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Microsoft Supports Plan for Undocumented Immigrants
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| Microsoft sent a letter to two U.S. senators in support of a bill that would
| allow some undocumented immigrant students to become permanent U.S. residents
| if they go to college.
|
| The letter is part of an ongoing initiative at the company to encourage new
| regulations that will allow more foreign workers into the U.S.
|
| Sent to Senator Richard Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, and Senator Richard
| Lugar, a Republican from Indiana, the letter backs a bill they introduced
| called the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act.
`----
http://www.cio.com/article/488788/Microsoft_Supports_Plan_for_Undocumented_Immigrants
Recent:
H-1B Visa Season Is Here
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| The company's stance has attracted heat from critics of the H-1B program,
| especially as Microsoft announced it would lay off some U.S. workers. But on
| Mar. 31, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith continued to advocate for more
| skilled immigration, posting a blog item outlining the company's views on
| H-1B visas. "While the number of visa holders is very small compared to the
| U.S. workforce, their contribution is huge," Smith wrote. "For example, last
| year 35% of Microsoft's patent applications in the U.S. came from new
| inventions by visa and green card holders."
|
| Microsoft Defends the Program
|
| "The future success of Microsoft and every other U.S. technology company
| depends on our ability to recruit the world's best talent," adds
| Smith. "While the vast majority of Microsoft's U.S. workforce is American,
| Microsoft hires foreign workers to bring specially needed skill sets to our
| U.S. operations and to fill roles when qualified American workers are not
| available."
|
| Oracle's Hoffman agrees. He says the debate over H-1B visas is misguided
| because visa holders complement the U.S. workforce, rather than supplant
| it. "The H-1B workforce is a highly skilled workforce and one that
| contributes to the…development of new, innovative businesses in this
| country."
`----
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/mar2009/db20090331_388163.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_top+stories
A tech labor shortage myth? Exploring the H-1B visa debate
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| Labor leaders and some experts contend that the high-tech labor shortage is a
| myth.
|
| "The industry claim to need H-1Bs to remedy a labor shortage is false. Their
| claim that the H-1Bs are 'the best and the brightest,' needed to keep
| American firms innovative, is also false in the vast majority of cases.
| Instead, the employers' goal is use H-1Bs as a source of cheap labor," writes
| Norman Matloff, a computer science professor at University of California,
| Davis, in a 2007 report.
`----
http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/archives/165656.asp?source=rss
Related:
Microsoft faces more heat over foreign workers and layoff plans
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| In many ways, this is no surprise. Microsoft has lobbied for years to relax
| the restrictions on the program, letting more foreign workers participate.
| But the timing in relation to the layoffs is raising eyebrows among some of
| its critics.
`----
http://www.techflash.com/microsoft/More_heat_for_Microsoft_over_H-1B_Visas_and_layoffs38824482.html
Microsoft Layoff Sparks H-1B Debate
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| Layoff announcements by IT vendors came fast and furious over the past two
| weeks. But it was Microsoft Corp.'s that drew the attention of a U.S.
| senator, who said it was "imperative" that the company give job priority to
| U.S. citizens over foreigners with H-1B visas.
`----
http://www.pcworld.com/article/158759/microsoft_layoff_h1b.html?tk=rss_news
Report Says Nonprofits Sold Influence to Abramoff
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| E-mails released by the committee show that Abramoff, often
| with the knowledge of the groups' leaders, exploited the tax-exempt
| status and leveraged the stature of the organizations to build
| support among conservatives for legislation or government action
| sought by clients including Microsoft Corp., mutual fund company
| DH2 Inc., Primedia Inc.'s Channel One Network, and Brown-Forman,
| maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey.
`----
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101200889.html
http://tinyurl.com/y2rbpu
Microsoft layoffs have minimal impact in China; no immediate cuts in India
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| Roughly 40 percent of Microsoft's 96,000 employees work outside the United
| States. The company has subsidiaries in countries from Albania to Zimbabwe.
| How are the layoffs announced last week impacting Microsoft's employees
| around the globe?
|
| [...]
|
| The Economic Times, part of Indiatimes, quoted a Microsoft spokesperson in
| New Delhi last week saying of the layoff, "It's not going to impact us. No
| job cuts in India."
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http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/techtracks/2009/01/27/microsoft_layoffs_have_minimal_impact_in_china_no.html
S'pore spared from Microsoft job cuts
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| 'I can confirm that the number of employees affected by the immediate job
| eliminations is a single-digit number across Asia-Pacific, excluding China,
| India and Japan,' a company spokeswoman told BizIT.
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http://business.asiaone.com/Business/News/Office/Story/A1Story20090128-117699.html
Boise workers to be affected by Microsoft job cuts
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| The company would not disclose an exact number of layoffs in Boise, but
| sources said the local impact would be less than a dozen jobs.
`----
http://www.idahobusiness.net/archive.htm/2009/01/27/Boise-workers-to-be-affected-by-Microsoft-job-cuts
Senator Wants Microsoft Job Cuts to Target Foreigners
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kit-eaton/technomix/senator-tells-microsoft-its-job-cuts-should-target-foreigners
Senator Quizzes Microsoft On Layoffs
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/01/senator_quizes.html
Senator Questions Microsoft's H-1B Plans
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Senator-Questions-Microsofts-H1B-Plans/
Fire foreign workers first: Rep Sen to Microsoft
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| Majority of the 60,000 professionals given H-1B visa every year are from
| India.
|
| "Microsoft has a moral obligation to protect these American workers by
| putting them first during these difficult economic times," the Senator said.
`----
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/fire-foreign-workers-first-rep-sen-to-microsoft/415082/
Microsoft's H-1B Visa Controversy
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| It was only last March that Bill Gates himself argued to Congress that the
| H-1B visa limits needed to be lifted, because Microsoft just couldn't get
| enough skilled workers. But Microsoft was going through a crazy manic phase
| back then, as evidenced by its Yahoo infatuation. Now that Microsoft needs
| fewer skilled workers, should the H-1Bs get the ax first?
`----
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/01/microsofts_h1b.html
Microsoft Job Cuts, Visas Questioned by Senator
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Microsoft-Job-Cuts-Visas-Questioned-by-Senator/
Open source developers face H1-B visa puzzle
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| Many very capable open source developers don’t have a college degree and the
| program does not easily accommodate them.
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http://www.linuxworld.com/news/2007/082007-open-source-h1-b.html
Bill Gates to address Senate panel
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| Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is scheduled to descend on Capitol Hill
| next week to pepper a U.S. Senate committee with his suggestions for
| boosting American competitiveness.
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http://news.com.com/2061-10796_3-6163930.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
Study: There Is No Shortage of U.S. Engineers
,----[ Quote ]
| ...a new study from Duke University calls this argument bunk, stating
| that there is no shortage of engineers in the United States, and
| that offshoring is all about cost savings.
`----
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2111347,00.asp
Is There a Shortage of U.S. Tech Workers?
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| Speaking before a Senate committee earlier this month, Gates said
| that America is facing a critical shortage of tech workers. He
| recommended boosting the number of H-1B visas to allow more foreign
| tech workers into the U.S.
|
| [...]
|
| "I think that has created an environment where the population of advanced
| skill workers has shrunk a lot in the U.S., because we just haven't created
| a fair system," he says. "Where if you go to other countries, you'll find
| national policy around broadband deployment, which creates a much more even
| playing field for people of all income levels to learn by and work by."
|
| "We did it to ourselves," he says.
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http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/career/article.php/3667376
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