IP: re U.S. Tech Firms Abusing Visa Program

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: "jcphome" <jcp () jcphome com>
> To: <farber () cis upenn edu>
>
> Absolutely correct.  A company I used to work for had something like 30%
> H-1Bs at the end of last year.  This program is abused like heck here in the
> Valley.  It was understandable when the unemployment rate was negative and
> you couldnt get people other than H-1s (who didnt care about the cost of
> housing) to move here, but it should be stopped now.  Given the number of
> highly qualified people I know who've been laid off and are having problems
> finding anything, its amazing any of these petitions are still being
> approved except in really special cases.
>
> There *is* a way to fight this however:
>
>     Part of the H1b process is advertising the job.    This is called "Labor
> Market Qualification" and you have to do it for F-1 (student work) visas as
> well now.  The scam here is that they put little tiny ads in the San Jose
> Mercury News with almost all the words abbreviated and in the smallest type
> they can find.  Any resumes that appear in response to such an ad must be
> "disqualified" and the INS apparently has access to this paperwork.  I
> remember doing this a few times when I worked at Oracle (not the company I
> mentioned above, although Oracle has a lot of H-1bs)
>
> So, what everyone who's out of work should do is *answer every one* of those
> ads that they're even remotely qualified (or overqualified) for.  You'll
> make so much work for these companies, and leave such a long paper trail,
> that eventually this program will be more trouble than its worth.  (keep a
> record of which ads you respond to, and *follow up on the phone* with the HR
> department of the company involved.  The ads have code numbers on them which
> you should note down.)
>
> You MIGHT get a job this way (we hired a couple people who did this
> persistently at Oracle.  If an employer can show they hired a respondent for
> a different position, that gets them off the hook as well).  You'll very
> likely get an interview and that's hard these days.
>
> Make them explain why you werent qualified for the job if they say that.
> Prefereably in writing.  If they wont put it in writing, write down the name
> of the person you're talking to, and the time and date and a summary of the
> conversation.  Keep records.  Just doing this makes it much harder for
> companines to give away jobs that should be going to people already here.
>
> The important thing to remember is that they MUST disqualify you on some
> rational basis.  And you're likely dealing with an HR flack, not a hiring
> manager.  The hiring manager already knows who they want to hire and hopes
> there wont be any resumes to respond to.
>
> I think you can probably also file a complaint with the INS about a company
> that persistently wont hire you.  You could certainly send a stack of
> documentation to your Congressman and they'd likely be interested.
>
> Always be polite.   Don't threaten anyone, don't accuse them of being
> unAmerican or anything like that.  Just stick to the facts and write stuff
> down.  You *may* end up working at one of these companies...
>
> If I end up layed off again (could be the 3rd time in a year...), I may do
> some of this myself...
>
> Best regards,
>   -jcp-
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
> To: ip-sub-1 () majordomo pobox com <ip-sub-1 () majordomo pobox com>
> Date: Wednesday, November 21, 2001 4:00 AM
> Subject: IP: L.A. Times - U.S. Tech Firms Abusing Visa Program
>
>
> >
> >>Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2001 03:54:18 -0500
> >>From: Tom Rombouts <rombouts () compuserve com>
> >>
> >>Hi Dave -
> >>
> >>FYI, this is from today's L.A. Times  I have copied in the entire article
> >>for your convenience.
> >>
> >>Tom Rombouts, Torrance, CA
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>November 21, 2001
> >>
> >>From:  http://www.latimes.com/business/la-112101visa.story
> >>
> >>U.S. Tech Firms Abusing Visa Program, Critics Say
> >>
> >>By JUBE SHIVER Jr. , Times Staff Writer
> >>
> >>WASHINGTON -- Amid a massive wave of tech layoffs, U.S. firms obtained
> >>government approval to bring in a record 163,200 foreign workers under a
> >>controversial program that critics say is being abused to hire cheaper
> >>overseas talent.
> >>
> >>Although the number of visas approved under the H-1B program fell short of
> >>the 195,000 allowed annually, the hiring binge in the fiscal year that
> >>ended Sept. 30 has caused a furor in an industry that has experienced more
> >>than 600,000 layoffs over the last 10 months.
> >>
> >>"At a time when hundreds of thousands of Americans are out of work, many
> >>employers are rubbing salt in the wound by hiring foreign workers," said
> >>Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration
> >>Reform, a Washington group that has long sought to curtail immigration to
> >>the United States.
> >>
> >>The record applications for foreign workers--the majority of whom take
> jobs
> >>in the high-tech industry--come more than a year after Silicon Valley
> >>mounted a multimillion-dollar lobbying effort to persuade Congress to
> >>expand the program to satisfy skyrocketing demand for highly skilled
> >>workers.
