American high-tech workers see threat

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | June 22, 2003 | JULIA MALONE

[sarcasm]

WASHINGTON -- Already short on jobs, some American high-tech workers are mobilizing against a growing threat that they will be replaced by foreign workers arriving on a once-obscure visa.

Across the country, U.S. workers who once protested that H-1b visa holders were displacing them are now focusing on the growing use of the less-restrictive L-1 visa to bring bargain-priced foreign labor to major corporations.

Even in the sinking U.S. job market after the high-tech bubble went bust, the number of L-1 visas has risen and is now estimated at 325,000 temporary workers, who are allowed to stay between five and seven years.

The most controversial of those visas go to a handful of consulting firms based in India, where high-tech workers are plentiful, English is spoken and salary expectations are low. Once transferred here, these L-1 employees are contracted out to run computer operations for dozens of major companies.

Many multinational companies argue that they depend on the L-1 to bring new technologies and new operations to the United States. Among those who have "outsourcing" contracts are Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and Siemens Industries, in addition to state operations in New Mexico, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

As the Indian companies expand to new clients, they are leaving a trail of layoffs and increasingly vocal U.S. workers.

Software engineer Judy Shaw learned late last month that her entire unit of more than 30 workers at Cutler-Hammer, a Pittsburgh division of Cleveland-based Eaton Corp., was to be terminated by year's end.

The company announced that Tata Consultancy Services, one of the largest of the Indian companies operating here, would be taking over her team's projects. A senior company executive announced the contract, adding that it would save $1 million a year, Shaw said.

Gary Klasen, a spokesman for Eaton, said last week that hiring Tata was based on more than money. "I'm not speaking about cheaper labor," he said. "I'm speaking about an overall goal to remain competitive in quality, cost and technology."

Klasen said that Eaton was rehiring some of the high-tech workers for other posts "if their skills and capabilities match the jobs that are available."

Shaw was not among the few who qualified. And experiencing her second layoff in as many years has spurred her into activism.

"I am newly naturalized" as an American citizen, said Shaw, who was born in the Philippines and who now telecommutes from her home in Justin, Texas. "Now that I have a voice, I'm going to speak up."

She is among a growing number of high-tech workers who are telling their stories on Internet sites, knocking on congressional doors, organizing groups and planning demonstrations.

Glenn R. Jackson, a laid-off tech worker from Dawson, Ga., last week launched the Internet-based National Association for the Employment of Americans, with partners on both coasts, to build a grass-roots campaign against work visa programs.

"A lot of people are individually impacted but not organized enough to put pressure on the powers that be," said Jackson, who spent 20 years in information technology before being laid off more a year and a half ago by the Siemens Energy and Automation facility in Alpharetta.

Since then, Jackson has been contacting fellow tech workers, chiefly via the Internet, helping to circulate petitions and sending information to legislators.

Message received

The message is beginning to be heard in the nation's capital.

Prompted by workers laid off by a Siemens facility at Lake Mary in his Florida district, Rep. John Mica concluded that the expanded use of the L-1 "was a gray area of law," his spokesman Gary Burns said. Mica, a Republican, became the first lawmaker to introduce legislation aimed at curbing the L-1.

Rep. Rosa L. DeLaro, a Democrat whose state of Connecticut has been a target for foreign outsourcers, followed last week by announcing that she will offer a bill, as well.

Also last week, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, announced he would hold a hearing this summer "so that we can better understand both the many concerns about misuse of the L-1 visa as well as the legitimate, important role the L-1 visa can play in promoting American businesses in our global economy."

Although Chambliss stopped short of saying the law should be rewritten, a fellow Georgia Republican, Rep. Nathan Deal, said Congress should close "a big loophole" in the L-1 program.

The Homeland Security Department, which oversees work visas, has ordered a probe into whether bringing in high-tech workers to provide basic services for other corporations is an abuse of the L-1 program -- originally designed to allow international companies to bring their top managers and a few company experts to assist their U.S. divisions.

"My understanding of L-1 is that no, that is not a legitimate use" if the workers are outsourced to another company, said Christopher Bentley, a spokesman for the department's Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Further, Bentley said, the L-1 visa holder must be an intracompany transfer of a worker with "special knowledge" of the company's products, management or procedures. "We're not talking about people who are just Microsoft Windows experts," he said.

