Posted on 05/16/2003 4:49:38 AM PDT by harpseal
The job market for tech graduates is tight and getting tighter. People with years of technical experience are working at flipping burgers and saying “Welcome to Wal-Mart.” Outsourcing every corporate function except senior management to low wage nations such as India and China has become the latest fashion in the executive suites. There are many reasons why this has become the fad du jour but if the USA is to remain a livable nation it is time for Government policy to change in order to maintain the American economy. Those technical jobs that remain inside the USA are being given to low cost “Guest Workers” under the H1B program or if companies have gotten squeezed by the minor contraction of the H1B program they bring in people under the L1 visa program. In the interim totally qualified Americans are pounding the pavement looking for these same jobs. The means to maintain the American economy as the engine that drives the world are there but there are some government policies that must be changed. I am proposing a ten point program that will put the American economy in the front again.
First, and foremost the H1B visa program should be eliminated today. ALL H1B VISA SHOULD BE ENDED TODAY AND THOSE PEOPLE IN THIS NATION ON THAT PROGRAM SHOULD BE ON THE NEXT FLIGHT OUT OF THE USA. If this causes a hardship for some companies, oh well, the H1B program was based on the supposition there were NO Americans who could do the job. So they lied and they should pay a price for their misrepresentation.
Second, the cost of outsourcing should reflect its true cost to these companies. Revise the tax code so that the investment tax credit does not cover any development done outside the USA unless such development can not be done inside the USA. Fraud in such certification should be considered a felony and prosecuted.
Third, get rid of section 1706 of the IRS code that made it almost impossible for the independent IT consultants to do business directly with companies.
Fourth, the temporary visas for engineers coming into the USA to learn what the jobs of current IT workers are should not be granted.
Fifth, simplify the tax and regulatory environment so that contractors can be employed more readily. (See comments on section 1706).
Sixth, tighten the L1 visa program so that it is not used as way around the H1B program. In short no L1 visas will be issued to facilitate moving American jobs offshore.
Seventh, prosecute anyone who has certified falsely that they were unable to find American workers for a job when all they were doing was trying to save money by bringing in H1B low wage guest workers. A few felony convictions in this realm will do wonders for stopping future false certifications.
Eighth, repeal all government subsidies for foreign investment, and institute tariffs against those nations which only will purchase American products if we build facilities in their nations. Such restrictions by foreign nations are an infringement on the free market and must be fought. More factories in China will do nothing to improve the American economic condition. Now even Mexico is feeling the pinch the investment by American firms in the People’s Republic of China. In short access to the American Market should be dependant upon free access of American firms to the market in other nations. If guest workers from a nation are to be allowed in the USA then Americans must be allowed to work in that nation.
Ninth, the American system of higher education should be focused on Americans first and foremost. If foreign students wish to come to the USA to study that is fine if there is space available, but only on a space available basis. Priority must go to those students who will be graduating as American citizens and the public funding of higher education should not be expended on students from other nations who seek to come here study and take the knowledge back to another nation to compete with the USA.
Tenth, we as a nation must revise our overall tax and regulatory environment. We must get away from the soak the rich formulas. We must no longer have the legal system seek to micro manage every action of every person. Rule of law is important but the law should not concern itself with trivialities. We need to restore balance in our tax laws and regulatory system.
These ten points are based on come very sound principles and are a natural conservative agenda in my opinion. They are based on controlling our borders. They are based on not subsidizing foreign nationals at the expense of the basics of American citizens. They are based on demanding free markets from our competitors. They are based on returning sanity to our tax and regulatory systems. They are based on demanding responsibility and truth from our nation’s companies in their dealings with our immigration policies. They are based on holding companies accountable for their actions.
No, none of this is a giveaway program. They are not based upon taking away a free market but rather on expanding a free market. India and China in fact the entire world has a sound basis to become sound stable and prosperous economies at present. The USA should not experience deflation and depression to subsidize these nations.
The political implications of the above proposals should be clear to everyone. Advocacy of these proposals would appeal to a broad cross section of the American electorate. They could be enough to insure a long term governing plurality for the political party that adopted them. It is my hope that the Republican Party will take them to heart.
Now that's something I can agree with. The only future for displaced IT workers is to show the kind of imagination you mentioned. The problem is, technical expertise and innovation do not necessarily go hand in glove.
As Wilhelm Roepke pointed out, in order for a society to be stable, a worker should be a property owner (say, owner of a house and a garden,) otherwise the workers have nothing to lose and go Communist. It may happen in the world you described.
Suppose you do want to seek legal redress? Let's take a look at the problems:
(1) Try finding a lawyer to take this on continency. Good luck. They want money up front and by the hour. But you are unemployed, right? And what is going to be your payoff? This is not like a personal injury suit.
(2) If you win, what do you get? A job with the prospective employer you just sued and won? Oh, that'll be great. Talk about a hostile work environment.