> >>
> >>Executives from companies such as Sun Microsystems Inc., Intel Corp. and
> >>Motorola Inc. successfully argued that if the "new economy" were to
> >>continue to boom, it was crucial for the government to admit more
> engineers
> >>and other skilled workers.
> >>
> >>But by the time Congress raised the H-1B visa limits from 115,000 to
> >>195,000 in October 2000, the tech boom was already waning.
> >>
> >>Industry officials say they are eager to hire Americans. But they contend
> >>that even with this year's layoffs, the number of U.S. workers with
> >>technical skills isn't large enough to fill all the job vacancies.
> >>
> >>"The dot-com boom may be over but we are still in the middle of a skills
> >>shortage," said Theresa Cardinal Brown, manager of labor and immigration
> >>policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington. "Every organization
> >>in the country has a need for information technology workers," including
> >>those in areas "that are still growing, like manufacturing, finance and
> >>health care."
> >>
> >>The surge in worker visas over the last 12 months is due in part to
> pent-up
> >>demand for engineers of all types as U.S. colleges and universities have
> >>graduated fewer than needed. In addition, companies rushed to hire more
> >>foreigners last year before a $500 visa application fee increase was
> >>imposed by the INS in December 2000.
> >>
> >>Murali Krishna Devarakonda, a software engineer and board member of the
> >>Immigrants Support Network, a Budd Lake, N.J.-based group that assists
> H-1B
> >>visa holders, said the INS' statistics are misleading.
> >>
> >>He said the INS data indicate only the number of approved visa
> >>applications, not the number of foreign workers who actually come to the
> >>U.S. He also speculated that "most of the petitions were filed before this
> >>economic slump started."
> >>
> >>But demand for visa applications has remained robust through the economic
> >>downturn. Besides the surge of applications this summer, the INS still has
> >>29,000 pending applications that it has shifted into the current fiscal
> >>year.
> >>
> >>Daniel M. Larson, director of government relations for Texas Instruments
> >>Inc., where H-1B workers number 800 and make up about 3% of the work
> force,
> >>said the market for electrical engineers is still extremely competitive.
> >>
> >>"We are dependent on H-1B workers and consider them a valuable part of our
> >>company," said Larson, whose company has laid off 2,500 workers in the
> last
> >>year. He did not have figures on whether any H-1B workers were part of the
> >>layoffs.
> >>
> >>For some technology workers laid low by the economic slump, the
> >>explanations provide little consolation.
> >>
> >>"The level of anger over this program in the technology industry just
> keeps
> >>rising," said John Miano, chairman of the Programmer's Guild, a Summit,
> >>N.J., trade group that represents software engineers.
> >>
> >>Gene Nelson, a divorced father of two, alleged that most of the H-1B visa
> >>holders working at Boston-based Genuity Inc. kept their positions this
> >>summer when he and 500 workers lost their jobs at the Internet
> >>infrastructure services provider.
> >>
> >>"Big companies basically want a work force of independent contractors . .
> .
> >>they can pay low wages to," said Nelson, who made $49,000 a year. If it
> >>weren't for the H-1B program, Nelson said, he would still "have a job and
> >>be making more money."
> >>
> >>Genuity did not return calls seeking comment.
> >>
> >>The rancor has spilled over to Congress, where at least one lawmaker has
> >>introduced legislation that would scale back the controversial program.
> >>
> >>The H-1B visa program was created by the Immigration Act of 1990. It
> >>allowed companies to hire foreign workers with hard-to-find technical
> >>skills. Roughly 60% of H-1B visa holders are in computer programming and
> >>other information technology fields, according to a report released last
> >>year by the General Accounting Office.
> >>
> >>Workers are supposed to earn the same salary and benefits as their
> >>American-born counterparts.
> >>
> >>Amid the tight job market, there are concerns about abuses of the H-1B
> visa
> >>holders themselves. A few immigrants have begun campaigning for reform of
> >>the program, citing instances of employers paying low wages and
> threatening
> >>to seek the deportation of foreign workers who complain.
> >>
> >>The GAO--which found that foreigners were offered a median starting salary
> >>of $45,000 last year--said there is little policing of the H-1B program by
> >>the INS.
> >>
> >>Devarakonda, of the Immigrants Support Network, agreed with the GAO's
> >>assessment. "The current system is certainly flawed," he said. "The
> >>government doesn't have the resources to police" H-1B.
> >>
> >>
> >>[ end - TWR ]
> >
> >
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> >http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
> >


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