For employers, the L-1 has growing appeal because it is far less regulated than the H-1b worker visa, which requires certification that American workers will not be displaced as well as pay that matches the prevailing wage. Moreover, the number of H-1b visas per year is capped. Starting next October, the limit for H-1bs will go down from 195,000 to 65,000 annually.

L-1 visas have none of those restrictions and no cap.

Girish Surendran, resident manager of immigration and human resources for Tata, or TCS as the company's American division is called, defended his company's use of the L-1.

"It's a misconception is that TCS contracts employees to other companies or to third parties," he said. "When we go to a total outsourcing contract with any company ... the company has selected us to do the job because of the expertise that TCS carries with us."

Clinton a backer

Tata, which has more than 50 offices in the United States, also has a key supporter in Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), who claimed credit for encouraging the company to open an office in Buffalo. Asked about the company's practice of replacing U.S. workers, Clinton's office provided statements from the company promising to provide jobs in the Buffalo region.

Although the Tata executive declined to say how many L-1 visa holders are on its payroll, two other Indian outsourcing companies report increasing use of the visa in filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Infosys Technologies Ltd. said it had 1,760 L-1 visa holders, up from 425 in March 1999. Wipro Ltd. said it has 1,150 workers with L-1s now, compared with 321 two years ago.

The tech contractors appeared to have little support from Daryl Buffenstein, an Atlanta immigration lawyer who is also general counsel for the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

"No one should defend the use of the L-1 visa as a job shop," he said. "If that's being done, then that is hurting everybody."

However, Buffenstein also said immigration lawyers were "working very, very hard to make sure that whatever happens" to the L-1 visa, "it doesn't throw the baby out with the bath water."

Buffenstein says foreign companies in Georgia, for example, have brought an estimated $19 billion in manufacturing and facilities investments that have transformed Atlanta into an international city.

"The story of the L-1 in Georgia is one of investment, one of jobs, one of employment, one of money," he said. "It's a story of how this state has built itself into a haven for international companies."

These companies have brought in only a "tiny percentage" of foreign workers, while hiring thousands of Georgians, he said.

[skinkinthegrass]

Maybe if more mobilize we can get something done. I note Tata Consulting is a proud contributor to Hillary Clinton. The fact that Rosa DeLauro is vocalizing support for curbing the L1's...Either the Republicans start getting on board to enforce the immigration law or the Democrats will pound them with this issue.

Lets look @ the whole picture...employment, tax climate, envirowacko laws, local PC-Nazis and the failing Education system/NEA?...ALL must be anddressed, The US, while free for now...must continue to fight the Clintonc'RATs on all fronts...TATA bribed $hrillary & La Ro$a...they WERE off-shore corporations seeking favors/protection

[Alouette]

Even more of a threat is the movement to offshore programming powerhouses like WiPro from India.

I found these recruitment ads at careerbuilder.com

IT Consulting Sales Person needed in the midwest

IT Consulting Sales Person needed in the midwest

Company:	CyberCoders
Location:	US-MI-Detroit
Base Pay:	$70,000 - $150,000/Year
Employee Type:	Full-Time Employee
Industry:	Other Great Industries

Job Type:	Information Technology
Required Education:	Contact Company
Required Experience:	At Least 3 Years
Required Travel:	Negligible
Relocation Covered:	No

Description

IT Consulting Sales Professional

With shortage of IT professionals, the industry has been moving towards outsourcing IT projects and some have started offshore projects in places like India. If you want to be part of the action and sell this type of solution, this might just be the opportunity that you are looking for.

There are multiple openings available in Cleveland, Louisville, Indiana, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Chicago and Detroit. You will be based out of your home with a home office fully set up.

Responsibilities:
Sell customized software development and implementation projects, e-commerce solutions, onsite consulting services, and offshore IT projects.

Musts:
At least 2 years of experience selling consulting projects, staff augmentation and/or solution selling AND NOT as part of product selling.
Demonstrated successful track record within your territory.
Good work history (ie no job hopping)
Aggressive, go-getter.
Experience selling on behalf of a mid-size consulting firm would be ideal.

