Earlier this year, high school students involved in the program built
computer equipment and systems and then defended their networks against
professional hackers. The students stayed up all night to keep the systems
running. It helped prove to the students that "they can do things well
above anything in their course," he said.
The program is being expanded to include game design and robotics as well
as security. Nearly 500 students from 40 high schools are expected to
participate in what he calls a two-day "celebration of IT" in April,
Jacobson said.
Meanwhile, Principal is also trying to meet workforce needs by working
directly with the Des Moines Area Community College. Under a program the
company set up with the college this year, students can get full-time
employment at Principal if they reach certain objectives, such as receiving
an associate's degree in applied science in business information systems
with strong grades. But the company last year also decided that it needed
to leverage the global workforce, and established a subsidiary in Pune,
India, for application development and quality assurance. The Indian
operation accounts for roughly 10% of Principal's IT employees.
The big labor news in Iowa was the closing of the last Maytag factory late
last month. IT workers also lost their jobs in the shutdown. The company
has been acquired by Whirlpool Corp.
Nate Viall, president of Nate Viall & Associates, an iSeries recruiting
company in Des Moines, said he doesn't see the labor shortage. "There's a
shortage of cheap labor," Viall said, noting that the people who have been
hurt the most are the midcareer workers.
"Employers simply pass over them," he said. "You don't want to call it age
discrimination but, implicitly, that is there. You have to educate
[employers] on the value that the older worker brings to their department."
7. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/nov/26visa.htm
The visa shortage: Big problem, easy fix
Vivek Wadhwa, BusinessWeek.com | November 26, 2007 | 15:58 IST
Signs with the words "U.S. citizens and permanents only" greeted students
at employers' booths at a recent career fair at Duke University, where I
teach. In previous years only government jobs requiring security clearances
were labeled off-limits to international students.
Foreign-born engineering graduates told me they were disappointed that
employers like General Electric, IBM, and Carmax as well as smaller
companies would not even interview them.
Recruiters told me they were frustrated that they could not fill critical
positions. They have few options because the visas they need to hire
foreign nationals simply aren't available.
A Wireless Revolution in India
The Global Millionaire Boom
This visa shortage is a problem for U.S. companies that depend on engineers
because significantly more foreign-born students than Americans are
completing higher degrees in engineering. According to the American Society
of Engineering Education (asee.org), foreigners account for nearly 45% of
masters-level engineering students and 60% of PhDs.
The result? Multinationals have little choice but to expand their
engineering operations abroad, and smaller businesses that can't afford to
expand overseas are unable to hire the talent they need.
Aaron McQuaid, a customer-support engineer at Cisco's Research Triangle
Park (N.C.) group, has been helping the tech giant recruit from Duke. He
says Cisco currently has more than 1,300 openings.
His team alone, he says, has been looking for two engineers for more than
three months. McQuaid says barely 10% of the applicants from Duke were U.S.
citizens, none had the skill set he needed, and his group couldn't find a
way to hire highly qualified foreign nationals.
The visa system isn't working. Right now, when international students
complete their degrees in the U.S., they are allowed to work for up to one
year on a practical-training visa. After that they must obtain a temporary
work visa called an H-1B, which is valid for up to six years.
Yes, companies are allowed to hire foreign students during the one-year
practical training period. But those I spoke with worry that they won't be
able to keep their recruits beyond this period because H-1B visas are in
short supply.
(This year there were 65,000 H-1Bs available for any foreign-born worker
who holds an undergraduate degree and an additional 20,000 for those with a
master's degree. But U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services reported there
were twice as many applications received by its April deadline for the
undergraduate-degree H1-Bs for 2008 than the allotted number, and those
were distributed via a lottery.)
Bad for Everybody
The problem with H-1Bs, which were originally intended to let U.S.
companies recruit highly skilled workers, is that they can be misused. John
Miano, of the anti-outsourcing advocacy group Programmers Guild
(programmersguild.org). says these visas are frequently used to import
low-level computer programmers who work at below-market salaries.
