[vox-tech] Re: vox-tech Digest, Vol 4, Issue 1

[Matthew Lange]

So much for Greenspan's assertion that education is the solution to our
employment woes.  The very jobs that require an education are being farmed
out, even as educated Americans continue to have a hard time finding work.
Mind you, I am speaking as someone whose 65 person internet application
development shop was just outsourced to India.  Nearly every person in our
shop had a B.S....and many had a Master's.

Keep in mind that the folks on H1-B are good fodder for the Corp.s because
they will work harder (for fear of being deported if terminated) for the
same salary.  Also, they are a natural gateway to the extremely cheap labor
overseas.

What to do, what to do?

The only thing that I can see as being our saving grace...especially in
California, is our ability to innovate.  It seems that we can do this faster
than just about anyone else on the planet.  In the IT world, it is our
greatest strength.

My 2 cents.

Matthew Lange
Infosoph.com
2610 Grambling Way STE A2
Davis, CA  95616
 
email:  infosophist at infosoph.com
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: vox-tech-bounces at lists.lugod.org
[mailto:vox-tech-bounces at lists.lugod.org] On Behalf Of Norm Matloff
Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2004 8:11 PM
To: vox-tech at lists.lugod.org
Subject: [vox-tech] Re: vox-tech Digest, Vol 4, Issue 1

 
> Microsoft is a big H1B company.  But they REALLY pay their H1B people
well.
> Take a look at the Microsoft H1B jobs:
 
>
http://www.h1b.info/lca_job_list.php?name=MICROSOFT+CORP&employer=microsofty
ear=2003

 
>    Application Platform Solution Sales Specialist
 
> Carla Weitkamp is being paid $100,000.  I would gladly do her job for half
> that amount.

Ms. Weitkamp is apparently the attorney handling Microsoft's H-1B
paperwork.  She is not the worker here.

Concerning the salary, that may be less than they pay U.S. citizens and
permanent residents for the same job and same qualifications.  E.g. if
the worker, say, has an in with the government of China, he/she'd be
worth a lot more than $100K, and thus would still be underpaid.  There
may be an American, say a naturalized citizen originally from China, who
has good connections in China too, but Microsoft may have to pay that
person much more.  In other words, one cannot say that the only abuses
are the ones paying $22/hr.

Another issue is that sometimes an H-1B is hired out of pure nepotism.
A worker may be the manager's brother-in-law, for instance, and no one
would know.  This is quite common, and was cited in a Dept. of Labor
audit of the H-1B program some years ago.

Needless to say, Pete, I agree with your general point.  But don't
expect any solutions any time soon.  Both major parties have basically
called for an *increase* in the yearly H-1B cap, believe it or not.  If
even 10,000 programmers and engineers--i.e. a tiny percentage of the
profession--were to flood Congress and the White House with calls on
this issue, things would be very different.  But this profession has
some of the most apathetic and anti-activist people around.

Norm

_______________________________________________
vox-tech mailing list
vox-tech at lists.lugod.org
http://lists.lugod.org/mailman/listinfo/vox-tech