Plus:
Offshore project selling experience would be a plus.

If you are qualified for this position, please click on apply or email your resume with salary history to:

Please click one of the options below:

'Send Email Now' to send your resume in Word format or
'Apply Online' to apply directly on our website



Relevant careers: IT Consulting, IT Consulting Sales, Solution Sales, Outsourcing Sales, IT Sales, Staff augmentation sales

Requirements

IT consulting, staff augmentation, solution selling, outsourcing

Contact Information

Company:		CyberCoders
Contact:		Linda Lee
Email:		Send Email Now
Phone:		Not Available
Fax:		Not Available
Ref ID:		LL-salesconsult

Business Development Manager - Automotive Industry

Company:	Wipro Technologies
Location:	US-MI-Detroit
Base Pay:	$80,000 - $90,000/Year
Bonus:	$50,000
Other:	401K,Medical,Dental,Vision,Life,AD&D
Employee Type:	Full-Time Employee
Industry:	Automotive - Motor Vehicles - Parts Computer Software Sales - Marketing

Job Type:	Business Development Information Technology
Required Education:	4 Year Degree
Required Experience:	More than 5 Years
Required Travel:	Road Warrior
Relocation Covered:	No

Description

Wipro Technologies (www.wipro.com) is the global technology services division of Wipro Limited. (NYSE:WIT). For the last two decades, we have successfully served the technology needs of more than 300 customers from diverse industries and locations. We believe we are best defined by our people - talented, enthusiastic and driven. Today, we have a team of over 18000 committed people from different managerial and engineering backgrounds. Working in 30 offices around the world, they use powerful technologies to provide services for business transformation and product realization as well as complete solutions for the service provider market.

The Candidate will identify prospective clients for Software services in the Embedded systems & market and generate business from new accounts. Should be very well versed with cold calling, prospecting, and account mapping techniques. Will need to achieve revenue and contribution targets in the allocated territory. Primary responsibility will be to enhance Wipro's market share in the territory. Ensure customer satisfaction by co ordinating delivery & service quality norms with the backend folks.

---

CareerBuilder Related Terms: quota, selling, acct. exec., business to business, b2b, salesperson, salesman, account manager, account executive, selling, cold calling, inside sales, outside sales

Requirements

Sales experience in Product Engineering industry and a thorough understanding of Software services market in the mid west territory, with focus on the Engineering/R&D services. Have good networking with senior managers in the Embedded Industry, with knowledge of the market trends. Should have dealt/interacted with CTOs/ VPs of leading organizations and built rapport with them. Experience in Software contract negotiations is essential. Have a minimum of 12-15 years experience in selling Engineering and Product design services to companies in the following markets that we are addressing :

A. Automotive Industry: Selling into large OEM’s, Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers in the Automotive Value Chain. Good understanding of Automotive software Technologies and its applications eg Telematics, Body Electronics, Power Train, Safety Systems, etc..
B. Computing Platforms, System Software understanding is also a benefit
C. Storage Area Networks;
D. Embedded Systems, Semiconductor solutions, Multifunction Peripherals, Consumer electronics. Exposure and working knowledge of Set Top boxes, Access Devices like PDAs, Cell Phones, Cable Modems, Networking solutions will also be helpful.
E. Knowledge of VLSI design and ASIC design services will be helpful
F. Good understanding of the software development life cycle and basics software quality systems. Good understanding of Project Management issues. Have the ability to coordinate multiple solutions and interact with delivery to create a complete solution to customers.
G. Should have negotiated large deals in the software services area, with annual deal sizes of $5M to $10M million.

Contact Information

Company:		Wipro Technologies
Contact:		Sailesh Menezes
Email:		Send Email Now
Phone:		732-465-0410
Fax:		732-485-0420
Ref ID:		3025

---

Somebody is offering huge $$$$ to move American jobs offshore. Do these recruiters need a Freepin'?

[angkor]

That's not "huge $$$" for a decent IT sales rep. In fact it's low-to-median at best.

Still, I'd feel like an absolute schmuck running around the Midwest and trying to ship American jobs to India. Maybe a down-and-out former IT recruiter will be desperate enough to take it.

