<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER  No. 1771 -- 10/17/2007 >>>>>

Businessweek did an article on H-1B that at first glance may seem
objective. It starts out sounding OK, but wastes no time at stabbing us in
the back. Notice how the term "radical" is used to describe any suggestion
that H-1B should be limited. Here are just some of the ideas termed to be
"radical":

1) Not allowing companies who outsource jobs to get H-1B visas.

2) Abolishing H-1B altogether but allowing foreign workers to come here in
unlimited numbers with green cards.

3) Limiting visas in professions where it can be proved that no shortage
exists. I hope your head spinned on this one, because if it didn't you
ain't payin' attention!


Just in case you didn't notice, one of them truly is radical: item #2.
That's the one IEEE-USA has been pushing since the year 2000 -- the notion
that we should limit or abolish H-1B and then let unlimited numbers of
foreigners into the U.S. on Green Cards. 

Folks -- H-1B visas and employment based green cards are radical notions!
No other nation in the world but stupid ones like Canada would allow their
citizens to be replaced by foreigners. Not even India allows it!

Somehow the concept that being a citizen of the USA should have some value,
or that the American middle class should have some form of basic economic
security has been characterized as a subversive thought pattern.

Even the president of the corrupt IEEE-USA has the audacity to publicly say
that unlimited instant green cards will be good for us. George Orwell would
blush if he could read this!

   John Meredith, president of IEEE-USA, says that allowing more
   overseas workers will actually keep wages higher in the U.S.,
   unlike the H-1B visa program, which keeps workers tethered to
   employers in one position.


<<<>>>

The article gets worse!

<<<>>>

Microsoft is viewed as a paragon of virtue because they are so rich they
don't need to lie, cheat, and steal. Microsoft, according to the author,
would never stoop to replacing expensive American workers just to save a
few thousand bucks or to hire the next YOUNG geek computer whiz. Notice the
emphasis on YOUNG, because although it's not said explicitly it sure is
implicitly. We all know that "hotshot techies" are newspeak for young geeks
that work 20 hour days for nothing more than a couple slices of pizza.

   The company has one of the largest stashes of cash in the world and
   gushes profits every quarter. Saving a few thousand dollars in
   salary is much less important than finding the next hotshot techie
   who can help dream up a new billion-dollar business.


Most of the rest of the article gives credibility to Microsoft's claims
that there are vast shortages of technical manpower. Ron Hira's rational
statement that there wouldn't be shortages if employers were willing to pay
people what they are worth somehow gets lost in the shuffle. 


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/oct2007/db2007109_932262
.htm

Technology October 10, 2007, 12:01AM EST text size: TT

The Great Tech Worker Divide

Is there really a labor shortage, or are tech companies lobbying Congress
for more visas and green cards simply to avoid paying Americans better
wages?
by Moira Herbst

With a B.S. in computer science, an M.A. in information systems management,
and 20 years of experience, Rennie Sawade would appear to be a strong
candidate for a job as a software development engineer. But all the
44-year-old can find these days are short-term, temporary jobs -- like the
15-month contract he's currently on at a Seattle-based medical device
company. At Microsoft, the most prominent employer in town, he's had
contract jobs and even interviews for permanent positions. But after
several failed attempts, he's given up on trying to land a staff position
at the software giant. "I feel like my time is being wasted," he says.

Just across town at Microsoft headquarters, in suburban Redmond, Wash.,
Kevin Schofield is grappling with what he calls a severe shortage of
qualified workers. Schofield's job is to help develop recruiting strategies
to stay ahead of rivals like Google (GOOG), IBM (IBM), Yahoo! (YHOO), and
SAP (SAP). The 40-year-old says Microsoft is desperate to fill 3,000 core
technology jobs in the U.S., and there are so few Americans with the
specialized skills required that the company needs to bring in more workers
from overseas on temporary visas and permanent green cards. "There just
aren't enough people," says Schofield.