Slide Show: Countries with the Most Millionaire Households
How India Clusters Growth
Miano estimates that 56% of computer workers, who make up 45% of the H-1B
pool, are in this low-skill category. Yet these visas are also used to hire
highly skilled engineers, scientists, doctors, and computer-information
architects.
With the number of available visas drying up, there's no easy way for the
current batch of international students to stay. This means they need to
find jobs back home or in other countries.
Additionally, there is already a backlog of more than a million skilled
immigrants working in the U.S., mostly on H-1B visas, who are waiting for a
yearly allocation of 120,000 permanent-resident visas. So we are headed for
a massive reverse brain drain of skilled workers and students.
Our loss is likely to be the gain of countries like India and China.
On October 5, Wim Elfrink, chief globalization officer for Cisco, paid a
visit to Duke. He talked about the opportunities his company was seeing in
international markets and innovative new technologies being developed for
them.
Elfrink said he expects to hire 7,000 engineers over the next five years
and to have 20% of Cisco's top talent located in India. He encouraged Duke
students to apply for jobs in Bangalore.
What Undergrads Say
Will our current crop of foreign-born graduates end up in India or China? I
asked my students about their plans.
Baris Guzel, 23, says he has a job offer in Germany and knows of
opportunities back home in Turkey. But he wants to stay in the U.S. and
join a financial-services or consulting firm.
What deters him are ads like those posted by Accenture on Duke's recruiting
site that read: "Applicants for employment in the U.S. must possess work
authorization which does not require sponsorship by the employer for a
visa." How can he get a visa if employers won't sponsor him, Guzel asks.
Gauravjit Singh, 24, and his team won a $100,000 prize last September from
Duke's CURE business plan competition.
He then co-founded a medical-device company to equip clinicians in the
developing world with an affordable and effective technology in the fight
against cervical cancer. They outsourced the technology development to a
Cary (N.C.) design firm. Given how hard it is to get a visa, Gauravjit sees
no choice but to return home and run his venture from Bangalore.
Jaineel Aga, 23, says he may have made the wrong decision about studying in
the U.S. instead of Europe. The reason he picked the U.S. was because he
believed it was more open and welcoming to international students. He wants
to become a management consultant and is keen to stay in the U.S. He
considers it a travesty that his career may ultimately be decided by a visa
lottery.
Tanya Srivastava, 24, says she never planned to stay permanently in the
U.S. but did want to work for a few years to get some global experience and
pay off the loans she took to complete her U.S. education. But she believes
she can easily get a job back home in India if things don't work out here.
All these students said they would discourage their friends from coming to
the U.S.
Unlike many of the problems facing the U.S., this one isn't hard to fix.
All we need to do is increase the number of visas that are available for
international students who get job offers from U.S. companies. An even
better solution is to offer these students permanent-resident visas rather
than H-1Bs. In the new global landscape, we need the world's best talent on
our side.
Vivek Wadhwa, a former tech entrepreneur, is the Wertheim Fellow at the
Harvard Law School and an executive-in-residence at Duke University. He
writes a column on policy issues affecting entrepreneurs every month.
8. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2007-11-30-foreignworkers_N.htm?POE=click-refer
Legal foreign workers caught in immigration stalemate
By Pamela Brogan, Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON Foreign workers like software expert Vikas Chowdhry from India
and Roberto Villarauz, a janitor from Mexico, abide by the nation's
immigration laws.
They have skills their employers say are necessary to meet industry demands
for highly skilled workers or for jobs Americans don't want.
Yet both are among hundreds of thousands of legal foreign workers,
including software engineers, hotel employees, seafood processors,
landscapers and vegetable pickers, who are in the U.S. temporarily but are
caught in the polarizing debate over illegal immigration that casts
uncertainty over their livelihood and future.
Legal foreign workers like Chowdhry and Villarauz might not get help until
after next year's elections because Congress is deadlocked on any changes
to the nation's immigration laws.