An interesting question is whether Wipro (and the other Indian outsourcers) will have to hire American sales reps to do their dirtywork here in the States. My company competes with a firm that is 100 percent H1-B on the development side, yet the maintain an American sales force and execs to interface with customers.

[harpseal]

Lets look @ the whole picture...employment, tax climate, envirowacko laws, local PC-Nazis and the failing Education system/NEA?...ALL must be anddressed, The US, while free for now...must continue to fight the Clintonc'RATs on all fronts...TATA bribed $hrillary & La Ro$a...they WERE off-shore corporations seeking favors/protection

I do realize the whole picture but I am for the present focusing my efforts on one aspect of the picture trying to get some positive movement. I am focused on a small part of the picture ie. destroying American jobs by means of subsidy and violation of existsing immigration laws. Is there more to do than this? Certainly.

However, these are IMHO the easiest sell on the political front and the way to get people on board for teh rest of what is necessary to restore the American economy to its pre-eminent status in the world.

[harpseal]

How many times in the past were these white collar types figuring the accounting benefits to move off shore?

Those accounting benefits may well evaporate without the US government full faith and credit guarantee they will not be wiped out by political risk of currency changes.

[Ciexyz]

I'm distressed to see the Pittsburgh connection in the above article. Jobs are scarce enuf in the Western PA tri-state area, we don't need outsourcing of the few good tech jobs that we have, esp. by our Demopuke state government.

This region is being touted as a developing new-tech economy. I've understood that the start-up tech companies, many of them spinoffs from our local universities, received tax breaks. But now it appears that it's time to outsource these jobs to foreign workers? An outrage!

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

So, the L-1 visa is a great way to train the foreign worker so that the job can then be offshored to that visa worker's home country.
As much as I would like to believe that offshoring will fail in the long run, I think that these U.S. Corporations will still find it cost effective for them. Of course, the negative ramifications for American and Americans are not the concern of these U.S. Corporations.
I posted this yesterday afternoon on another thread. Steve Farrell of NewsMax.com has an interesting reminder of the Boston Tea Party and how it applies today:
"Freedom, lest we forget, includes the liberty to say no to enemies, or to say yes to measures which would protect our liberty and our self sufficiency. If you are dependent on another, and that person hates you and is fixed in his determination to destroy you, how then are you free?"
http://www.newsmax.com/commentarchive.shtml?a=2000/4/11/095631

[harpseal]

This region is being touted as a developing new-tech economy. I've understood that the start-up tech companies, many of them spinoffs from our local universities, received tax breaks. But now it appears that it's time to outsource these jobs to foreign workers? An outrage!

One of many in the destruction of the American economy by corporate looters. To be honest I have a lot less anger at a welfare cheat who is feeding their drug habit than I do about a corporate exec manipulating government programs for his profit while sending his capital and jobs offshore to get enhanced tax breaks.

[harpseal]

This region is being touted as a developing new-tech economy. I've understood that the start-up tech companies, many of them spinoffs from our local universities, received tax breaks. But now it appears that it's time to outsource these jobs to foreign workers? An outrage!

One of many in the destruction of the American economy by corporate looters. To be honest I have a lot less anger at a welfare cheat who is feeding their drug habit than I do about a corporate exec manipulating government programs for his profit while sending his capital and jobs offshore to get enhanced tax breaks.

[Snuffington]

So, the L-1 visa is a great way to train the foreign worker so that the job can then be offshored to that visa worker's home country.

You got it. I was given an article from an Indian newspaper by a co-worker that made exactly that point. The political move to crack down on visas isn't saving American jobs so much as forcing them offshore entirely.

Of course, that's a short term thing, and I think cracking down on visas is essential right now.

As much as I would like to believe that offshoring will fail in the long run, I think that these U.S. Corporations will still find it cost effective for them.

Some of them will. Others are going to have a rude awakening. I'm watching the management in my company offshore jobs that will cause a tremendous quality and adaptability loss. And this is not a calculated risk on their part. They don't understand the work well enough to see it. That sort of thing is not likely to go well in the long run.

