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editor {at} techsunite.org
Bill Gates, on March 12, is heading over to Capitol Hill to ask for an increased cap on H1B visas. This visit is another, in a series of several, that have made foreign workers smile contentedly at having found such a vocal, visible and clout carrying ally. But ask the typical American IT worker about his/her work life, and words like unemployment, depression, anxiety, "apply to 6,000 jobs", "3 hour commute" and "60-hour-workweek", come tumbling out from the get go.
Toni Chester, a Sr. Lotus Notes/Domino Developer and a single parent, based out of Bloomsbury, New Jersey says, "I am outraged that outsourcing and H1B visa holders are taking jobs away from Americans. I was displaced by a guest worker in August 2001. I have been frequently unemployed since, working super short term contracts where no benefits were given, worked assignments where the end result is off-shore outsourcing to India, and in fact, I am told that my current assignment will be outsourced to India in December, 2008. Many times I have not been able to pay my bills. Before 2001, attractive, long term contracts that offered challenge, job growth, high compensation, benefits, mental stimulation, skill enhancement were available to me. Now they've all vanished! I have a degree in Applied Mathematics and a Bachelor of Science degree in Statistics; my work history is spotless, and yet, I am unable to find a full time job today!"
Anthony Bravos, a software consultant unemployed for the last two years, living in Woodstock, IL, says, "Outsourcing and cheap foreign labor on H-1B visas have flooded the employment market with virtually millions of young & cheap workers, putting middle aged Americans out of work. Outsourcing works in conjunction with H1B visas to facilitate age discrimination in America." Bravos says American universities are among the best in the world, attracting a dizzying amount of students from around the world each year. "Gates has stated he wants to see a visa stapled to every foreign student's diploma. But what about the American students? Where should they go? America is the only country that put man on the moon, on the strength of American programmers and engineers. Gates wants cheap, foreign labor, who is eager to follow commands, doesn't ask questions, doesn't demand benefits, and higher salaries based on experience." Kim Berry of www.programmersguild.org, says he has been monitoring over 3,000 resumes belonging to well qualified American IT workers, being sent to Microsoft, and not a single one has received even an interview call!
Gates' persistence on increasing the H1B visa cap also was on display on the Charlie Rose show, when speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "He (Gates) is always talking to us about that. The solution is simple, we could just staple a green card to their diploma. Increasing H-1B visas is controversial, but we want those students to stay here."
From California to Pennsylvania, Florida to Washington, IT workers have near identical stories of unemployment, low pay, no benefits, long commute hours and how they are teaching their children to not consider majoring in IT. Another common sentiment? "America's humiliation. Our country is being stripped of it's capabilities to compete globally," says Bob Garrett, an ERP Data Warehousing implementation consultant, in Philadephia. A lot of IT workers share the sentiment that the American IT worker is being shamelessly nickel and dimed at ferocious speeds countrywide. Chester says she has been forced to hoard money to ride her through the next, inevitable unemployment cycle. This gives her anxiety, and hence, she says she has been forced to take any and all contract job opportunities that come her way, often times making her commute a 2 hour drive each way. "I can not even see my son on many days, he's asleep when I get in and I leave before he wakes up. And remember, I am a single parent," she says.
Garrett says, "Until 1999, I was able to find employment easily. Today, that is not so. Many times, these foreign laborers are not qualified, or fake experience, for the job. There are fewer and fewer IT management opportunities. I wonder what our next president is going to do about this."
There seems to be a fine line to cross between what one person may call corporate greed, and another person may call profit. Profit, in this case, is going to a select few people at the top, while middle class white collar America is suffering inspite of having education and professional experience. Bravos says, "The whole point of outsourcing is for the Corporate bosses to pit workers from developing nations against workers in developed nations; to put us out of business, and make a ton of money for themselves at our, the economy & the nation's, expense. Outsourcing is putting America in a race to the bottom."
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