Foreigners Ramsack Job Market ~ U.S. Educational System A Failure
Hawkeye
U.S. companies flooded the government with visa applications for highly skilled foreign workers on Tuesday in what has become an annual lottery for just 65,000 visas.
The government did not release any figures, but experts said they expected about 200,000 applications, more than three times the number available, on the first day the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began accepting the petitions for the fiscal year starting October 1.
The U.S. government was overwhelmed last year with about 120,000 applications on the first day that applications were accepted for H-1B visas, leaving many candidates out of luck.
The competition is for H-1B visas, which allow U.S. companies to employ foreign guest workers in highly skilled jobs for three years. The visas can be extended for an additional three years.
"The people we've offered jobs to are really subject to the whims of a lottery," said Jack Krumholtz, managing director of federal government affairs for Microsoft Corp.
The USCIS closed the application window after two days and pooled the petitions, granting the visas by a computerized lottery system.
But tech companies say the demand shows the need for the industry to tap into foreign resources.
"This leaves Cisco and other U.S. companies at a competitive disadvantage if we cannot access the best and the brightest workers," said Heather Dickinson, a spokeswoman for network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc.
Companies who specialize in science, engineering and technology say the current system is a Catch 22: the United States is not producing enough homegrown job candidates and bars companies from bringing them in.
"Getting this right is important for the U.S. to maintain competitiveness," Krumholtz said. "It goes to our economic well-being."
The National Association of Manufacturers called for "a permanent fix" to address the need for highly skilled employees in manufacturing and other sectors.
There wasn't always such a mismatch in supply and demand. In 2000, the quota for H-1B visas was raised to 195,000 per year and was rarely reached, but when the tech boom collapsed, the quota was reduced to 65,000.
Technology companies have lobbied Congress to raise the quota but labor groups oppose a change, arguing that doing so would hurt U.S. employees' job prospects.
Krumholtz said roughly one-third of Microsoft's U.S.-based employees have required some form of visa assistance. Last year, Microsoft submitted about 1,200 applications for H-1B visas and was granted about 900, he said.
This year Microsoft is trying to improve its chances in the lottery by filing about 1,600 applications. "We've got between 3,000 and 4,000 core openings at Microsoft we're trying to find people for," Krumholtz said.
Microsoft's internal immigration staff expects it will "at best" get about 40 percent, or 640 visas, approved.
Bob Gaynor, a Boston-based attorney from specializes in immigration law, said his clients applying for H-1B visas this year are worried about their chances.
Gaynor, who represents dentists, intellectual property experts, engineers and accountants from India, Australia and Germany, among other countries, said he expected about 200,000 applications to flood the system on Tuesday.
"It's sad," Gaynor said. "These people really contribute to the business climate of the country."
(Additional reporting by Ritsuko Ando in New York, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
Access: Public
QaR
July 2008
you know, i don't think we are reading this article the same way… if companies felt that the quality available in the US was the same as what they are getting from overseas, they would hire locally. much easier in every way, no?
Nicole, I was told to my face by my manager that my company is in the process of handing over a large portion of my job to remote employees in India.
The only reason my job was still intact was hospitals need personal one on one guidance as well. That means that I will no longer work from home and be with family, but travel 100% of the time away from family…gone all week.
If they can get more of these visa apps into the borders of the country then I guess my job may be toast.
Oh, I read it loud and clear.
The bottom line is profit and you don't mean squat any longer. There's usually an added bonus for companies, they get to pay much less than they would otherwise the American employee counterparts. So basically, the Middle Class in this country is being systematically raped, blundered and dismantled by a rotten educational system and a greedy corporate culture thats backed up by the Government. Kiss the Middle Class good bye.
I'm just wondering how my kids are going to compete with all this foreign labor flooding in when they grow up. A career at McDonalds can't be all that bad at the grease pit serving fries to…that Indian guy bitching to her that the fries are too cold?
So whats new in corporate America? Moms apple pie?
i'm really sorry. that has got to hurt. however, not saying it's ok or anything, but there is a big difference between the drive to outsourcing, which goes on more and more because companies can save big bucks by paying third world salaries and lack of benefits that way, and what is being described in the article…
but i hear you and i can understand how difficult this must be for you.
“…the United States is not producing enough homegrown job candidates”
This is a direct quote from the article. This would support my claims of a “failed” educational system.
and
“Technology companies have lobbied Congress to raise the quota but labor groups oppose a change, arguing that doing so would hurt U.S. employees' job prospects.”
That would help support the other half of my point of job opportunties being taken from you. This also translates into “We don't want to train more expensive Americans who want benefits. We want the cheaper labor in India and they don't need benefits. We don't want to benefit the American people, we want to benefit our stockholders and our CEOs. Our lobbists will make sure they slip an extra $1,500,000 in the pockets of Congress to make sure it happens. Screw the American Middle Class.”
“There is no America now..we employ the World. Does that sound impressive? As far as income tax goes and how you are going to fund your crumbling infrastructure. Well, you'll have to work that out. Raise the taxes of those who still are lucky enough to be working who vote for you. Why should we care any longer? These Middle Class people you call Americans are no longer part of our economy as they once were, its a new brave world..of BIGGER profits!!! They do vote and keep you in office, but we can get around that too!”
With due respect to our Indian friends in the audience (and all other countries who are taking over American jobs either directly or indirectly), Globalization is great, but having governments and corporations literally take your career prospects away from you is not a pleasant prospect. I am sure if I went to India and starting taking Indian jobs from you it would not be tolerated. This “Green” of everyone having equal rights doesn't mean everyone has equal rights to take your job from you.
As far as my other comments. They come from actual experience, no some statistic. Read between the lines! The implications are enormous.
With due respect to all the Canadians in the audience, I have also been shoved aside for job opportunities by several Canadians who regularly cross the border to work in hospitals in NY, California, Pennsylvania…shall I go on?
Obviously if one is not affected by this issue you would have a more impartial view on it.
And of course if you are one who is benefiting from the dismantling of the AMERICAN middle class then you will have a smile on your face. Business has not changed at all in thousands of years. It's still dog eat dog.
i hear you, friend. of course, as a Canadian, yes, i do tend to see the US as a place of opportunity for so many bright and capable Canadians. But please understand it is very difficult for us as a country to deal with the “brain drain” of the best and the brightest being lured to the US by big bucks
OK, we'll trade : - ) I can hunt down a top position in Vancouver and displace some Canadian from their job. It might work out! This is one of the problems with globalization, its a warm fuzzy feeling that we are all one…until someone comes along with their fork and starts eating off your plate….and your childrens as well. Integral also means healthy boundaries. We still need boundaries even in utopia. But who defines them and for what purpose? Pretty sticky problem.
it's a really sticky one! and hey feel free to hunt down a top job in Vancouver! i'll be there in June for an international association regional meeting, we can have coffee!
laughing