Congress defeated legislation this year to overhaul the immigration system,
which would have extended and improved seasonal, high-tech and agriculture
guest worker programs. About 575,000 legal foreign workers are currently in
the U.S. under these guest worker programs, according to the Department of
Homeland Security.
These temporary workers hold U.S. government-issued "H-visas" that
proponents argue should be revised by Congress to help legal foreign
workers and their employers.
For example, tens of thousands of seasonal workers at hotels, resorts and
other small businesses could lose their jobs unless Congress renews a
separate law that allows the government to issue more than the 66,000 H-2B
visas it is supposed to be limited to. The exemption expired Sept. 30.
High-tech workers and their employers want improvements in the H-1B
program, which has an annual cap of 65,000 visas. For the 2008 fiscal year,
which began Oct. 1, the limit would drop to 58,200 unless Congress says
otherwise.
Agriculture workers, growers, and farmers are pushing to streamline the
H-2A visa program by supporting yet another bill that would offer legal
status and possible U.S. citizenship for 1.5 million farm workers.
Four members of Roberto Villarauz's family from Veracruz, Mexico, who work
at the Grand Oaks Hotel in Branson, Mo., are affected by the H-2B impasse.
"I don't want to go back to Veracruz, but I (might) have to," said Roberto
Villarauz, 33, a janitor who makes $7.75 an hour.
In May, he arrived with his wife, Mayra Hernandez, and cousin, Alonso
Villarauz, and Alonso's wife, Cristel Hernandez all janitors or
housekeepers making the same wage. In Mexico, janitors earn $9 per day,
Alonso said. The family would have to return to Mexico on Dec. 15 when
their visa expires.
Lee Thomas, general manager of the Grand Oaks Hotel, said 17 of his 51
employees are temporary foreign workers.
"If I don't have enough housekeepers and workers, I can't expand and I
might have to scale back my services." Thomas said. "There is not enough
(of a) workforce in this area."
Last year, there were 97,279 seasonal H-2B workers, according the
Department of Homeland Security. Unless Congress acts, all of them would
have to compete for 66,000 H-2B visas that would be allowed next year.
Other foreign workers like Chowdhry say they are frustrated by Congress'
unwillingness to improve the H-1B visa program for high-tech workers.
It's like a "sword hanging around our necks," said Chowdhry, who works in
Madison, Wis., and has lived in the U.S. six years as a worker and student.
Under current rules, H-1B workers cannot change jobs easily. They are free
to work anywhere once they receive a green card granting permanent legal
status, which Chowdhry has applied for. Meanwhile, he said, he can't accept
a promotion or start a business and hire Americans. He also could be
deported within weeks if he is laid off.
Nearly 80% of H-visa holders are employed in 16 states, with California,
Florida and New York containing the largest numbers.
High-tech workers are concentrated in California, New Jersey, New York and
other states. Seasonal workers operate ski lifts in Colorado, are
housekeepers at hotels in the national parks and work at coastal resorts
from Delaware to Florida. Agriculture foreign workers are found throughout
the country. For example, they pick lettuce in California and milk cows in
Missouri.
Employers and lawmakers who support the H-visa programs say the workers are
needed because they take jobs Americans don't want and fill critical labor
shortages.
"The mania in Congress over illegal immigrants has spread into the area of
legal immigration," said Maryland immigration lawyer Donald Mooers. He
represents Save Small Business, whose 1,000 members employ foreign workers.
The group is lobbying Congress to extend the exemption for the H-2B visa
caps.
Some Democrats and Republicans, including members of the Congressional
Hispanic Caucus, don't want to renew or improve any temporary worker
programs until lawmakers address broader immigration reform to resolve the
status of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants now living and
working in the United States.
Supporters of the guest worker programs acknowledge the stalemate in
Congress.
"I would say that Congress is skittish" about any immigration bills said
Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren, whose California district includes Silicon
Valley and its many high-tech firms.
Lofgren, chairwoman of the Judiciary Committee's immigration panel, is
pushing for reforms to improve legal immigration and guest worker programs
but faces an uphill battle.
