As Economy Slumps, Firms Line Up to Hire Skilled Foreign Workers

Foxs News ^ | March 19, 2009 | Hadley Gamble

[PreciousLiberty]

This is a ridiculous practice, which is mostly used to lower the cost of labor here in the states. There is a real need for probably 10% of these numbers for very specialized technical positions (not, for instance, general C++/Java programming).

It's no coincidence that since the Clinton years when these visas were increased dramatically, IT salaries have been quite flat. They should have been terminated after 2000 and the bursting of the 'dot com bubble', but no.

It's more than time to get rid of them now. We need a parallel effort to get our educational system up to snuff.

[avacado]

Under Clinton the quota got up to 195,000 per year and then under Bush around 2003 they reduced it back down to 65,000 per year. Given that the visas are for 6 years, than means at 195,000 per year, at any one time there can be 195,000 x 6 = 1,117,000 jobs NOT going to American workers.

[Pessimist]

I’ve worked with some of these guys, and I’m not impressed.

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

Could it have something to do with the fact that American colleges waste their time on nonsense courses, like Critical Wymyn’s studies and Institutionalized Racism, and Indoctrination to Communism 101?

[skeeter]

The line between criminal government bureaucrats and criminal corporate executives is becoming increasingly blurry, to me anyway.

[KoRn]

This makes my blood boil.

[heiss]

We have 10 million unemployed and people are complaining about 65,000 visas?

Just to remind people that >50% of high-tech startups are launched by H1 holders (like google etc) and they are employing a lot of people (including US citizens). Similarly, of the US patent applications filed by US companies, >25% are filed by foreign visa holders.

Net benefit to US economy is gigantic.

Yes, I know everybody here is super top performer and could have easily established google, yahoo and filed dozens of patent applications if only they have had been given the opportunity..

This is the mood in the party of Reagan? No country has even become wealthy by embracing protectionism and socialism.

[dawn53]

Not necessarily so. I know of two students, one is a Georgia Tech engineering student with one semester left, the other a young (20 year old) graduate student in Business. Both are trying to find a summer internship, and both are finding that many of the programs and jobs available last summer are not out there this summer. Many firms have cancelled their summer internship programs. These two kids are excellent students, have high GPAs and didn’t take fluff courses. The job market is tough, and hiring foreigners will make it tougher.

[huldah1776]

Not only the colleges, the public school system is producing have fun kids. Reaping what is sown.

[AreaMan]

But companies have traditionally argued that recruiting foreign talent is necessary to remaining competitive in a global economy.

"...argued that the recruiting of cheaper foreign talent is necessary..."

Also, many, if not all, of the people these companies seek to hire would be in the U.S. already if it were not for the MILLIONS of uneducated, pregnant and poor standing in line waiting to get in and the MILLIONS more that jump ahead of those by just waltzing in illegally.

[Fee]

“No country has even become wealthy by embracing protectionism and socialism.”

Ever read about the history of silk and how China protected its secret to enjoy over 500 years of properity and power????

[mysterio]

Could it have something to do with the fact that American colleges waste their time on nonsense courses, like Critical Wymyn’s studies and Institutionalized Racism, and Indoctrination to Communism 101?

No. It's about paying lower wages.

[Fee]

In addition, advocating policies that unemploy American workers for lower salaried foreign workers (overseas or H-1B/H-2B) cost the GOP in 2006, 2008 and keep it up 2010.

[heiss]

Good luck with protecting secrets today (e.g. search algorithms), and keep in mind that foreigners invent more stuff than the US today (in terms of intellectual property etc).

If google (or any other large company) needs, say C++ architect, it hires the best talent it can find, regardless of race, gender or nationality. If the person is a foreigner and cannot get visa, then person is just placed in google’s non-US site. This is how most companies operate (both US and foreign companies). At least my company wants to make hiring decisions on its own. If Obama administration tries to interfere and force us to hire somebody we didn’t select ourselves, we just place that person elsewhere.

Government interference in company policies is something I deplore and I can’t understand why anyone in the Party of Reagan would support such. This will only lead to further government regulation, like increased race and gender quotas.

[algernonpj]

“Could it have something to do with the fact that American colleges waste their time on nonsense courses, like Critical Wymyn’s studies and Institutionalized Racism, and Indoctrination to Communism 101?

No. It’s about paying lower wages.”

The numbers of H-1B’s has no relation to job growth:
www.cis.org/articles/2008/back708.pdf

H-1B’s are not necessarily the brightest and the best:
www.cis.org/articles/2008/back508.pdf

Using H-1B’s is a form of rampant age discrimination, 35+ is considered too old to hire:
http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~matloff/itaa.html

We graduate more engineering and it professionals than we have jobs for.

H-1B visas are used to harm American workers:
http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters13e8

[dr_who]

Efficiency improvements are what get economies out of recessions. Companies can hire talent for less money and make cheaper products in a tight market, or they can gradually lay-off their more expensive, less productive talent. It’s been pointed out that hiring a lot of these foreign nationals can result in more jobs. The US is no longer the center of the universe. If we can’t attract the best people from all over the world to participate in our markets, our country will continue to decline. Same goes for a lot of export laws that are no longer in touch with reality and are hurting our competitiveness.

[Steelfish]

Foreign immigration from India, and the Middle-East is what has ruined our nation. Once we lose our Judeo-Christian cultural heritage all is lost. Read Buchanan’s “Death of the West” These hi-tech companies executives should be stripped naked, horsewhipped, and dragged down main street.

[algernonpj]

And that does not include ‘exempt employers’ such as colleges
and some research facilities.

[heiss]

“No. It’s about paying lower wages.””

This is for the most part, BS. I suppose misuse is always possible, but major companies pay the same for local and H1 talent. In fact, they pay more to H1 holders (relocation packages, tax support etc).

I deal with these issues everyday. We have probably 1,000 H1 holders in our company. They get paid more than average (probably because they tend to be in more senior/specialized positions - ie top-5 MBA and grad school in the world).

Take away 50% of US high-tech startups and 25% of patent applications filed by US companies and think what would be the result for US economy.

By your logic, Detroit is the right way to run business: High government regulation and interference.

I’m all for eliminating illegal immigration once and for all, but attacking 65,000 legal visitor positions is just lunatic.