Goodbye American Information Technology Worker

organizationsandsocialchange ^ | 4/26/2020 | An American IT worker

[Manuel OKelley]

I don’t go around calling people food for alternative opinions, secondly our company is owned and run by Indians who made the investment built the company and expanded to the US

Secondly, even with immediately impacted revenues they have taken better care of their US based employees than just about any company I know of with zero layoffs or pay reductions

I’m all for cutting down on imported labor but these are good people who are skilled, hard working, and innovators—the things more US companies should strive to be

[Alberta's Child]

Uh — whut?

I’d be fine if the H1B program was canceled tomorrow. What the hell are you talking about?

[Manuel OKelley]

And also, they have given away with no expectation of recompense millions in product and services the last two months to healthcare and other critical infrastructure organizations in need, including services not related to our line of business

As our CEO put it “it won’t matter if if anyway if the economy dies” and is doing everything possible to keep businesses alive

[Golden Eagle]

If he’s open to living anywhere, what about the placement service at the University, have they not been able to find jobs for any of their graduates in his field?

I have a similar background and had to move furniture for 3 months, at the destination city where I wanted to live, before I found a job that actually matched my degree.

[NobleFree]

BTW, a link that works is https://organizationsandsocialchange.wordpress.com/2016/02/29/will-u-s-tech-jobs-turn-all-indian-the-h1b-visa-dilemma/comment-page-2/#comment-4052

[Golden Eagle]

My first job that actually used my EE degree was found by hand delivering resumes in an industrial park. The company that hired me said they never advertised because they either hired someone that an existing employee referred, or someone from another company they met while conducting business. Probably many companies that operate that way, and they would only ever advertise if desperate, and need specific rare experience.

[central_va]

If President Trump came out against H-1Bs, especially at this time of high unemployment, his election would be guaranteed.

Hear hear!!!

[CodeToad]

“per Boeing. “

So the fox guarding the hen house is asked why there are missing chickens. Got it.

[sergeantdave]

Would hiring a person to develop and maintain a Wordpress website be found in the IT field? Do these people work as independent contractors? If so, where can this person be found?

Just curious.

[rockrr]

That’s interesting and atypical to my experience. I got caught up in the dot-com bust of 2000 and was out of work for over a year. In addition to responding to advertisements I did a lot of cold calls, thinking that I might strike gold where no one else was mining. Zero luck in that strategy. I ultimately answered an ad that parlayed into a 16 year career (when I retired).

[1Old Pro]

Industries change, employment patterns change, everything changes.

That said, we need an America first policy from manufacturing to farming to technology to finance.

[rockrr]

Yeah, I even went to NERC and asked “How can this be right?” and was told that there were no specific prohibitions against it - with an attitude suggesting that I was some sort of bigot for even mentioning it.

[bobcat62]

Here’s why:

A bus stop near Microsoft: https://twitter.com/pddhappy/status/1178734953246289920

Walmart: https://twitter.com/s1s1b1/status/1109459333023174656

The state of the Seattle Tech job market: https://twitter.com/h1bexposed/status/1253911259919122432

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Your son should get a Google Voice line for his resume. The line is free & will help filter calls from bottom-feeding Desi staffing firms.

As someone suggested here, your son may want to post his resume as a graphic image. Makes it harder for Desi recruiters to steal the resume & stick an potential H1B’s name on it.

US staffing firms will be of little help in finding employment.

As an experiment, you son should repost his resume on the job boards, but change his last name to “Reddy.” See what happens.

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You can have a look at the startup layoff list here -> https://layoffs.fyi/tracker

Over 30,000 jobs gone. With more layoff information added daily.

Your son and his engineering friends should try and come up with their own product. Tech hiring for the remainder of 2020 is done.

[bobcat62]

I’ve heard the siren’s call of cybersecurity elsewhere.

There was an article in the Wall Street Journal about cybersecurity jobs a few days ago.

A former co-worker attended a cybersecurity conference where one of the sessions was state & federal officials lamenting they couldn’t fill their cybersecurity openings, since industry was stealing their workers.

Good luck finding those openings. They don’t exist.

[RetiredScientist]

You understand reality. Highly compensated employees are always scrutinized, especially when the corporate executives need to cut costs to make the quarterly reports satisfy share holders. I dealt with budget cuts by moving the software I needed to Open Source packages. My management appreciated the cost savings and it also let me make customized image analysis pipelines. Training budgets were very low, so I used Coursera and similar platforms to gain the skills I needed.

Our company had many rounds of job cuts, sometimes two rounds in a calendar year. Fallout from those usually impacts productivity of those who remain and need to step up and assume additional responsibility. I made it 37 years, finally laid off along with most of my highly-compensated coworkers when senior management cut 70% of the Research Laboratory staff. Getting laid off wasn't fun, but I was happy to walk away with a severance package. I talk occasionally with a few friends who are still there. Things are worse for them and all are building their nest eggs so they can retire and live on their pensions, savings, and investment.

My family always lived below our means. We followed the approach of financial writers like Dave Ramsey and Larry Burkett before him. We started by saving an emergency fund that would support us for 6 months. We saved for retirement. We generally went camping for a vacation. We managed to save enough to help get our two children through state universities.

The key to processing such a situation is to be thankful for what you have, work together as a family to control expenses, and find whatever joy you can in the work you do.

[Mariner]

“How does one transition to this? “

First, don’t listen to the CS professor.
Second, start the Cisco curriculum of self study.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/training-events/training-certifications/certifications.html

Expect to put more time and effort into a CCIE cert than you would into a BSEE. And far less money.

Just an entry level CCNA cert gets you employed at $30/hr +.

And never, ever think it’s going to be easy.

[bobcat62]

You hit a key point.

I know one of the Disney IT employees that got outsourced. As he told me: “You have to operate under the assumption your position will be outsourced to India tomorrow morning.”

It’s dumb to invest in a degree or additional thousands in additional certification training if all you’ll be doing is training your H1B replacement.

[grey_whiskers]

FReepmail.

And thanks.

[Mariner]

At a very large chip manufacturer I once contracted to, the world wide head of Networks (bigger budget than most corps) once told me that his initial CCNA was worth more to him than his CS degree from USC.

The CCNA got him a job. The CS degree did not.

[taxcontrol]

I am confused by your last comment in your response. Are you asserting that cybersecurity jobs dont exist?