Critics of guest worker programs say they bring in cheap foreign labor that
keeps U.S wages low. Others say there is insufficient enforcement of the
laws to ensure workers return home after their visas expire. Some unions
oppose these programs because they say there are not enough protections for
workers.
"There is no doubt in my mind that some of these workers are abused because
there is not enough enforcement," said Eliseo Medina, executive vice
president for the Service Employees International Union. "The workers are
powerless and the employers want a captive workforce."
9. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/12/tis_the_season_2.html
'Tis The Season For Mudslinging
Posted by Marianne Kolbasuk McGee, Dec 11, 2007 10:59 AM ; E-Mail
Nothing gets that holiday season name calling flowing more fluidly than
mentioning H-1B visas.
The ongoing debate about whether the United States should allow more
foreign technology workers into the country always seems to get people on
both sides of the argument really riled up.
And so, a recent blog I posted about a "new study from the National
Foundation for American Policy" on the impact of the H-1B visa cap is
enticing a lot of readers -- and a few subject experts -- to vent.
For the most part, the ongoing forum discussion is pretty fascinating, with
colorful exchanges of opinion and information -- as well as analysis of
data (from the NFAP study and elsewhere) that both supports and demerits
the need for H-1B visa workers, depending upon what side of the fence
you're sitting on and how you look at the numbers.
But with 200-plus reader comments on a very heated issue, you knew it was
only a matter of time before passionate, intelligent debate veered into
heart-felt heckling.
Among the insults:
"Liar"
"Shameless Liar"
"Perpetual Liar"
"Idiot"
"Lobbyist" (that's a bad word, right?)
"You foreign worker" (as in "go back home")
"Arrogant"
"Hypocrite"
"Childish and silly"
"Closed-minded bigot"
"Welfare kings and queens"
And last but not least,
"Self-serving megalomania"
Hey, guys and gals, it's the holiday time, a season for peace and goodwill,
right? Can't we all play nice for a bit? You can pull the boxing gloves
back on Jan. 2.
And in the meantime, you have a few weeks to think of some new insults to
hurl next time. :-)
10. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/12/is_the_h1b_visa.html
Is The H-1B Visa Cap Capping U.S. Innovation?
Posted by Marianne Kolbasuk McGee, Dec 6, 2007 02:57 PM ; E-Mail
Restrictions on visas for foreign IT pros to work in the United States will
drive more tech jobs and creativity offshore, says a new study released
today. While that argument isn't new, the report has a collection of
government and other stats to help back it up.
Opposition to -- and limitations in the H-1B and L-1 visa programs,
especially the annual cap on H-1B visas -- are largely based on "myths,"
says study by the National Foundation for American Policy, a nonpartisan,
nonprofit public policy research organization that focuses on immigration
and trade issues.
According to the key findings in the report,"Driving Jobs and Innovation
Offshore: The Impact of High Skill Immigration Restrictions on America,"
most legit American companies do not hire H-1B visa workers as a means to
get cheap labor.
In fact, the report says "in examining all Department of Labor agency
actions between 1992 and 2004" related to allegations of underpayment of
wages, "the average amount of back wages owed to an H-1B employee was only
$5,919." Not exactly the tens of thousands of dollars H-1B critics often
allege.
The report also finds that while opponents to raising the H-1B visa cap
often warn of serious American tech job losses by opening the "floodgates"
to more foreigners, "new H-1B professionals accounted for only 0.07% of the
U.S. labor force in 2006."
The 37-page study also highlights a number of other point/counterpoint
arguments in the debate about H-1B and L-1 visas and green cards. But the
report's conclusion is clearly stated.
"Further restricting the conditions under which companies can obtain H-1B
and L-1 visas for skilled foreign nationals, even if done in exchange for a
higher annual limit on H-1Bs, is likely to result in less innovation and
job creation in the U.S. as companies are encouraged to hire more
individuals outside the country."
So, what's your take on all this?
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