Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- With the recession hit in 2008, Congress put the idea of a "skills shortage" and a need for more H-1B visas in a closet. That didn't mean, though, that interest in raising the H-1B cap went away for everyone. New York City Mayor Bloomberg, for instance, last year called the limits on both temporary and permanent employment-based immigration a "form of national suicide." Microsoft has long advocated for more work visas. But the company's advocacy was quieted during the recession as well, as it announced in 2009 a layoff of 5,000 workers. Circumstances at Microsoft have since changed...

Image of federal government is at an all-time low ...

An interesting paradox in the technology world is that there is both a shortage and a surplus of engineers in the United States. Talk to those working at any Silicon Valley company, and they will tell you how hard it is to find qualified talent. But listen to the heart-wrenching stories of unemployed engineers, and you will realize that there are tens of thousands who can’t get jobs. What gives? The harsh reality is that in the tech world, companies prefer to hire young, inexperienced, engineers.And engineering is an “up or out” profession: you either move up the ladder or...

KYLE, S.D. (AP)--The Oglala Lakota Sioux were among the last tribes to battle the U.S. cavalry, and their vast Pine Ridge reservation was ground zero in the American Indian Movement's 1970s clashes with federal agents. But proud resistance to outsiders hasn't been good for business. Here in the Badlands, economic opportunity has been as barren as the flora-thin hills. Unemployment is near 80 percent. Substance abuse is rampant. Tradition-bound, the Lakota Sioux want to be close to family and resist leaving the reservation. Tribal and business leaders are hoping that in an increasingly globalized economy, where information-processing work can be...

Parasoft CEO Blames SoBig On Arrogant Software Industry Leadership August 22, 2003 (3:29 p.m. EST) By Keith Ferrell , TechWeb News Sharply criticizing complacency, arrogance and immaturity in software industry leadership, and blaming those qualities for the SoBig virus's successful march through the world's computers, Parasoft CEO Adam Kolawa delivered a rant Friday that included an offer to show the industry how to cure its errors. The head of the privately held software development solutions company said that the industry's policy of tackling program bugs at the latter stages of development cycles is self-defeating. By that point in the development...

STEPS were taken by a distributor for Apple Computers to ensure that Israeli-made parts do not enter Bahrain after an Israeli-made battery was discovered by a customer in an old Apple Computer model.Apple Centre manager Asif Mohammed Irfan said the battery powers the calendar and clock of an old Apple G4 model but added that he didn’t believe that it was sold in large numbers.“We were not aware that the computer contained anything made in Israel. We, in turn, informed our Dubai-based suppliers Arab Business Machines who were very displeased with the discovery,” he said.“They have taken up the matter...

An engineer by any other name Legislature to decide if computer programmers can legally use the title By R.G. RATCLIFFE Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau AUSTIN -- One of the oddest battles of the 78th Legislature is pitting Texas' licensed professional engineers against the high-tech industry's software dudes. At issue is just who in Texas can call himself an engineer. "It's one of the silliest issues we're having to deal with this session, but it's also one of the most important," said Steven Kester, legislative director of the American Electronics Association, an organization of computer companies. Texas has one...

Benjamin Curtis, the 22-year old actor who portrays the Dell Guy in those bothersome computer commercials, was arrested late last night (2/9) on a marijuana possession charge, The Smoking Gun has learned. According to cops, Curtis was holding a "small bag of marijuana" when he was popped on Manhattan's Lower East Side (at Ludlow and Rivington for you Gothamites). Curtis is currently being held in Central Booking and is scheduled to be arraigned later today in Manhattan Criminal Court. Curtis, who lives in lower Manhattan, was charged with criminal possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor. Bonnie Shumofsky, the actor's agent, said...

WASHINGTON -- There's no shortage of anecdotal reports from U.S. workers that the H-1B visa program is costing Americans jobs. But proving it has been elusive because companies don't disclose whom they hire or lay off.That's a problem facing the U.S. General Accounting Office as it embarks on a study to answer a question posed by two Democrats on the U.S. House Science Committee: Do companies show a preference for retaining H-1B workers, and if so, why? The GAO study, due out sometime next year, is expected to arrive during a congressional debate on whether the cap on the controversial...

Congress May Bear Brunt of H-1B Anger Grass-roots objections to visa program conflict with lobbyist efforts to raise cap By PATRICK THIBODEAU AUGUST 19, 2002WashingtonWhen IT companies announce layoffs, Rob Sanchez, an unemployed programmer who says he lost his job because of the H-1B visa program, usually sees a traffic spike from the downsizing company's domain on his Web site, Zazona.com. Sanchez says visitors to his Web site are checking to see if their company is using H-1B workers. Using federal Freedom of Information Act requests, Sanchez has built an online database of approximately 1.1 million "labor condition applications" that...

Report: Dot-com job cuts top 1,000 for second month By LINDA ROSENCRANCE AUGUST 27, 2002 Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas Inc. said dot-com job cuts exceeded 1,000 for the second month in a row. In August, dot-com companies announced plans to cut 1,193 jobs, just 557 fewer than the 1,750 cuts announced in July, according to Chicago-based Challenger, which tracks job cut announcements daily. Challenger said it was the first time this year that dot-com job cuts topped 1,000 for two consecutive months. Still, the August figure was 76% lower than the 4,899 job cuts recorded in the same...

Hard times Tech workers trying to find jobs face a bleak futureBy (April 29, 2002) In interviews, more than 50 CIOs, high-tech hiring managers, recruiters, consultants and out-of-work IT professionals in different regions of the country told the same story: Two years of heavy corporate merger activity followed by the dot-com bust and a general downturn in the economy have brutalized the IT job market, victimizing even veteran, highly skilled IT professionals. The result is the largest pool ever of unemployed computer specialists, who are alternately bewildered, angry and, increasingly, bitter. A harsh economy has forced many into lengthy unemployment,...