Free Republic

A major problem with the H-1B debate is the absence of displaced IT workers in news media accounts. Much of the reporting is one-sided -- and there's a reason for this. An IT worker who is fired because he or she has been replaced by a foreign, visa-holding employee of an offshore outsourcing firm will sign a severance agreement. This severance agreement will likely include a non-disparagement clause that will make the fired worker extremely cautious about what they say on Facebook, let alone to the media. On-the-record interviews with displaced workers are difficult to get. While a restrictive severance...

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...

The technology industry, an engine of innovation and U.S. prosperity for more than half a century, is accelerating its recovery from the recession with surging earnings that have spurred companies to sharply ramp up their hiring. The latest evidence for the rebound came Thursday, when Internet giant Google Inc. posted a 37% profit jump for the first quarter and chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. reported a 34% revenue increase to record levels. The results follow the strong showing of bellwether Intel Corp., which Tuesday announced quarterly profit that nearly quadrupled on a 44% jump in sales. The trio of...

Intel Israel general manager Maxine Fassberg: We want to build the next 22-nanometer fab in Israel, at an investment of $2.7 billion. ntel Israel Ltd. posted $3.4 billion in sales in 2009, 145% more than in 2008, as the company's Fab 28 in Kiryat Gat entered full production. Intel Israel general manager Maxine Fassberg said, "2009 exceeded all our expectations. We brought the Kiryat Gat fab to peak production capacity." Over the past decade, Intel Israel had $17.5 billion in exports. Intel Corporation (Nasdaq: INTC) invested $7.3 billion in Israel over the same period, including $3.3 billion in Fab 28....

Israeli venture capital revived in 2004. Ernst and Young and VentureOne: $1.2 billion was invested in 179 companies in 2004. Batya Feldman 24 Jan 05 11:27Ernst and Young and VentureOne, a unit of DowJones Newswires, published their Quarterly Venture Capital Report for the US and Israeli venture capital industries last Friday. Although the fourth quarter of 2004 was fairly weak, the reports' figures reflect optimism. After three consecutive years of decline, venture capital investment in the US rose in 2004. $20.4 billion was invested in 2,067 companies, compared with $18.9 billion invested in 2003. The figures for Israel reflect...

<p>Silicon Valley tech stocks led the surging market today, as the Nasdaq ended May with its fourth straight monthly gain in a row -- something it hasn't done since the bubble days of late 1999.</p> <p>The latest boost to the two-month-long rally came from a report that business expanded in the Midwest in May. This gave investors hope that the manufacturing economy may be turning around from its prolonged slump.</p>

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASETuesday, September 24, 2002Simon Says State Must Re-Energize Tech Sector to Jump-Start Economy SUNNYVALE - Continuing to focus on solutions for California's sagging economy, gubernatorial nominee Bill Simon today visited the Silicon Valley, Ground Zero of the dot-com revolution, where he said re-energizing California's economy will depend heavily on re-energizing California's tech sector. "The tech industry represents the very best of what California has to offer," Simon said in a speech to the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group. "It has been at the heart of the an economic boom in our economy over the past decade - an economic...