Posted on 01/26/2009 9:51:00 AM PST by Sub-Driver
It´s none of the government´s business who Microsoft hires and fires (assuming it was done legally to begin with).
Remember, the H-1B visa program was about jobs looking for workers, not workers looking for jobs. If the job disappears, the worker goes home. The worker should not be allowed to look for another job. They were brought over in the first place by the hiring company that stipulated that they couldn't find the skilled worker anywhere else. When the work goes away, the worker goes home.
-PJ
You make a fair point: though a suggestion from a Senator (especially in the current political climate, which is one that von Mises would recognize) might carry an implicit threat down the road.
Thank you for the excellent reply about H-1B visas. There certainly is a excellent case for preferentially laying off the Visas before homegrown staff.
I would say however that not all developers (or other technical staff) are created equal. Any company must be able to run itself as a meritocracy, retaining the “better/faster/cheaper” and divesting itself of merely political hires. In this regard, pressuring Msoft to preferentially get rid of its visa-staff might be a form of affirmative action.
A lot depends on the contractual underpinning of the H1-B visa, frankly not something I know much about.
You know how that works in practice, don't you?
They (not just Microsoft; it's ubiquitous) set outrageously and arbitrarily high qualifications for Americans, then, when no American can meet those qualifications, they hire an Indian contractor for 1/4th the price who meets none of those qualifications.
There are actually cases where companies have been caught demanding "2 years of on the job experience with X", when X has only been on the market for 6 months! (IOW: The only people who could meet the stated qualifications were people who had actually helped to develop X.)
“My question is: “Why wasn’t that a REQUIREMENT by law in the act that let all these foreign “guest workers” in the Country?”
Of course, exactly right and proper! Good on Senator Grassley.
Some leeway should be given for allowing Msft to maintain exceptional H1B talent but all things being more or less equal, keep the US citizens in their jobs and send the foreigners home.
Good luck, Americans! I really doubt Katie will have the American workers displaced by the H1Bers on the CBS Evening News. Fox News and some internet sites will pay attention to your plight but don’t expect the socialist-lusting pressies to give a damn.
Oh gosh if were going that far, lets ask them to lay off the Dumbs first then the foreigners. Amen. LOL
“A prominent Republican Senator has some controversial suggestions for Microsoft on its job cuts”
Controversial?
This is how far we’ve sunk...when common sense fairness is called ‘controversial’
“Microsoft should lay off whomever they like. The Senator is way out of line.”
Back it up. Are you willing to give up your job for a foreign national? You’ve got all the rino’s and democrats on your side now you want to shut up one of the few conservatives left?
Evidently! And if Microsoft can’t make it in this country without cheap foreign labor it’s time they went down without the government propping them up.
“It´s none of the government´s business who Microsoft hires and fires (assuming it was done legally to begin with).”
To follow your thinking, it is NOT the government’s place to create law to bring in foreign nationals in the first place , is it?
I’d like it if Microsoft simply ceased to exist. The nation’s productivity would measurably rise immediately following the complete erasing of that abortion called “windows” - all rotten versions of it.
I’d like it if Microsoft simply ceased to exist. The nation’s productivity would measurably rise immediately following the complete erasing of that abortion called “windows” - all rotten versions of it.
“To follow your thinking, it is NOT the government’s place to create law to bring in foreign nationals in the first place , is it?”
It should be the government´s job to deal with visas. It shouldn´t be their job to actively bring in foreigners.
I think the congressman used the words “similarly qualified” in the article.
Microsoft was allowed to hire H1B foreigners under the pretense that they required a massive amount of skilled labor that the US job market couldn’t provide. They obviously don’t have that great a need if they’re laying off, so the first to go should be the H1Bs. The government has a say because the government granted the H1Bs.
You're right that Microsoft shouldn't be targeted alone. IBM is neck-deep in this too. This should be part of the H1B laws to cover everybody.
I remember an ad for a Java developer around 1997 that said eight years experience required. Even James Gosling couldn’t have met the criteria.
Not true. In order to be "allowed" to import an H1-B guy, theoretically there has to be a shortage of American labor available to do the work. Therefore, to NOT lay off the H1-B's first is to admit they were lying about the availability of US labor (or at least that it would be untrue at today's demand levels).
The issuance of an H1-B visa is essentially a waiver of normal immigration procedures to allow a company to fill positions when not enough Americans are available. This is obviously not true when reducing staffing levels.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.