Reform Likely
Sawade and Schofield's contradictory viewpoints highlight a deepening fault
line in the technology industry. While American tech companies say they
can't find enough qualified people, many tech workers say there aren't
enough good jobs. Employers point out that the unemployment rate in the
sector is extremely low, a mere 1.8% in the second quarter of this year.
Workers counter that salaries in the sector are still below their level in
2000, adjusted for inflation, a sign that companies haven't had to bid up
wages to get staff.

The frustration is growing on both sides. Bill Gates, Microsoft's founder
and chairman, testified in Washington earlier this year (BusinessWeek.com,
3/7/07) that he feels "deep anxiety" over the competitiveness of the U.S.
and says that the country needs to do more "to attract and retain the
brightest, most talented people from around the world." Meanwhile, John
Miano, founder of the Programmers Guild, which represents tech workers,
calls the idea of a labor shortage in technology the "big lie" that U.S.
employers are trying to use to hold down labor costs.

Is there any way to satisfy both sides? It may seem like an impossible
task, but that's precisely the challenge ahead for Congress and public
policy experts. The Senate and House of Representatives are considering
whether to try to overhaul the immigration policies for high-skilled
workers. The question is whether there's a way to help U.S. tech companies
recruit the talent they need to stay competitive, while also easing
American workers' anxiety. Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), chair of
the House subcommittee on immigration whose district includes Silicon
Valley, says "there is a greater willingness to move forward on immigration
reform" (BusinessWeek.com, 9/11/07).

Outsourcing Abuses?
Radical options are on the table. One reform could be to ban outsourcing
companies from using temporary visas (BusinessWeek.com, 5/25/07), since the
firms have been accused of using the U.S. program to send American jobs
overseas. Another could be to eliminate temporary visas altogether and
allow high-skilled workers to come to the U.S. only on permanent green
cards. There's even talk of limiting visas to positions in which a
demonstrated shortage exists so the market isn't flooded with workers and
wages driven down. "The question is how the workers will be brought in,"
says Ron Hira, assistant professor, public policy at the Rochester
Institute of Technology. "Are we just increasing the supply of workers or
increasing a particular kind of supply?"

The distinction is crucial. While the political debate often seems like one
between those for and against immigrant workers, reality is much more
complicated. There is no single "tech job market," but rather a collection
of markets for workers with different kinds of skills. There may be
shortages for certain kinds of workers, but there are way too many with
other skills. For example, demand for network systems analysts, the people
who design and set up computer networks, is surging. But the number of
computer programming positions in the U.S. has tumbled 25% since 2000.

While the differences among tech workers are growing as jobs become more
specialized, public policy hasn't kept up. For one popular visa, known as
an H-1B, any worker from overseas with an undergraduate degree qualifies.
There's no need to try to hire an American first or demonstrate that such
workers are in short supply. In addition, the visas are doled out to the
first companies that ask for them, not those most important to the U.S.
economy.

Questionable Searches
The loose criteria have opened the door to potential problems. Earlier this
year, senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) launched an
investigation (BusinessWeek.com, 5/15/07) into how companies have been
using the H-1B program for temporary visas. They disclosed that the most
active users of the visas are Indian outsourcing companies, led by Infosys
Technologies (INFY) and Wipro (WIT). The senators said the visas were being
used not to make the U.S. more competitive but to save money by hiring
cheaper workers from abroad and to facilitate the outsourcing of jobs to
other countries. Grassley cited the "high amount of fraud and abuse" in
launching the investigation. Wipro and Infosys say they are simply helping
their clients become more competitive and have done nothing wrong.

In June, a startling video leaked out. It showed a corporate law firm
coaching employers (BusinessWeek.com, 6/22/07) on how to get around the
requirement of trying to hire an American before bringing in a worker from
abroad for a green card. "[O]ur goal is clearly not to find a qualified and
interested U.S. worker," said the firm's director of marketing in the clip.


Such cases are taken by American tech workers as confirmation of their
worst fears. In Seattle, Sawade thinks many employers he talks to don't
really want American workers; they just want cheaper labor from abroad. "It
seems companies are going through the motions so they can be free to hire
guest workers," he says.

