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H-1B Visa Season Is Here
,----[ Quote ]
| 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
"Bill Gates looks at everything as something that should be his. He acts in any
way he can to make it his. It can be an idea, market share, or a contract.
There is not an ounce of conscientiousness or compassion in him. The notion of
fairness means nothing to him. The only thing he understands is leverage."
--Philippe Kahn
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
,----[ Quote ]
| 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
,----[ Quote ]
| 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
,----[ Quote ]
| 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."
`----
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
,----[ Quote ]
| '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.
`----
http://business.asiaone.com/Business/News/Office/Story/A1Story20090128-117699.html
Boise workers to be affected by Microsoft job cuts
,----[ Quote ]
| 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
,----[ Quote ]
| 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
,----[ Quote ]
| 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
,----[ Quote ]
| Many very capable open source developers don’t have a college degree and the
| program does not easily accommodate them.
`----
http://www.linuxworld.com/news/2007/082007-open-source-h1-b.html
Bill Gates to address Senate panel
,----[ Quote ]
| 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.
`----
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?
,----[ Quote ]
| 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.
`----
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/career/article.php/3667376
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