Posted on 10/02/2012 7:20:23 AM PDT by knittnmom
WASHINGTON -- With the recession hit in 2008, Congress put the idea of a "skills shortage" and a need for more H-1B visas in a closet.
That didn't mean, though, that interest in raising the H-1B cap went away for everyone.
New York City Mayor Bloomberg, for instance, last year called the limits on both temporary and permanent employment-based immigration a "form of national suicide."
Microsoft has long advocated for more work visas. But the company's advocacy was quieted during the recession as well, as it announced in 2009 a layoff of 5,000 workers.
Circumstances at Microsoft have since changed for the better.
Microsoft said Thursday that it has some 6,000 open positions in the U.S., and is creating new jobs faster than it can fill them. The company is now using its own workforce needs to make a case for a new type of H-1B visa as well as a permanent employment visa.
(Excerpt) Read more at networkworld.com ...
How about increasing your wages and expaning in more cities aholes.
MS should put a bunch of scholarships out there, and then maybe more graduates will appear.
Microsoft is lying its a** off when it says it can’t fill positions with Americans. Filling a position with an H1B employee allows a company to trap an employee in the position while and until all H1B conditions are met. I’ve seen many employees get stuck in bad situations in this condition. My company does this intentionally also.
There are enough Americans easily available to do these jobs. The problem from the company’s perspective is that American’s won’t take the crap that comes along with the position, the crap being that you’re competing with slave labor companies in China that drive you out of the market.
I do not often propose areas in which the federal government should become more active, but I think we might consider taking federal funds for college loans (do we need more Women’s Studies majors?) and shift that money over to corporate subsidies for companies that bring back On The Job training. You don’t need H1-Bs and not everyone needs a college degree. Just hire some eighteen-year-olds, and teach them a trade.
$10,000?
How about 1/2 of the salary over 7 year green card period in escrow? If Green card isn’t awarded, escrow gets forfeited.
Lumpy, cynical, middle-aged, white software veterans aren’t willing to work 70 hours a week for $45,000/year the way young, single Indian nationals are, and thus represent a poor economic value for Microsoft when the global labor arbitrage is taken into consideration. Microsoft’s threat is, “Hey, at least the H1B’s are doing the work here and paying US taxes...but we can do this in Bangalore, if you really, really want us to.” And government is likely to fall for that argument.
Bringing people in to do work that Americans won’t do is a big mistake.
Uhuh.
How’come the Billy and Milly Gates Foundation has done such a crappy job of elevating the qualifications of American graduates?
Or is it just that H1B imports with their feet dangling over the caste system back home make for better, more obedient, McTech$laves?
What happened to Microshaft outsourcing its brainpower from Pashtukistan?
Wow, with more and more options everyday in computers. Why buy Microsoft products?
Their the #3 IT company now (in size) behind Apple and Google. They will never catch up.
Microsoft, Oracle, Sun, and other hi tech companies created the shortage of American hi tech employees by getting the Clintoon administration to raise the H1-B limits in the 1990’s and deflating the salaries of existing American hi tech workers and contractors. When the salaries plummetted, the college students studying computer science switched majors to something more lucrative.
They don’t need to hire middle aged. I like ClearCase_guy’s idea better, hire our American youngsters and teach them a trade. It’s a better long term investment.
Seems like the saying today is “American’s need not apply” with corporate interest and their connection to our Outstanding Leader.
Thirty years in software consulting leads me to this point.
Yes, it is more difficult to re-train software folks. However, proficiency in a software program is akin to a religion. What I know is better than anything someone else knows. “
“Give me more time and budget and I can solve the problem with 1) COBOL, 2) C++ FORTRAN 3)Etc. , Boss.”
The “bitter clingers /S” hold to their skills even as the world moves on
Between Outsourcing, Insourcing and immigration, everything possible is being done to lower the wages of Americans.
Then they wonder why the economy is so bad and they can’t collect enough taxes to fund Government. Idiots.
Yeah, I don’t think there is a shortage of American tech workers in the United States.
That’s a big lie in the Tech industry. It’s much more profitable to hire an Indian worker and pay them a meager salary than paying an American a 6 figure income.
Never understood that as new languages are easier to use. I used to be a C++ guy, now I do all my coding in C#. Much easier.
The nadir for programming languages was Ada. Worst language ever.
That’s great. You should be proud.
If more software folks were like you, I would have had much less business!
Nobody believes in training any longer. Nobody.
That’s probably why they can’t fill openings.No one wants to charge overhead...the bean counters figure it’s better to hire foreigners for cheaper. Everyone knows no one has experience right out of school but it’s still cheaper to hire a bunch of people at lower wages, figuring on some of them becoming valuable, than spend money on training. Put them on contract money, then after the contract, if they are any good, keep them, if not, lay them off.
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