Where Are the Jobs?
From the outside, it would seem tech workers should have little trouble
finding jobs. The unemployment rate for computer and mathematics-related
work occupations has dropped steadily, from 5.4% in second quarter of 2002
to the 1.8% in the second quarter, according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. The total number of such jobs is higher than at any point in
the last seven years.

The type of jobs being created, however, is shifting dramatically. As more
technical jobs like programming are outsourced, new opportunities in the
U.S. require additional or more specialized skills. The biggest job gains
in information technology in the past year have been for software
engineers, IT managers, and network systems analysts. IT management jobs
are up more than 50% since 2001. Meanwhile, programmers and support
specialists -- the easiest categories to outsource -- continue to shed
positions. Computer programmer employment tumbled to 396,020 last year,
from 530,730 in 2000.

The result is that even as some are thriving, other U.S. tech workers are
falling behind. The mean salary for computer and mathematics-related jobs
was $69,240 last year, or $850 per year less than in 2000 adjusted for
inflation. Tech worker advocates and some economists say the reason for the
stagnation is that U.S. tech companies have been able to manipulate the
labor market by bringing in guest workers. "Employers are asking the
government to intervene in the labor market to ensure they have a steady
supply of cheap workers," says Marcus Courtney, co-founder and president of
WashTech, a Seattle-based union with 1,500 members. "This is not about a
labor shortage -- it's about political power."

Shortages Worsen
Microsoft's Schofield says that such assertions simply don't make sense.
The company has one of the largest stashes of cash in the world and gushes
profits every quarter. Saving a few thousand dollars in salary is much less
important than finding the next hotshot techie who can help dream up a new
billion-dollar business. Microsoft is one of the most active American
companies in the H-1B visa program, receiving 3,117 certifications in
fiscal year 2006. But Schofield says that H-1B workers are on the same pay
scale as U.S. workers. Government records show that the median salary for
Microsoft's H-1B workers was $82,500, typically at or above the prevailing
wage for similar positions.

In the U.S., Microsoft is currently seeking employees in five main areas:
software development engineers, who design complex software; research
software development engineers, who research advanced software design and
theory; software architects, who design large-scale projects at the highest
levels; program managers, who develop software and lead teams of engineers,
and localization software engineers, who customize software for foreign
languages.

Schofield is concerned that if Congress does not offer relief by raising
the annual cap on H-1B visas and boosting the number of green cards,
Microsoft will have to source more employees overseas. Microsoft, along
with Intel (INTC), Texas Instruments (TXN), Motorola (MOT), and others, has
been pushing for the H-1B cap to be raised from the current 65,000 a year
to at least 115,000.

Schofield feels the shortages may get worse. Statistics show declining
interest in tech degrees at all levels, and he is worried the hunt for
talent will only get harder. In math, science, and engineering, for
example, 50% or more of the post-graduate degrees at U.S. universities are
now awarded to foreign nationals. "Enrollment in computer science and
engineering is dropping like a rock," says Schofield. "There is already
huge competition for people with really deep skills, and it will only get
worse."

Change Needed
In addition to advocating for more visas and green cards, Microsoft is
trying to boost enrollment in computer degree programs and help U.S.
midcareer workers update their skills. Schofield says Microsoft
representatives, including Gates himself, are visiting high schools and
colleges in an attempt to dispel three myths: that offshoring means the
future for tech work is bleak, that tech jobs are mundane and not "cool,"
and that there is little opportunity left to innovate in computer science.
"We're sending the message that this is a vibrant industry doing creative
things," says Schofield. "Exciting things are happening, and individuals
can have a real, lasting impact."

Critics say the emphasis should be on public policy changes, not public
relations. "The presumption is that American students are irrational, and
that they are leaving great opportunities on the table," says Hira. "I find
that hard to believe. Is there a shortage of investment bankers? No,
because they are paid a lot of money. Wages do matter."

As advocates and politicians take up the issue of immigration reform for
high-skill workers, the one thing that Schofield and Sawade can agree on is
that the current situation needs to change. The question now is what
additional common ground can be found between them.

Herbst is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com in New York .

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