Manpower's Shortage Shouting
Manpower's Shortage Shouting
Date: Wednesday, May 29, 2002 11:11 PM
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I always love it whenever Norman Matloff uses the LCA Database at
www.ZaZona.com/LCA-Data and this time is no exception. Matloff missed
one
though - the LCA for a Manpower Janitorial Supervisor at $10.40 an hour.
More and more janitors now are illegal aliens, so perhaps companies only
want H-1B janitor supervisors to manage the illegals to clean up for all
of
their H-1B programmers.
Here is Matloff's newest newsletter.
Manpower's CEO says H-1Bs are still needed, because (a) special software
skills are needed, and (b) American programmers aren't willing to go to
Des Moines.
As I have written in detail, the skills issue is typically a pretext
employers use to avoid hiring older Americans, or any Americans. Even
when it is sincere, it is unwarranted.
Concerning (b), well I am sure the programmers who are on this e-mail
list and live in Des Moines will not be happy with Joerres' example.
As usual, whenever I see any corporate spokesperson become too
sanctimonious about the H-1B program, I check Rob Sanchez's H-1B
database to find out how many that company is paying their H-1Bs. Sure
enough, Manpower has employed at least one H-1B programmer at the
princely wage of $19 per hour.
Note also the comment about "attitude" below. I've mentioned before
that to many employers, an aspect of H-1Bs which is even more attractive
than cheap labor is that the indentured-servant H-1Bs are very compliant
workers.
Norm
http://www.computerworld.com/careertopics/careers/recruiting/story/0,10801,7
0983,00.html
Computerworld, May 13, 2002 (longer, online version)
ARLINGTON, Va. -- Jeff Joerres is chairman and CEO of
Milwaukee-based
Manpower Inc., an $11.8 billion staffing services company that
counts
among its clients 98 of the Fortune 100 companies. Joerres was
a
keynote speaker at the Information Technology Association of
America's
(ITAA) National IT Workforce Convocation here Monday. He spoke
with
Computerworld about some of the more controversial staffing
issues
that IT professionals face.
Q: With operations in 61 countries, do you see IT staffing
as
fundamentally a global issue or a national issue?
A:
We [in the U.S.] cannot rely on the import of talent, particularly
as
it relates to knowledge jobs. However, the U.S. is not alone in
that.
Singapore has the same challenge; the U.K., France and Holland
have
the challenge. So no doubt, if you were to look out over many
years,
one could say we will reach a perfect state of equilibrium,
where
there will be trading back and forth of the right talent. But you
know
what? Between here and that equilibrium is probably a few wars.
It
won't be that easy.
Q: What's your response to the unemployed U.S. IT worker who
resents
the fact that the government is issuing H-1B visas to import
IT
talent?
A:
We have to continue it at a certain level, albeit maybe at a
smaller
one, but the visa policy must continue. We have to bring talent
into
the organization. [Unemployed U.S. IT workers] may not have the
right
skills. They may not have the mobility. When push comes to
shove,
they're not going to move to Des Moines. Someone from India might
say,
'I'm an SAP programmer, I'll move to Des Moines for three years.'
So
there is a geographical imbalance, and the skills now have become
more
and more discrete.
I might add, and it's a bit controversial, we must always watch
out
for our workers [with respect to them] having the best attitude.
I
think attitude is going to be more and more part of the
decision
process in [hiring].
Q: The inference is that foreign workers might have a better
work
ethic or work attitude than U.S. workers.
A:
Yes, in some cases, that's true. In other cases, it's not true.
We
still have high productivity. But we have to live in paranoia.
Because
if you're not paranoid, you become complacent.
Q: What's your view on the findings in the 2002 National
Workforce
Study that the ITAA released here (see story)?
A:
I personally see that the tech support [positions and]
network
administrators are going to be in high demand. You will never
take
away some of the top application people -- that's what
drives
innovation, that's what [enables] companies to save costs
through
technology. But you've got to have people to install it, and
you've
got to have people to maintain it. So I looked at the survey, and
I
thought many things are on target. I'm not sure that it showed
the
kind of view that the non-IT companies are looking at of how
they're
going to use IT. They're ramping up to use IT to finish [IT
projects
that] Y2k started. They're not interested in starting
a
three-to-five-year major project.
Q: I expected to see more of an emphasis on security in the
ITAA
study.
A:
It was pretty far down the list. My guess is that the whole
issue
hasn't settled in, and it will settle in when you have a
major
security breach. Then it moves to the top.
Q: After working with Chicago-based Arthur Andersen LLP for 25
years,
Manpower last month switched to New York-based
PricewaterhouseCoopers
as its independent auditor. What's your advice for someone who
works
for Arthur Andersen, or for a company in the position that
Arthur
Andersen finds itself after the Enron scandal? Should he jump ship?
A:
I think you have to look very closely at your position within
the
firm, knowing that whatever option you may see in the short
term
probably will not be the one that pans out. If you are in a
position
in the firm where you can continue to ride through some of those
ups
and downs, it probably could be a good place to stay. If you're in
a
different position, where you may not have the book of clients
that
some of the other partners have, you may not have some of
the
invaluable, hard-to-find, irreplaceable kinds of skills. I think
it's
fair to say that you should be looking.
Our switch from Andersen to [PricewaterhouseCoopers] had nothing to
do
at all with the quality of the partners. It was only about,
look,
we're in 61 countries, there's going to be confusion out there,
and
our audit committee just didn't want to do that. And I'm
fully
supportive of that. But when it comes to the Andersen people,
there
are some talented people, and some of the most talented people
will
have the best opportunities for a lateral [move], if not a
promotion,
if they move sooner rather than later.
Q: What's the one IT staffing issue or concern that you most
commonly
hear from your clients?
A:
That there is still a complete reluctance on the part of
senior
management to want to do anything with IT. There is still this
Y2k
hangover. I feel as though there is an attitude [among senior
managers
who say], 'IT is extremely important, it gives me an awful lot
of
savings. But I still can't feel that real trust that the money
I'm
putting in, which is always [increasing], is really coming back.
So
I'm going to hold off for a while.'
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