But you're also right. Some of this offshoring will probably work just fine. I still put great faith in the ability of American IT workers to win through competition. We just have to get our government to stop tying our hands behind our back.

[skinkinthegrass]

I do realize the whole picture but I am for the present focusing my efforts on one aspect of the picture trying to get some positive movement. I am focused on a small part of the picture ie. destroying American jobs by means of subsidy and violation of existsing immigration laws. Is there more to do than this? Certainly. However, these are IMHO the easiest sell on the political front and the way to get people on board for the rest of what is necessary to restore the American economy to its pre-eminent status in the world.

Oh!, I concur/agree...I was looking @ the total problem...not just one very important aspect of the looming problems...a dimishing middle/technical class...an over-reliance on government services... :|

[varon]

It is a scary time when corporations transcend nationality.

I can just see in the future where under UN sanctions global corporations will disregard national boundries and and sovereignty in quest for labor. Employees will be paid in UN Credits to be converted to local currency at prevailing exchange rates. National governments will be subservient to Global Corporations! One world government ruled by board of directors ;-)

[Mulder]

does this mean that these companies no longer care about building up the economies of the communities they locate in, ie the American cities they locate in, or are they no longer in any sense American?

Most of them don't consider themselves "American". They have no problems selling out their neighbors or even the Bill of Rights in order to save only a few dollars.

[Mulder]

It's time for Americans to begin focusing on that good old entrepeneurial spirit once again. Think about starting your own small bussiness.

The problem is that you now have a government which is the enemy of the American people.

They'll tax your small business and use the proceeds to reduce tariffs and bring in more foreign competition.

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

Here's the website for the organization, National Association for the Employment of Americans, mentioned in the above article:
http://www.naea.us/
And here's an article by Glenn R. Jackson (mentioned in the above article):
http://www.americanreformation.org/Articles/GlennJackson/GoldenParachutes.htm
I don't think this organization, NAEA, is demanding enough changes; maybe they see it as a good start.

[A. Pole]

With shortage of IT professionals, the industry has been moving towards outsourcing IT projects and some have started offshore projects in places like India. If you want to be part of the action and sell this type of solution, this might just be the opportunity that you are looking for.

"shortage of IT professionals"?

[Centurion2000]

Mind you, I think this trend is going to blow up in a lot of companies faces. They're losing a LOT of intellectual capital, and adding a lot of administrative/communication overhead where they've never had it before.

Just wait until one nation nationalizes all information industries and the information CONTENTS of those data centers.

How would America like to have tax forms and other credit and identity level information in the hands of say the Chicoms ?
Talk about a SERIOUS backlash.

Capital One once had an Indian call center and then closed it. The potential information risk/backlash was too much.

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

One more item of interest I found on an African-American website: http://www.blackmoney.com.

From the article:
[Paradoically, the rates are highest among African-Americans with the highest skill levels. An analysis of unemployment rates by race and industry shows rates above 15 percent in such fields as electronics manufacturing, telecommunications and computers.
A traditional explanation for the disparity in unemployment rates has been differing levels of education. However, it appears that immigration policy is playing a role as well. In the Pacific states, for the past four years, the number of African-American engineers has declined.
The area is home to companies that make extensive use of foreign guest worker programs for technology jobs such as Microsoft and Hewlett Packard.]

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

There's a big shortage of employed IT professionals, but plenty of unemployed ones.

[dark_lord]

"shortage of IT professionals"?

Shortage of people with less than 4 years of experience. Most laid off IT people have more than 4 years of experience. This is a bad thing. They might actually know how to get stuff done (and we don't want that.) A successful project is a bad project. We absolutely do not want to hire people who understand things like methodology (but their resume should list RUP). We do not want people who have worked through multiple projects where they delivered stuff (they're too OLD -- said in whining voice) but they better have SDLC on their resume. We don't want people who understand software architecture (but they better have WebSphere or WebLogic on their resume.) We don't want people who can actually gather software requirements and do high level design (but they should list UML and use cases on their resume.)

Heh heh. Actually it truly boggles my mind that the very people who can ensure that software projects are successful are exactly the same people that the corporations do not want to hire. It is as if they WANT TO FAIL!!!!