Whose Job is This, Anyway?

Date: Wednesday, April 09, 2003 9:16 AM

H-1B and JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

Finally a reporter understands the law of supply and demand! Karen is
one of the first writers I have ever read that understands that the
best case scenario that American techies can look forward to is that
their salaries will never increase. That exactly what "prevailing
salaries" guarantees - a "salary cap".

A letter by Mike Emmons is included that was sent to the author of this
article. The contents of the letter weren't published but Emmons was
quoted in the article.

http://www.manufacturing.net/dn/index.asp?layout=article&stt=000&articleid=CA286861&pubdate=4%2F7%2F2003

Whose Job is This, Anyway?

Karen Auguston Field, Chief Editor -- 4/7/2003

In this month's lead news story, "That Giant Sucking Sound" (pg 37),
Contributing Writer Robert Spiegel examines the proliferation of
outsourcing and the related loss of engineering jobs to countries
overseas. Many people, however, worry more about the loss of technical
jobs that stay right here, but are filled by foreign workers under the
H-1B visa program.

"It is an outrage that congress has created these visa programs to help
their corporations, " says Michael Emmons, an engineer who says that he
was required to train the foreign workers who ultimately replaced him
after he was laid off.

Though the cap for temporary visas was put at 65,000 in 1990, lobbyists
for high-tech companies persuaded Congress to increase the number to
195,000 in 2000. Many believe that the cap is too high-particularly in
a down economy that is decimating the engineering profession. According
to the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), some
120,000 electrical engineers and computer scientists are currently
looking for work. So it's asking Congress to lower the visa quota back
to 65,000 before the temporary law expires in September, when the cap
will drop back automatically.

I'm betting every time the economy is in dire straights, the discussion
focuses on reducing the cap on H-1B visas. But what about the cap on
salaries it imposes, in good times or bad? Under H-1B rules, employers
must hire workers at a salary that is commensurate with market rates.
Though I suppose some companies might cheat, let's say most don't. Even
so, you don't have to take an intro course in economics course to
understand the relationship between supply, demand, and pricing.

What kind of message does a regulatory mandate that discourages
engineering salaries from growing send to college students? Well,
between 1985 and 2000 years when the H-1B program was in full
swing--the number of engineering degrees awarded here fell by 25%. Now
you can't blame it all on H-1Bs, but let's face it: Engineering is a
challenging curriculum and the financial rewards aren't all that great.

Of course, we could just solve the problem by letting India and China
educate all the engineers the world will ever need. But what we really
need are some imaginative policymakers who think more strategically
about the engineering profession and its role in the increasingly
technologically sophisticated society that we live in.

kfield@reedbusiness.com

We American citizens in the engineering / Information Technology
industry have been attacked by our own congress.

Siemens ICN and Tata Consulting, using the congressional L-1
"intra-company transfer" visa replaced 20 Americans with Indians from
India, right here in Lake Mary, FL USA. Here is how the L-1 visa is
used to replace American workers: Tata Consulting, India transfers
Indian employees to Tata Consulting USA. Tata Consulting USA then
sells these so-called "consultants" off to American businesses, this
time Siemens ICN Lake Mary, FL and San Jose, CA.

I am the luckiest of our group, I found another job but that cannot be
said about my ex-coworkers.

It is an outrage that our congress has created these visa programs to
help their corporations which at the same time devastates American
families.

Management mandated we train our foreign replacements, then the
Americans were shown the door.

Did you know that under the L-1 transfer visa, Consulting
companies(mainly from India) can
1. import as many "American replacement workers" as they need. There
are absolutely NO caps on quantities.
2. No salary constraints either, like the H-1b visa is supposed to
have(which IMO are ignored).
3. The INS provides easy mechanisms to bulk import replacement workers
using the INS "blanket petition".

Under the L-1 visa, Foreigners
1. can come into our country to take our jobs
3. while management mandates we train them
4. Send their kids to our schools
5. while we are sent to the unemployment line
6. and our Congress voted for this

Thank you for your interest in helping American workers.

Sincerely,
Michael T. Emmons
Longwood, FL
usaworker@hannatroup.com
http://www.hannatroup.com:81/

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