Finally someone has stepped forward. From this article, Work Visa Bill Threatens Indian Outsourcers comes news that Congress may finally do something about the hideous problem of H1B and L1 visas that have been decimating US workers in high tech fields.
Although intended to give companies access to RARE skills, companies have widely exploited the programs to bring in low wage employees with very common skills.CitizenOfEarth's diary :: :: The bill, introduced by Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), would change many of the rules companies must follow to obtain temporary work visas, known as H-1Bs and L-1s. The most controversial new rule would bar companies with more than 50 U.S. employees from getting any additional work visas if more than 50% of their U.S. workforce is made up of H-1B or L-1 visa holders.
The 50/50 Rule
The 50/50 Rule is IMO half way there but is an excellent start. Let's face it, if you have a company office in America and less than 50% of the employees are American, it makes an obvious statement about your hiring criteria and practices.
H1B visa holders can stay in the US for up to 6 years. There is an annual cap of 65,000 H1Bs. Given the 6 year stay period, that
implies that there can be about 400K H1B visa holders in the US at a given time. L-1 visa does not have a minimum wage requirement, and
there is no cap on L-1 visas. The US government does not report how many visa holders are present in the US. Nor does it track their whereabouts or enforce their departure after a visa expires.
The work visa program was established nearly 20 years ago to allow U.S. companies to bring workers with rare skills into the country. Among the most active participants are Microsoft (NasdaqGS:MSFT - News) and IBM (NYSE:IBM - News), as well as Wipro, Infosys, and Tata. But American tech companies tend to use work visas differently than Indian outsourcers. While companies like Microsoft and Google (NasdaqGS:GOOG - News) often use the temporary visas as a stepping stone to permanent residency for talented workers, outsourcing firms typically post visa workers in the U.S. on a short-term basis, in many cases about 18 months. The workers then return to India, where they continue to work for the outsourcer on behalf of U.S. clients.
Although, the current H1B program directs that an employer must consider and hire US candidates first, it is well known that companies abuse this with a wink and a nod. In most cases, US workers are not even interviewed.
An April 2009 report written by Prasanna Tambe of New York University's Stern School of Business and Lorin Hitt of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania estimates that H-1B admissions at the current levels are
associated with a 5% to 6% drop in wages for computer programmers and systems analysts over time.
Given the above, is it any wonder why US students have walked away from Science and Engineering cirriculum in droves. Our gifted leaders seem perplexed on this point.
Yes, Congress, these are the 'GOOD' jobs, the jobs of the future that you keep harping about. Now is the time to step up and support Durbin and Grassley with this bill. Or will you vote with the greedy corporations -- yet again.
Update Video: A law firm specializing in the H1-B program teaches company executives how to game the system. Shameful stuff. (Video at link)
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/6/3/738426/-Durbin-Grassley-introduce-bill-to-limit-H1B-visas
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