(3) And how do you prove your case? Most corporations aren't hiring H-1Bs directly. No, the H-1Bs work for body shops (mainly Indian) who then make the workers available for contracts. The corporations have figured out is cheaper to hire workers on 3 to 6 month contracts rather than as full time employees. Try basing your case on saying that they should hire you instead of contractors. Good luck.
Legal redress is useless -- for the most part, everything being done is legal (for the American companies.) For those Indian bodyshops, they have all kinds of legal violations, but you don't have "standing" to make a case against them. The government does (specifically the Labor department) but does not seem interested.
Labor attorneys will work on contingency, especially if the prospects of a solid win are good. Absent that, there are several non-profits (including the AFL-CIO) that would be willing to take a legitimate case pro bono. See below for what the attorney can get in a contingency arrangement
(2) If you win, what do you get? A job with the prospective employer you just sued and won? Oh, that'll be great. Talk about a hostile work environment.
More than likely, the award would be the offer of a job as well as lost wages and opportunity costs for the wronged citizen. The plaintiff could likely argue that a hostile work environment would work against the judgement, and a typical award in lieu of employment would be 5,000 hours of wages, on top of those lost.
(3) And how do you prove your case? Most corporations aren't hiring H-1Bs directly. No, the H-1Bs work for body shops (mainly Indian) who then make the workers available for contracts. The corporations have figured out is cheaper to hire workers on 3 to 6 month contracts rather than as full time employees. Try basing your case on saying that they should hire you instead of contractors. Good luck.
The H1B holder is either a regular, full-time employee of the American corporation, or they are not employed in the U.S. Your scenario may be valid, but it is not described in accurate terms.
On the contrary, it is completely accurate. The way it works is this. A company (call it "Indian Consulting") hires H-1Bs. Thus they are full time employees -- of "Indian Consulting" -- which operates in the US as as US based corporation.
Other American corporations then post contract jobs where they need someone for 3 to 6 months as an hourly contractor. The contract is offered to "Indian Consulting", which then staffs one of their H-1Bs on the jobs. The American corporation has clean hands, legally -- the H-1B is not their employee at all. But once on the job they can continue to extend the contract, continuously, even for different work. This process is called "change orders". So they can in effect have someone who works for them for years, just like an employee would, but who is technically not their employee, but is rather an employee of "Indian Consulting".
However, the contract may be for $50/hour to "Indian Consulting", which then pays their H-1B employee an hourly wage as a "W-2" (not 1099). If for any 2 to 4 week period that H-1B cannot "get staffed" on a contract -- back to India they go. Cost to American corporation -- $100K per year; but they pay no Social Security, no health benefits, no 401K, no bonuses, no fringe benefits whatsoever, plus they can dump the person at any time and either ask for a replacement or simply terminate the contract. This is good business for the American corporation. No HR problems. No worries about being sued for any reason if they want to get rid of the contractor.
"Indian Consulting" violates a bunch of laws -- just spend some time talking with the H-1Bs. Mainly, they lie to the US consulate about having jobs lined up "that no American is qualified to do". They lie to the H-1Bs to get them on board. They pay them late -- sometimes 12 weeks in arrears. They make them take mandatory "training" and then deduct the cost from their salaries. All kinds of stuff -- these H-1Bs are taken advantage of in so many ways. Yet each one of them takes a job away from an American because no matter how low the American is willing to go for the job in salary, "Indian Consulting" can beat the cost. And remember -- the American corporation using the services of "Indian Consulting" likes it because they have a flexible labor pool. Need 10 people tomorrow? Just pick up the phone, no interviewing required, no paperwork at all. Need to lay off 30 people for a month to make the quarterly budget? Just pick up the phone, and whoosh -- tomorrow 30 less bodies show up.
Look on the bright side at all the industrial pollution that will eliminate in the USA. Now, that should make someone happy, at least ;-)
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Being a nurse requires some considerable sacrifices. Nursing staffs need to be there 24 hours a day seven days a week. There are some not inconsiderable risks in the profession including such things as an accidental needle stick (see HIV and many other diseases). That requires compensation.
The starting salary for an associate at a top law firm is six figures for someone just out of school. I ahve heard many argue that Chelsea Clinton getting a starting salary of six figures is reasonable. Some teachers in CT make over $75,000/year.
With nursing one is talking of a hard dangerous job that requires education and training the pay should be commensurate with the demands. It is probable that the attorney for your operation makes more than any nurse employed there. That may or may not accurately reflect what the free market for wages would reflect. One may also be certain that the MD's attending the patients make much more than the nurses. Usually MD's have better hours and working conditions. Nurses need malpractice insurance and continuing education. That will tend to increase the cost of employing a nurse.
The unreasonable health care regulations are the big problem here and that is where your focus should be not on maintaining a harmful program such as H1B for other than a very very short term amelioration of a longer term problem.
and bush's plan may also help corporate profits in the short term, due to much lower labor costs, less business expenses, less regulation in china and india, cheaper building rent, no epa regulations, etc.
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